Flower Pots and Planters

I grow a lot of flowers in containers, pots, and planters

because we have poor soil, heavy shade, and dry conditions around the house. 

If I were a more accomplished gardener,

I would devote more time to developing the soil, 

but that idea seems to be forever in my "one of these days" column.

My potted plants are pretty enough, 

but lack the spectacular lushness I've seen in photos on the web.

For example, this combination, 

which includes violet and white wave petunias and bright pink cosmos,

wouldn't fail to garner extra attention:

www.guzmanlandscape.com

Here's another with pink wave petunias, chartreuse sweet potato vine

and a tower of red geraniums. I wonder how they got those geraniums so tall:

www.guzmanlandscape.com

I love this one too. 

The tiny flowers and mounding habit give this arrangement a refined, yet casual feel:

www.deckvspatio.com

I've read that the key to a successful flower planter 

is to have a tall plant, a medium filler plant and then a trailing plant.

This next planter seems to confirm that advice:

www.creativetouchlandscaping.com

I love the vivid colors in this next planter,

but I have a feeling it takes a real green thumb 

to achieve this kind of gardening success:

www.lawnpatiobarn.wordpress.com

Of course, the flower pots and planters in these photos

are at home in their manicured surroundings.

There is a sense of order and style.

But what happens when flower pots and planters venture to the wild side?

We'll look at those in tomorrow's blog post.

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