Container Gardening with Perennials, Succulents and More!
Container gardening is a great way to bring vibrant life to your patio, porch or garden! Customers at our Austin nursery often ask: What can I plant in a pot? WIll that plant survive the Texas heat? What plants look good together?
Designing container arrangements is a fun way to experiment with different textures, colors and drought tolerant styles using reliable local perennials and succulents. Watch our quit video to see how to build a thriving succulent pot!
Where to start?
When planning your pots and containers, keep these three fundamentals in mind:
- Sun– Does the spot get full sun all day morning sun, or afternoon sun? Matching your plants to their light requirements is critical.
- Size– Choose a container large enough so your plants won’t quickly outgrow it or crowd out their neighbors.
- Drainage– Almost everything needs good drainage. Check that your container has a hole, or choose plants that tolerate container conditions without standing water.
Need Ideas?
Planting in containers is so much fun! You can mix and match, go simple with a single statement plant, or pack them tightly—which works wonderfully with succulents. Be mindful of companion plants regarding watering needs; always group plants with similar moisture and drought-tolerance requirements together.
For example, a classic “thrill, fill, and spill” container combines a vertical anchor like a Yucca Rostrata (thrill), textured Echeveria (fill), and trailing Purslane (spill). All of these are drought-tolerant, easy to care for, and share similar watering needs.
Container gardening is a versatile way to accent your front door, deck, or patio, and you can even mix in vegetables or herbs.
Traditional pairings like a Boxwood center with trailing Ice Plant or Silver Ponyfoot provide an effortless, elegant look for any sun or shade setup.
Another popular pairing is the Bicolor Iris or Butterfly Iris in the middle with spillers spilling out. These are simple go-to pots that can take just about any sun or shade situation you have and are easy to maintain.
Prefer to showcase a single plant? A standalone Plumbago in full bloom makes a stunning maintenance-friendly statement all on it’s own.
Have fun!
The fun thing about pots is you can change them up fairly easily plus there are no holes to dig. Mix it up and mix and match colored pots. Go all with one color scheme on your pots. All up to you, depends on the overall look you want and your personality. Most importantly, have fun, plant what you like and go for it.
