Photography courtesy of Field + Canvas.
I’m a container garden designer based in Annapolis, Maryland, and I notice that in springtime many gardeners skip container gardening because they’re more focused on flowering bulbs in the ground and budding trees overhead.
With a little creativity, you can create spring container gardens that will last into summer.
In container design there are three basic elements: tall, thick, and trailing. For many, the tall and trailing plants are simple to identify and utilize, but the thick fillers make for a challenge.
The Basics
Edibles and herbs are a good option for your filler element providing texture and brilliant color as well as taste to your foods. Hardy herbs such as parsley, rosemary, and sorrel can add their very own unexpected texture among the broadleaf plants in a container design.
Edibles and Herbs
Perennials
There are a few go-to perennial examples to consider for spring.
Hellebores with their nearly evergreen foliage and rose like flower range in bloom color from white to pale green and mauve to a deep purple.The perennials Hellebore and Lucerne Blue Eyed Grass are in full spring bloom here and will persist to offer their unique foliage and texture summer into fall.
When it comes to choosing a tall plant for your container, a spring blooming shrub that emulates the blossoming landscape in the background will provide multiple seasonal interest.
Shrubs
With annuals, container gardens have the ability to provide instant impact while the rest of the landscape grows at a slower natural rate.
Annuals
In this spring container pansies provide the seasonal color contrasting with the lush broad leaves of red and green romaine lettuce and the delicate white flowers of sweet alyssum.