Designing your planter: The rule of thumb when designing a planter is “thriller, filler, and spiller.”  Thrillers refer to the tall, bold, eye-catching focal points that oftentimes provide the vertical element.  It can be a tall ornamental grass, spike, or a plant with flowers atop tall stalks.  Place your thriller in the center of the pot if you will be seeing it from all angles or place it in the back of the pot, if you will only view your pot from the front.  Examples of thrillers are purple fountain grass, a green spike, or guara.  

Fillers usually mound and surround the thriller, filling in space in the container.  You can choose one or multiple varieties of plants to be your filler.  Examples of fillers would be: petunia, lantana, begonia, and impatiens. 

Spillers are the plants that cascade over the sides of the planter.  Examples are: sweet potato vine, ivy, and bacopa.

Combo for Sun:  This year, I planted Dark Purple Celosia (thriller), Cottage Lemon Strawflower (filler), Ping Pong Mix Gomphrena (filler), Rose Lantana (filler), and Marguerite Ipomoea (spiller) for a sun container.  

Combo for Shade: I combined Compact Double Apricot Begonia (thriller), Magenta Moon Torenia (spiller), and Splish Splash Rose Gold Coleus (spiller + filler) for a stunning shaded planter.

Stop by Mill Creek to chat with us + get more ideas for your planters!  You can even plant them with us and leave the mess at the greenhouse.  See details for our drop-in planter workshop below!  We've got lots of trendy pots in plastic, terra cotta, metal, and cement to plant your favorite combinations in.