I'd put blue lobelia in all the pockets.

Actually, I do have one. I only used it one year because it is kind of flimsy. The top didn't stay attached very well. Maybe I'll pull it out again this year. Since I'm not so great with containers (See my recent post - How do you do it....) and I live in IL, far, far away from you, you could share your planting idea???

poppydog,

Because the top & the bottom aren't connected very well, it was the reason it stayed in storage for so long. I remedied that this year & don't know why I didn't think of it all this time until now, but I used cable ties to keep the bottom & top together! LOL

Yes it looks dorky now, but when the bacopa, calabrocha, lobelia, million bells or whatever I purchase fills in they should drape down & cover the cable ties.

Definitely I'll be using a 4-inch pot of purple fountain grass in the top pocket, surrounded by something shorter. When I posted I thought I knew what that would be, but I've since changed my mind.

I was thinking of using ivy geranium in one of the middle sections, lamnium in another, Marguerite sweet potato vine in another & I'm now indecisive about the last section.

Depending on what zone I was in, I'd definitely plant herbs in it. Rosemary, lavender, or bay in the top, herbs that need containing in the other spaces, like chives and mints, oregano, lemon balm, and saving a space or two for annual herbs like basil, cilantro, etc.
You should post this question in the Herbs forum...it would drive everyone nuts! :D

Did you have to punch holes in it to attach the cable ties? I'm leaning toward ivy geranium and lobelia too. In part, because I already have some.

When I bought the container there were plugs in the drainage holes & I removed them.

I just fed a very long cable tie through each drainage hole, which are under each crescent shape, & up through the opening, then down to the bottom & zipped them closed. I adjusted each so the cable tie head & tail are inside the pocket.

I have a list at work (greenhouses) of plants to choose from & another list at the house, which will go with me to work tomorrow for shopping once I clock out & change shirts so customers don't stalk & interrupt me LOL:

calibrochoa
bacopa
nasturtium
lobelia
osteospermum
ivy geranium
sweet potato vine
candytuft
petunia
coleus
lamnium
sedge
heliotrope
helichrysum
verbena
lantana
tricolor veronica
angelonia
dichondra
flax lily
vinca
cordyline red sister/ti
purple fountain grass

I'm staying away from plants already in my garden, near where the container will be sitting.

Well, I've pretty much finished it. I still need a "center piece" plant for the top middle & I think it'll be Red Star Spike.

In the top on the sides are Nasturtium opposite each other, who knows what color, & Margarita & Blackie Sweet Potato Vine opposite each other. In the "rounds" are Colorcade Pink & Colorcade Violet Ivy Geraniums opposite each other, then Lemon Symphony & Orange Symphony Osteospermum opposite each other. And in the "crescents" are Easter Bonnet White Alyssum opposite each other & Crystal Palace Lobelia opposite each other.

=)

One day, try double pink portulaca around your purple fountain grass. I do a pot of these every year, and every year, I am more pleased than I was the year before. It looks beautiful togeather.

Janie

I used Red Sensation Cordyline instead of Purple Fountain Grass or anything else for the center.

I, like the garden "noob" that I am, thought it was a strawberry container and planted lots of them in it...much to my chagrin however they have struggled since so now I am trying to figure out what to plant next...so many wonderful ideas and just one container!

Really, here's my big dream:

I'd plant a brugmansia in the largest pocket, trailing nasturtiums in the tall skinny pockets in the corners, and blue lobelia in the short squatty ones. Of course, I'm out of my mind, but that's how I do things...
LOL

Amanda 'romando'

Anyone have a pic of a fully planted one? I'd love to see one.