10 Gorgeous Container Garden Ideas for Outdoor Entertaining
Use these no-stress container garden ideas to add party-ready color to your patio, porch or deck
Lauren Dunec Hoang
June 30, 2019
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and in-house designer for Sunset's Editorial Test Garden. Her garden designs have been featured in the Sunset Western Garden Book of Landscaping, Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings (cover), Inhabitat, and POPSUGAR.
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and... More
As we move into prime outdoor entertaining season, it doesn’t take much to get your outdoor space ready for hosting. You’ve already dusted off the patio set and double-checked your stash of barbecue briquettes; now how about adding a welcoming pot of colorful flowers to greet guests at the front door?
Time can be limited in the busy summer season, so we’ve rounded up container garden designs that range from easy to throw together to more extensive projects. Take a look at the following ideas and tell us if could you see one of these containers adding some pizazz to your porch or patio.
Time can be limited in the busy summer season, so we’ve rounded up container garden designs that range from easy to throw together to more extensive projects. Take a look at the following ideas and tell us if could you see one of these containers adding some pizazz to your porch or patio.
1. Welcoming Entry
Designer Megan Hickman used a simple combination of bright foliage plants elevated in a tall black container to give a dose of color and personality to the entry of this modern farmhouse home near Chicago.
Plants include purple heart (Tradescantia pallida), orange croton (Codiaeum variegatum) and lime-green sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas), which will grow to trail down the side of the columnar container.
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
Designer Megan Hickman used a simple combination of bright foliage plants elevated in a tall black container to give a dose of color and personality to the entry of this modern farmhouse home near Chicago.
Plants include purple heart (Tradescantia pallida), orange croton (Codiaeum variegatum) and lime-green sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas), which will grow to trail down the side of the columnar container.
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
2. Colorful Couch Edgers
Swapping side tables for pots bursting with vibrant foliage and flowers takes the feel of an outdoor lounge from hangout to full-on garden show. Here, designer Holly DeGoey used plant stands to lift up potted arrangements of pink mandevilla and ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia to eye level for anyone sitting on the sofa in this West Des Moines, Iowa, backyard.
She packed the containers on the ground with white impatiens, silvery dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima, syn. Senecio cineraria) and a cascade of bronze and chartreuse sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas).
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
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Swapping side tables for pots bursting with vibrant foliage and flowers takes the feel of an outdoor lounge from hangout to full-on garden show. Here, designer Holly DeGoey used plant stands to lift up potted arrangements of pink mandevilla and ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia to eye level for anyone sitting on the sofa in this West Des Moines, Iowa, backyard.
She packed the containers on the ground with white impatiens, silvery dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima, syn. Senecio cineraria) and a cascade of bronze and chartreuse sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas).
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
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3. Drinks With a Side of Blooms
In the same West Des Moines backyard, hanging planters create a charming backdrop for a rolling bar cart set up for a party. Plants in the hanging basket on the left include pink mandevilla, blue lobelia and bicolor lantana. Bronze coleus (Solenostemon sp.), peach-colored million bells (Calibrachoa sp.) and a froth of white ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia grow in the hanging basket to the right.
Water requirement: Moderate to high; hanging baskets often dry out more quickly than other containers and perform best with daily drip irrigation.
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
In the same West Des Moines backyard, hanging planters create a charming backdrop for a rolling bar cart set up for a party. Plants in the hanging basket on the left include pink mandevilla, blue lobelia and bicolor lantana. Bronze coleus (Solenostemon sp.), peach-colored million bells (Calibrachoa sp.) and a froth of white ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia grow in the hanging basket to the right.
Water requirement: Moderate to high; hanging baskets often dry out more quickly than other containers and perform best with daily drip irrigation.
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
4. Porch Pretties
Porches are often prime hosting areas in warm summer weather, and a few potted containers can make the setting that much more inviting.
On this porch by Historical Concepts, sun-loving flowers grow in containers along the porch steps, while shade-tolerant foliage plants and a fiddleleaf fig tree (Ficus lyrata) occupy positions closer to the house. Flowers include pollinator-attracting lantana, butterfly bush (Buddleja sp.) and million bells (Calibrachoa sp.), along with sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) and trailing muehlenbeckia.
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Bright, indirect light (foliage containers) to full sun (flower containers)
Porches are often prime hosting areas in warm summer weather, and a few potted containers can make the setting that much more inviting.
On this porch by Historical Concepts, sun-loving flowers grow in containers along the porch steps, while shade-tolerant foliage plants and a fiddleleaf fig tree (Ficus lyrata) occupy positions closer to the house. Flowers include pollinator-attracting lantana, butterfly bush (Buddleja sp.) and million bells (Calibrachoa sp.), along with sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) and trailing muehlenbeckia.
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Bright, indirect light (foliage containers) to full sun (flower containers)
5. Wall-Mounted Living Art
Just as you would adorn a wall inside your home with art, dress up your outdoor room with something of interest. At this home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a pair of Cor-Ten planters has been filled with spiky dracaena, dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima, syn. Senecio cineraria), sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) and delicate, trailing periwinkle (Vinca minor).
Designer Elin Walters of exactly says she enjoys changing the plant combination each year but sticks to a general formula: “I try to mix a variety of colors, textures and heights, with a couple plants that cascade over the edge.”
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Partial to full sun; the combination seen here receives a half day of full sun
Shop for wall-mounted planters
Just as you would adorn a wall inside your home with art, dress up your outdoor room with something of interest. At this home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a pair of Cor-Ten planters has been filled with spiky dracaena, dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima, syn. Senecio cineraria), sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) and delicate, trailing periwinkle (Vinca minor).
Designer Elin Walters of exactly says she enjoys changing the plant combination each year but sticks to a general formula: “I try to mix a variety of colors, textures and heights, with a couple plants that cascade over the edge.”
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Partial to full sun; the combination seen here receives a half day of full sun
Shop for wall-mounted planters
6. Tropical Punch
With simple ingredients and zingy flair, these potted duos in a design by Cezign feel as easy as your favorite summer cocktail. Purple clematis twines up the posts, with a mound of sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) below.
For blooms later in summer, look to clematis species ‘Rouge Cardinal’, with velvety crimson blooms, as well as deep purple ‘Jackmanii Superba’ and ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’, with pink and yellow flowers.
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Full sun
With simple ingredients and zingy flair, these potted duos in a design by Cezign feel as easy as your favorite summer cocktail. Purple clematis twines up the posts, with a mound of sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) below.
For blooms later in summer, look to clematis species ‘Rouge Cardinal’, with velvety crimson blooms, as well as deep purple ‘Jackmanii Superba’ and ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’, with pink and yellow flowers.
Water requirement: Moderate
Light requirement: Full sun
7. Fresh Palette
Sticking to a fresh white-and-green palette across containers brings a calming sense of cohesiveness to this roof deck in Toronto’s Yorkville neighborhood. Plants include a potted birch tree (Betula sp.), perennial daisy, geranium, Australian swordfern (Nephrolepis obliterata), Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’), hostas, white ‘Annabelle’ wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’), cascading ivy and various herbs.
Designer Lisa Aiken of Terra Firma Design points out that particularly for roof decks, wind can be a major factor in container health. “The wind will actually dry out plants much faster than the sun,” Aiken says. “The windier the location, the more water plants of any size require.” Her advice: Put containers on an automatic drip irrigation system, so you can relax and enjoy them rather than worry about their drying out.
Water requirement: Moderate to high; plants on a windy roof deck require more water (daily drip irrigation) than those in a sheltered location
Light requirement: Partial to full sun
Sticking to a fresh white-and-green palette across containers brings a calming sense of cohesiveness to this roof deck in Toronto’s Yorkville neighborhood. Plants include a potted birch tree (Betula sp.), perennial daisy, geranium, Australian swordfern (Nephrolepis obliterata), Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’), hostas, white ‘Annabelle’ wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’), cascading ivy and various herbs.
Designer Lisa Aiken of Terra Firma Design points out that particularly for roof decks, wind can be a major factor in container health. “The wind will actually dry out plants much faster than the sun,” Aiken says. “The windier the location, the more water plants of any size require.” Her advice: Put containers on an automatic drip irrigation system, so you can relax and enjoy them rather than worry about their drying out.
Water requirement: Moderate to high; plants on a windy roof deck require more water (daily drip irrigation) than those in a sheltered location
Light requirement: Partial to full sun
8. Pathway Pizazz
This tropical-inspired container garden is among a set of four that stand sentry at the corners of the lawn of this New York state landscape designed by The Crafted Garden. With red-flowering hibiscus (trained as a standard), underplanted with sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) and white New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri), the potted gardens add a hit of seasonal color against the subtler landscape beds.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun
This tropical-inspired container garden is among a set of four that stand sentry at the corners of the lawn of this New York state landscape designed by The Crafted Garden. With red-flowering hibiscus (trained as a standard), underplanted with sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) and white New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri), the potted gardens add a hit of seasonal color against the subtler landscape beds.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun
9. Bright Blooms in Shade
With flowers burning like embers in shades of orange, yellow and burgundy-red, this elevated container brightens up a shaded entry to a home in Scarborough, Maine.
Designer Irene Brady Barber used a combination of shade-loving tuberous begonias, coral-petal ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’ fuchsia (Fuchsia ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’) and variegated bloodleaf (Iresine sp.), with variegated potato vine (Solanum jasminoides ‘Variegata’) and tiny-leaved muehlenbeckia trailing over the side of the moss-laden planter.
Water requirement: Moderate to high; the container seen here is lined with sphagnum moss, which dries out quickly
Light requirement: Partial shade; this combination receives morning sun and afternoon shade
With flowers burning like embers in shades of orange, yellow and burgundy-red, this elevated container brightens up a shaded entry to a home in Scarborough, Maine.
Designer Irene Brady Barber used a combination of shade-loving tuberous begonias, coral-petal ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’ fuchsia (Fuchsia ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’) and variegated bloodleaf (Iresine sp.), with variegated potato vine (Solanum jasminoides ‘Variegata’) and tiny-leaved muehlenbeckia trailing over the side of the moss-laden planter.
Water requirement: Moderate to high; the container seen here is lined with sphagnum moss, which dries out quickly
Light requirement: Partial shade; this combination receives morning sun and afternoon shade
10. Succulent Centerpiece
Almost as easy as sticking cut flowers in a vase, putting together a small succulent container takes moments and can be used as a living centerpiece all summer long. The trick to getting a nice, full look is to pack the succulents in tightly so that no soil is showing, as has been done in this outdoor seating area by Jessica Risko Smith Interior Design with a crush of echeveria in a low terra-cotta pot.
Water requirement: Low
Light requirement: Partial shade inland to full sun in coastal climates
Almost as easy as sticking cut flowers in a vase, putting together a small succulent container takes moments and can be used as a living centerpiece all summer long. The trick to getting a nice, full look is to pack the succulents in tightly so that no soil is showing, as has been done in this outdoor seating area by Jessica Risko Smith Interior Design with a crush of echeveria in a low terra-cotta pot.
Water requirement: Low
Light requirement: Partial shade inland to full sun in coastal climates
Your turn: Have you added summer container gardens to your patio or outdoor space? Show us in the Comments.
More on Houzz
14 Beautiful Container Gardens for Shady Spots
Browse more container garden ideas
Find a landscape designer near your
Shop for outdoor products
More on Houzz
14 Beautiful Container Gardens for Shady Spots
Browse more container garden ideas
Find a landscape designer near your
Shop for outdoor products
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We love to entertain family and friends on our porch during the summer months. I want to feel like we are sitting in the garden, so I put porch boxes along the outside edge of the porch and filled them with geranium, dusty millers and scavola in shades of pink and purple, the color scheme I carry throughout the garden and on my tablescape. Hanging baskets of lilac geraniums and vinca vine complete the setting
Hi April S. Your flowers are GORGEOUS !!!!
Absolutely the best I’ve seen so far !!!
I’m a huge fan of container gardens. Here in Austin, TX it’s a great way to add color and variety to your landscape during hot months while still conserving water. They make a small yard like mine feel more “substantial.” I installed separate pot lines with my sprinkler system so the containers get watered automatically for five minutes every day. The bushes and lawn are watered only once a week when it doesn’t rain.