Plant for Impact!

Pots and raised beds are a great way to add color, seasonal influences and bring plants into small places. We are blessed here in Sonoma to have an incredible planter artist Deborah of Sonoma Mission Gardens Nursery. She inspired me to take my Landscape Architect's knowledge and bring it down to the small scale.

Here are a few benefits of planting containers and pots in your garden:

Paint with Plants

What I enjoy about container plantings is it allows for an impact of color or texture that would be more diffuse in the garden itself. It is like painting, you have certain color schemes. The image to the side is analogous, meaning the colors are beside each other on the color wheel.

These are instant and long lasting art piece that is framed in the pot or bed when you finish. The context changes the content, this planter would look out of place in a classic Roman style pot on a New England style patio. However, in a Corten Steel planter on a California Contemporary patio, it fits perfectly.

This style of planting shares more in common with florist bouquets. 

Depending on the location and your chosen style you can have a clean and simple planting or a decadently over full flower frenzy.

Be Bold and Adventurous

This is a great way to try new things if a plant outgrows the pot you can find a new home for it next year. I love seeing small shrubs that are still in their infancy. In this container, the Dwarf Buddleah more commonly known as a ButterflyBbush fits perfectly.

In a couple years it can be transplanted out into the wild of this incredible manzanita and oak forested property. The little centers of the lilac purple flowers have a hint of orange which grabs the Calibrachoa and African Daisy. Finding little ties helps to make a cohesive planter.

Shadowy, Never Dull

One of the most vibrant and limited palettes is the shade. Finding pops of light colors helps to bring a balance to the dark area a pot can be located in.

Here we used chartreuse, white and yellow together to create a pop of bright against the neutral gray of the house and black of the pots. The little bit of coral from the fuchsias just becomes that much more colorful since it’s unique.

Sometimes foliage is even more powerful than flowers, varying or matching foliage color or texture can add a lot to an arrangement. Here similar leaf shapes tie everything together even though they are all different colors.