“I have full sun in the front of my home, and I want to put up large containers in the front of my house, but I’m not sure what plants would work. Help! Thank you.” Question from Melissa of Lansing, Michigan
Answer: There are lots of great plants for sunny containers. Good options do not get too tall or wide and grow and flower well in small spaces. For design purposes, plant them in contrasting combinations with bushy and trailing or spilling plants in complementary colors. Annuals are most often used in pots. Here are some that will grow beautifully in Lansing, Michigan.
Favorite Bushy Bloomers for Containers
Summer Snapdragon (Angelonia angustifolia hybrids). Choose these heat lovers for sunny pots. They even take drought. Some of the newer summer snapdragons, like those in the Angelface® Cascade Series, are a bit more compact, making them ideal for containers.
Bidens (Bidens hybrids): These heat-loving annuals generally have yellow or orangish-red daisy-like flowers. Most varieties keep on flowering until fall.
Geraniums (Pelargonium hybrids): Old-fashioned geraniums need to be deadheaded, but they are classic container plants that keep looking great until frost. I love cherry-red varieties, but you can also find them with white, pink, salmon, orange, or orange-red blooms.
Petunias and Calibrachoa (Petunia and Calibrachoa hybrids): Go to any garden center, and you will find loads of petunias and calibrachoa. Vista Petunias and Superbells Calibrachoa are my favorites. They bloom beautifully from summer to fall and trail nicely in containers.
Profusion Zinnias (Zinnia Profusion Series): Here is one of the best trailing zinnias for nonstop flowers for the sun. They come in lots of colors, including white, orange, yellow, and red, and they are very easy to grow from seed. (Click here to learn how to grow annuals from seed.)
Favorite Sunny Trailers for Containers
Dichondra Silver Falls™ (Dichondra argentea Proven Accents® Silver Falls™): Here is one of the easiest, prettiest, most drought-tolerant spillers that you can grow. Its trailing stems of pure silver cannot be beaten.
Mexican Hair Grass (Nasella tenuissima): Plant this fine, fountain-shaped, airy grass to add height and spill to containers.
Ornamental Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas ornamental hybrids): There are loads of compact, trailing ornamental sweet potatoes that really light up containers. Two great, compact options are the bright green Sweet Caroline Medusa™ Green and variegated green, white, and pink Tricolor.
Bacopa (Sutera cordata hybrids): These small-leaved, trailing annuals have small, pretty flowers of white or lavender pink. Of the white-flowered varieties, Snowstorm® Giant Snowflake® has the largest flowers and a great spilling habit.
Annuals grow beautifully in Grower’s Gold potting mix. Then be sure to feed the pots with slow-release fertilizer and water-soluble fertilizer for consistent strong growth and flowering.
I hope that some of these plants interest you.
Happy gardening,
Jessie Keith
Grower’s Gold Horticulturist