Thrill Spill Chill: the Sequel

The sun—it shines. Let the planting commence!

When it’s time to plant your garden pots I have three words of advice for you---and for those of you who put your money on “Buy More Plants,” I appreciate your thinking but for now I’m going to assume we have a “sufficient amount” of plants to get started** with—and those three words are: Thrill. Spill. Chill.

But before we get to the how tos, let us revisit the phrase “sufficient amount,” coupled with “**get started.” Because I don’t mean to imply that “Buy More Plants” isn’t a valid option. Because it is. And I do it often. So often, in fact, that utilizing a 12-step program has come up once or twice. You know what I say to that?  PFFFT. The first rule of any good 12-step program is admitting you have a problem and buying more plants? SO NOT A PROBLEM.

 If buying more plants is a problem for you, please call me and I’ll gladly be your shopping buddy. For the low, low cost of buying my lunch I will happily accompany you to the nursery of your choice. In fact, in a show of solidarity and support, I will probably buy something too. How big is your car?

I digress. Back to the three words: Thrill, Spill, Chill.

Every pretty pot deserves all three of these elements working together. Thrill: Chose a plant that will grow be taller than its companions—rocket snapdragons are good, as are varieties of upright grasses or anything that is going to add the WOW factor to your container.

Spill: your pot will look all the prettier with some flowers trailing over the edge, vines are a good choice---I like the bright lime pop of a sweet potato vine—as are any trailing variety of plant. Million bells planted at the edge of a container will not only mound up but spill over as well.

Chill: now you can fill the rest of your pot with little beauties that will just hang out and look pretty—just chillin’, so to speak. Or you could think of it as “Fill” but “chill” seems a much hipper way to describe it, don’tcha think? Marigolds, Petunias, Sweet Williams are all surefire, low fuss plants. I also like lobelia, nemesia, and alyssum. One of my all-time favorites is Lantana “Sunrise Rose”. Lantana is a pom-pom of smaller blooms and blooms in multiple colors at once— Sunrise Rose rainbows from yellow to orange to pink and is a non-stop bloomer. It’s an excellent choice if you want a variety of color but only have a little space. Be forewarned though---you’ll most likely fall in love with it and have to plant more. Every. Single. Year.