Ideas for Planter Areas

Miniature Pizza Garden

• Grownups might refer to it as a bruschetta garden, but kids will get a bang out of calling a collection of tasty vegetables and herbs their pizza garden. With just three planters, you can raise ingredients to please the family's taste buds. A sunny spot on a deck or patio is ideal for a large planter with a cherry or dwarf tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum). If you want balanced beauty and fresh-picked seasonings, add a small pot containing basil (Ocimum basilicum), an annual plant, and another pot with an oregano plant (Origanum vulgare), which is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 4 to 8.

Butterfly Garden

• Bright-colored flowers in eye-pleasing planters make a charming accent for an outdoor seating area. Attract butterflies to this setting with pots of their favored plants and a small, pedestal-style birdbath with a few rocks in it for the graceful, winged creatures to rest on next to the water. Yellow and orange marigolds (Tagetes erecta), tall pink cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) and zinnias (Zinnia elegans) of varying heights and colors can be started by seed in the planters or transplanted from nursery pots to achieve colorful blooms faster.

Monochromatic Elegance

• A grouping of three to five large, decorative planters that are all in shades of the same color and hold a single kind of ornamental grass makes a dramatic visual impression in an expansive landscape. Dwarf and standard types of maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis), also known as eulalia and Chinese silver grass, fit neatly into plant containers and are hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, depending upon the cultivar. Set at the edge of a veranda or near a pool, this type of planter area can serve as the focal point of an entire garden room. In more casual styling, a row of evenly spaced planter pots, all the same color, size and shape, makes a clever border for a patio, deck or walkway. Fill each of those planters with the same kind of lush, colorful annual plant to create a consistent line for the eye to follow.

Indoor Planter Garden

• Transform a wide windowsill or shelf on your entertainment center into a planter area for year-round enjoyment indoors. This is the place to accent your room's decor using plant container styles that can range from a collection of festive dinnerware pieces to handcrafted pots and heirloom containers. Set plants in ordinary pots inside showy planters, protected by a plastic liner in their bottom to catch water drips. If necessary, supplement the lighting for your indoor planter arrangement with a strategically positioned grow-light. Succulents and herbs are indoor favorites that have ample character of their own but won't distract from the visual appeal of the planter arrangement.