Designs for Potted Annual Plants

Formal Design

• Create a visual impact with a formal design that features a single theme, a single color or a single type of plant. A long row of similar flowers in similar color pots, such as red geraniums in terracotta pots, accents linear design elements of your space. For a regal presentation, set decorative, large-leaf caladiums, which are grown as annuals in all but the warmest climates, into antique-finished pedestal pots placed in the corners of your space.

Casual Design

• In a casual design scheme, combine pots of annuals that have different growth characteristics. Place trailing plants, like burgundy or lime ornamental sweet potato vines, next to the upright spires of snapdragons and the spreading form of zinnias. In a shaded area, combine pots that have blue-flower lobelia spilling over the edge with the bushy, multi-color foliage of coleus. Tie your entire design together by using pots that are all black, white, gray or shades of the same color.

Whimsical Design

• Take a playful approach to design by incorporating potted annuals, garden accessories and brightly colored pots into a single grouping. Anchor the design with an extra-large pot filled with sunflower or spider flower plants. Add a pot with a trellis inserted into it for morning glories or hyacinth beans to climb. Place smaller pots of cockscomb, with its bright red flower plumes, and monkey flowers around the base of the larger plants. Accent the arrangement with small garden statues of fairies, little windmills that turn when they catch the breeze, a small, shiny gazing ball and a sprinkling of painted pebbles or agates on top of the soil in each pot.

Edible Design

• Create a kitchen-friendly design with potted annual herbs like summer savory and basil, which has both green and burgundy leaf varieties. Spice up the design with several pots of peppers and include a potted cherry or Roma variety of tomato plant with a decoratively colored tomato cage to add a vertical dimension to the grouping. Bring brightness and unusual flavors to the overall design with several pots of edible flowers. Nasturtiums, placed near a patio railing, climb and produce their spicy flowers within easy-picking range. Calendula, also known as pot marigolds, have edible, yellow and orange petals. Finish the layout with pots of annual pansies, which come in a wide range of colors and patterns and can serve in salads or as a garnish for desserts.