Design Container Gardens for Multiple Seasons

With the upsurge in container gardening, I read much about seasonal containers. Spring containers, summer and fall containers. Even winter containers. Living in Minnesota with it's short growing season has not afforded me the luxury of more than one container garden season. I'm also stymied by seasonal allergies which makes fall gardening more than a little unpleasant. I suppose it can be done, but is there another way?

Here are the facts about frost dates here in western Minnesota: The risk of frost is from September 27-May 10. We have an average frost-free season of about 140 days. However, we are almost (note the almost) guaranteed not to have frost from May 21-September 16. That's actually only about 116 days (less than 4 months!) that we can generally count on.*

The advantage to container gardening is that we can plant earlier because containers can be moved into a protected area if there is a frost warning. This can extend our season by as much as 3 to 4 weeks as long as day time temps are warm enough. However, that's not always the case either. Yes, gardening in the Midwest is sometimes an exercise in frustration! I think that's part of why I love it. You just never know what you're going to get. 

I did do up some fall containers last year. They looked pretty good but the amount of time I got to enjoy them was fairly short. I wanted to enjoy them as long as possible because I had put the money into them and I ended up leaving them until the first snowfall and then had to drag those heavy things into the garage. As much as I love gardening, this is not ideal for me, nor is it money I care to spend for such a short period of time of enjoyment. 

The idea of planting up pots that would look good in the spring, summer and fall came to me last spring while working at the greenhouse. A friend of mine mentioned that she loved pansies but wasn't happy with them during the summer months. I said the trick was to plant them with other things that would do well in the summer so the pansies weren't the main show at that time. They look good in the spring, decline slightly during hot summer months and most times will spring back in the fall. 

That got me thinking about other plants that are less than spectacular in either the spring or summer but excellent in the fall. The first to come to mind was ornamental kale. I absolutely fell in love with it after my boss took this picture last fall.

Not that we need to see snow just yet but what Minnesota gardener doesn't love a plant that looks great through the snow?

However, kale isn't all that spectacular in the spring, and not all that much to look at through the summer either. It really isn't in it's full glory until the fall. This is not overly problematic when planting in the ground but for containers, it can be. My experiment this year was to plant the kale in a container with blue and carmine Picobella petunias in the front through the spring and summer. I loved the carmine and blue with the colors of the kale even though the kale wasn't full grown. I figured by the time the kale was gorgeous, the petunias would be played out. 

I was right and I was wrong. From the curbside the containers were eye-catching. The petunias were gorgeous all summer long, although towards the end of August they got a little played out. The kale didn't detract from the container, but didn't add much to it either until the end of August. Now, the kale is gorgeous AND the petunias have sprung back and look as good as they did in the spring! Turns out petunias can tolerate cool weather. From where I stand, I'd say they prefer it. 

Why I didn't know that before, I don't know. I now have a new found respect for petunias that I love anyway. This is one of the things I love about gardening. I always learn something new and I will never know it all ensuring that gardening will always provide challenges. 

The container today exceeds my expectations. Aside from some tweaking (there's always tweaking!) such as planting just one kale plant and getting something to keep the cabbage moths away from the kale, I will plant this container again next year.

Beside pansies, petunias and kale, other annuals that do well in the fall are dusty miller, calendula, bachelor's buttons. diascia, lobelia and nasturtium. Consider using these plants in your containers with other plants that do well in the heat of summer. Make sure to water containers well in the high temps so cool season plants won't die out. In the fall, you'll be pleasantly surprised when these cool season plants revive and take center stage again.


*Frost date stats from Dave's Garden.

Variation On a Theme: Shade Sparkler

1 Gartenmeister Fushcia
2 Non-stop Fire Begonias
1 Lysimachia
4 Lobelia Regatta Rose

What's with the shade combos? I know! And I don't even have that much shade at all. For whatever reason, my shade containers have turned out well this year. I first talked about this combo here. My mother put this together at my suggestion and I loved the way it turned out. And I have talked about my love affair with the Gartenmeister fuchsia here and here so it only seemed reasonable to me that I should have it. I don't know why I haven't except that I wasn't taking my own advice and was trying other plants that didn't work out nearly so well. 

At any rate, my friend picked my up these giant purple pots because she knows I love purple and they were on sale. Who doesn't love a friend like that? I do! I decided to put the containers on my deck to contrast with all the lime green I have going on out there and to fill in some otherwise empty corners. Sometimes, brightly colored containers can prove hard to work with because they can detract from the plants or clash so choosing what to put in them has another element to consider. I had already decided that I wanted the Gartenmeister which is an orangy-pink, dark green burgundy affair that is already difficult to combine with other plants. I love a challenge!

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I decided to do a variation on the Shade Sparkler combo. Because the container was such a brilliant color I decided I couldn't do pink although I really love the pink begonias. Instead I chose Fire Non-stop Begonias which are a gorgeous combination of yellow and pinky-orange. What better to go with the orangy-pink blooms of the fuchsia? Next came the lysimachia with it's yellow green foliage to balance out all that color and tie in with my lime-green theme on the deck. The pots are quite large and my flower expenditures routinely exceed my budget (even with my work discount!) so I filled in the container with a 4 pack of rose lobelia. 


I have to say, I love, love, LOVE this color combination. It may have something to do with these being some of my absolute favorite plants and getting to use them all together in a way that works. Who wouldn't love that? I especially like how the color of the lobelia actually matches the color of the pot. It ties the container together rather than working against the bold color. 


This combo really does pack a punch in the shade both with color and texture. The purple container adds to the whimsy of this unusual color combination.

Container Garden Idea: Shade Sparkler

Shade Sparkler
(click image to get the full effect of this dynamic combo)
shade/part sun
1 'Gartenmeister' fuchsia
2 Non-Stop begonia Pink'
4 sapphire lobelia

Orange and pink! Together! This color combination isn't for everyone but for those who love a pop of color in the shade, this is your combo.

This combo features one of my very favorite shade plants, the Gartenmeister fuchsia. This is an upright fuchsia with unusual electric orange-pink blooms. Dynamic! In addition, the foliage is dark green and burgundy which adds even more drama to this focal point. This is also one of the shade plants the will actually create some height in shade containers.

Pink may seems like an unusual choice to put with this and it is, yet after much wandering around the greenhouse, this is the color combo that really caught my eye. Since the fuchsia is neither truly pink nor orange, I really could have gone either way. For those preferring a less dynamic punch of color, choose orange Non-Stop begonias. There will still be a color galore! When it comes to begonia, Non-Stop pink (and orange and all the other colors, too) really are non-stop bloomers. These plants work wonderfully around the base of the fuchsia by filling in the soil line and adding color and full texture next to the finer, yet similar, texture of the fuchsia.

With such bright colors, I always think blues work great to balance out the containers. Here, I used a 4 pack of sapphire lobelia. This picture was taken in October (I know! October! In Minnesota!) so the lobelia is a little played out, yet you can still see how fantastic the color and texture of the lobelia work with the coarse texture of the fuchsia and begonia.

For those looking for even more color, the lobelia could be replaced by Golden Moon or Yellow Moon torenia or yellow trailing foliage plant such as lysimachia.

Whatever color combo you choose, Gartenmeister fuchsia is sure to become one of your favorite container plants for the shade. Use this colorful combination in shady areas of your garden that need a shot of color.

Gardening in the Shade: Using Container Gardening to Add Color

Adding color in shady areas can be difficult. When it comes to shade perennials many rely on foliage color and many flower in white. Pretty but not a lot of color. Container gardens with annuals can add a much needed color boost to shady areas. As an added bonus, container gardens can be rotated in and out of a shady area where other things might not grow.

It seems people equate shade with impatiens and for good reason. They are incredibly colorful, reliable bloomers and they grow well. I personally love them but even so I like a little variety. In the spirit of other very well loved and ubiquitous plants, rather than scrapping impatiens altogether, I suggest using them in new ways. Instead of using them alone or as the focal point, use them as fillers in your container combinations. Grow with coleus, upright fuchsias and shade tolerant grasses like King Tut.

Other plants that do well in the shade are tuberous begonias, lobelia, pansies and violas, torenia (both upright and trailing varieties) and upright or hanging fuchsias. With the exception of the upright fuchsias, most of these plants stay fairly small. Alone, they make look frail but planted together they have quite an impact. My daughter has planted container combinations using pansies, violas, torenia and lobelia outside her window for years and the effect has been outstanding. Colorful and robust.

One of the best shade plants is, of course, coleus. This plant has come a long way. I remember planting tiny little things from 4 packs that never got very big. They were colorful all right but not really that spectacular. With the Kong Series all that’s changed. Color and size! In the shade! In addition there are many, many, many varieties of coleus that do well in shade or sun in sizes from 14 inches to 3 feet.

My new favorite plant is the upright fuchsias. I’ve always been drawn to their beautiful flowers but am not generally a fan of hanging baskets so tend not to use them. However, there are several upright fuchsia varieties on the market. Most of them, including ‘Santa Claus’ and ‘Winston Churchill’ have the unique bi-color blooms traditionally associated with fuchsias. However, ‘Gartenmeister’ has a tubular bloom in a unique pink-orange color. These plants are wonderful in combinations. Be mindful, however, that these plants are grown as annuals in zone 4 so will not get to the shrub-size proportions reported in plant descriptions. In my experience, they will be 12"-24" at best.

So go ahead and add some color in your shady areas with container gardens. Use traditional shade plants in new and surprising ways while trying out new cultivars of coleus and fuchsia. With a little creativity and a few containers, your shade gardens will really shine.

Growing Art: Container Garden Design of the Week

Purple Passion

Plants: 1 purple osteospermum, 2 Aztec Plum Magic trailing verbena, 4 Regatta lobelia in shades of blue, white and lavender (Part-sun)

This combination is perfect for an eastern exposure. Each plant actually has different sun requirements but can and does work together in the right location. I have a tendency to stretch plants out of their comfort zone a little bit to get the combinations that I want. More often than not, I am rewarded.

In this case, the osteospermum is a true part sun plant. It doesn’t like it too hot but still needs enough sun to flower well. The trailing verbena is a full sun plant and the lobelia likes to be in the shade. The eastern exposure gives all three of these plants enough of what it needs so the combination works. Morning sun is cooler so the lobelia will do fine and it’s still enough sun for the verbena. The osteo is in its element.

My 4 year old son chose this combination (with just a little help from mom) and thusly the heavy purple palate because that’s what he likes. I had just purchased these great lime pots so the result was quite fantastic.

First he chose the purple osteos which for containers is a great focal plant. It does have a great mounding habit in the garden but has enough height that it works as an upright plant in containers. Next he chose the trailing verbena in Aztec Plum Magic which coordinated nicely with the lighter purple of the osteos. This plant has a semi-trailing habit so is a perfect contrast with the fullness of the osteo. Last, we chose Regatta lobelia in shades of blue, white and lavender. This is also a semi-trailing plant which tends to trail more if it has nowhere else to go. In this case, between the osteo and the verbena it doesn’t so it trails down the container.

The result was quite stunning with the purple flowers against the lime green of the container. This combination is a good example of how your container choice can influence and enhance your flower choice.