Container Garden Idea: Creating Height

Container Trellis
Full Sun
1 Marguerite sweet potato vine
2 lavender trailing verbena
1 white bacopa*

*The picture shows two bacopa but on subsequent plantings I used just one to give all plants maximum growth space for the season.

I love the colors in this combination! And it is a combination that looks great from planting through fall. Each of the plants is a vigorous grower so does very well together. It’s also a good example of how to use an accessory in a container.

As you can see, I had a rock wall to contend with. I didn’t want the wall covered but any container I put in that area seemed too short for the space. I needed height for a good proportion. Small trellises seemed like a good solution.

But what to grow up the trellis? I tried morning glory and moon flower originally and found they didn’t do well because of the heat and sun exposure in this location. It’s on the west side on a concrete sidewalk against a rock wall, a less than ideal growing condition. I couldn’t keep those plants watered well enough to get them established. Ipomoea vines generally don’t like to be transplanted. Other vigorous vines were the just the wrong color and I am picky about color.

My original design started with the lavender verbena and the Marguerite sweet potato vine. I love chartreuse and purple shades together. I couldn’t find a vine to fit in with my scheme when someone suggested growing the sweet potato vine up the trellis rather than using it as my trailing element. Perfect solution. Marguerite is the most vigorous of the sweet potato vines and while it’s not a traditional trellis plant, it will grow upwards easily enough with just a few garden ties.

Choosing a replacement trailing plant proved much easier than finding a vine for the focal point. White bacopa is another vigorous grower that holds its own with both the verbena and the sweet potato vine. The color scheme is fairly simple with just lavender and white flowers and chartreuse foliage but I think the effect is quite stunning.

Because these three plants are such vigorous growers, they will need a larger container in order to grow well. I recommend 18" or larger. This combination also held up quite well in the extreme heat and sun conditions. In case of drought (common in my gardening style), all of these plants rebounded very well. The verbena will bloom profusely throughout the summer if deadheaded occasionally. I always took the opportunity to pinch off a few spent blooms while watering and was rewarded handsomely for this minimal effort.

Container Gardening Plants: Trailing Verbena

Verbena Hybrids

Verbena Hybrids are one of my favorite plants to use in containers. These hybrids are sometimes referred to as trailing but the growth habit is more spreading than trailing. The plant grows out, up and sometimes down all at the same time. These hybrids are a great choice to use as a filler plant especially in larger containers.

The Aztec series, Superbena and Babylon series are a few of the hybrids of this plant. Colors come in white and several shades of red, blue, purple, lavender and pink. Flowers grow in clusters and can be small and dainty or large and bold. Some flowers have a white eye in the middle which is particularly striking in the darker purple and red shades. Others are solid colored flowers which gives the plant a different look.

The foliage on most verbena hybrids is similar to the upright variety with dark green compact serrated leaves. I’ve always found the foliage of this plant to add great texture and interest to any container. The Babylon hybrids, however, have wonderfully lacey and delicate foliage. The flowers tend to be smaller but still grow in large clusters and are quite striking.

The best thing about these plants is that if you don’t deadhead them, they will continue to flower throughout the summer. If you do deadhead them you will be handsomely rewarded with a plant covered in lush blooms.

Verbena hybrids prefer full sun and moderate water. They are incredibly versatile and combine well with grasses, osteospermum, malvia, coleus, petunias, guara, bacopa and sweet potato vine. With all the color choices and foliage interest, this plant is indispensable to container gardeners.

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.

Growing Art: Container Garden Design of the Week

Prairie Beauty

Plants: Gaura (1), fiber optic grass (2), trailing verbena (2)

This is a great design for those windy spots in your yard. Guara looks like a delicate plant but don’t let its appearance fool you. This is a Texas native that also stands up to heat, drought and humidity. In windy areas, rather than get beat down or shredded, the delicate pink flowers dance in the wind, enhancing the beauty of the plant and adding interest in the garden.

Trailing verbena is a spreading plant rather than a true trailer and fills in the base of the guara nicely. I like to use purple as a strong contrast to the pink flowers. Lavender or pink trailing verbena would work well also depending on your color preferences.

In the corners, use fiber optic grass. This plant does double duty as filler and a trailing plant. I do recommend splitting this plant (2 plants for 4 corners) as it is a vigorous grower. In the picture you’ll notice the fiber optic grass is taking over. In fact the trailing verbena gets lost in all that grass and this picture is really a cautionary tale. This is what you don’t want. It will fill in quickly even if it looks sparse at first.



These plants can all take full sun and would do well in either a south or west exposure. I have had it on the east side of my house and it has done very well there as well.

Truly the best part of this arrangement is how well it stands up to wind. As long as the plants get at least 6 hours of sun, put this container in any windy spot in your yard where other plants get windblown. You’ll be amazed at the beauty of this container.