25 Outdoor Planter Ideas

Over 25 outdoor planter ideas from everyday people! 

Here is my collection of over 25 planters (container gardens) created by my neighbors. It started with 20 and now there are over 25! If you need some flower planter ideas or inspiration for your plant pots this year, you've come to the right place! Most of these planters are for the front door or on a porch and are in the full sun.

 

 

I hope these inspire your own flower planters for this summer. I know I'm busy looking for ideas right now. I thought I would share these with you and maybe you will find an idea or two that works for you and your home.   I originally wrote this post in the fall, but now is the time you really need to take a look.

My favorite fall outdoor planters

Looking for fall outdoor planter ideas?
Fall planter ideas - reusing your grasses.
Fall Planter Ideas on a Budget.

My outdoor planters

Here is my planter, on my front porch all grown up! I say that because this is the planter I showed you when I did the How I Planted my Planter tutorial.    I just love having flowering planters with constant blooms at my front door!   If you are going to plant your own planters, and do your own gardening, I'd like to recommend comfortable gloves.  They keep your hands clean and help prevent blisters!

Enjoy these beautiful planters!  I did talk to the owners of these planters and they shared their main tips. I will share those tips at the bottom of the post. Many planters follow the thrillers, fillers and spillers recipe. I'll really quickly review what each term means.

Thrillers

Thrillers are the first part of the traditional planter plant formula. Those are usually the taller plant. Think of the tall spikey plant you often see in the middle or towards the back of the planter. Sometimes a plant is a thriller because it is the center of attention due to its color, or something unusual.  In the center of the coleus plants (with it's colorful leaves)is the taller thriller plant.  This planter, based on what is in it, is placed in a shaded area.

(If you are looking for shade garden ideas for your yard, check out this post - 31 shade garden plants/ideas.

Fillers

The filler normally does its job of filling the planter with flowers.  I often use geraniums, marigolds or mounding varieties of petunias and alyssum.  The picture below is a good example of the red geraniums being used as fillers.

Spillers

It's the spillers I love. The plants drape over and down the planter. I have often used sweet potato plants (love the colorful foliage), Wave petunias (specifically wave) and I also like and look for alyssum that spills over the planter. Read the tags in the plants to see if the plants grow in a more mounded compact form (fillers) or if they drape and spill over the side of the container.  Below, the sweet potato vine is on the right of this planter.  The pretty lime green color makes the flower colors pop!

My succulent garden in a birdbath

The container can sometimes be the fun part!  This is one of my container gardens.  It's actually a succulent garden in a vintage looking birdbath.  Take a look at my  DIY for my Succulent Bird Bath.  I do love cement birdbaths!  The plants here are all succulents and/or sedums.

Here is a pretty close-up of this succulent garden in the morning sun.

My Neighbor's outdoor plants and their plant pots

If I could hand out awards, I would give the Best Planter Patio award to my neighbor Diane.

Diane just does such a good job of choosing interesting plant pots and interesting flowering plants.  Plus, there are many combinations of traditional patio plants that always do well.

You need to look closer to see how pretty the petunias and sweet potato vine look.  The green leafy plant is a type of sweet potato plant.

The taller plant in the front container looks like the herb rosemary.   Don't be afraid to mix in herbs into your container gardens!

 

Technically not a planter, but I love how this clematis was planted in the little spot where the patio post is set.  I need to add flowering perennials to my outdoor patio/deck areas.   It's a much wiser financial investment than annuals.

Have a birdhouse and need a place to put it?  I love putting something into my pots to give additional height to my planters.   My frustration has been the poles tend to lean.  I've found this pole stabilizer and may order a few to solve that problem.

There are obviously planters used in the backyard to add some pretty color to that outdoor space.

Here is another area where perennial plantings are used to showcase a planter.  The grasses really make the colors of the flowering plants and the plant pot pop.  Don't you like the birdhouse on a stake?  I'm thinking about getting this.

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I LOVE using red geraniums in my container gardens.  Obviously, many of my neighbors do too! And, I love adding height by putting in a pretty container garden stake in my flower pots.

Pretend the hibiscus below is blooming.  Cause my timing was never good when I went over to check!   I do love the hibiscus and ivy combination.   Don't you like how the birdhouse was added to give height and the flowers edge the taller plant?  It really makes this planter with a taller plant look put together.   I'm eying purchasing this birdhouse because it's so stinking cute!

 

And, the front door.  Diane's geraniums always look great!

More Creative Planter Ideas - Flower Planters by Amy

Of course, I have to show you my friend Amy's planters!   We often discuss our plants, our yards, our homes, and our kids....

The planter below is made up of red geraniums, purple petunias, yellow million bells and purple fountain grass.

 

Amy is just so talented!   And lucky for us, she's willing to let us see what she does with that talent! I know she makes all of her own planters because I've often shopped for the flowering plants and other appropriate patio plants with her.

 

Below is her super cute front door planter.

If you haven't noticed, Amy's planters all have a little piece of 'decor' in them.  Pretty glass poles, metal flowers, and other cute items just finish off the look of the planter.  A little container garden tip, these extra decor items are especially pretty when the planter is newly planted and the plants haven't filled in yet.  And, one of her favorite planters is the classical urn-type planters.

Other flower planters to inspire planter ideas.

One of my favorite "Welcome" planters.  I love seeing pretty planters by a walkway.  They add a little splash of elegance!  I love the little ½ barrel planter container.

I know it was purchased like this but the planter just really works in it's location.  Plus it's pretty.  And, right in the scorching sun.  So, I'm impressed it keeps looking this good!

Window Boxes - another outdoor planter option.

Here is the window box I showed being planted in a previous post. Isn't it pretty and full now?  Ingrid shared her secrets for successful window boxes in this Window Box Planter Tips post.  She is the only person I know who grows her petunias from seed!

Look at the pretty color it adds to the house!

How smart to have the builder add window boxes when the house was being built!

A few more to show you! I just love looking through my flower pictures in the winter. It helps cheer me up then.  This is a simple petunia arrangement but the trellis adds some height and visual interest.  I'm planning on doing something similar but am thinking about having a climbing plant in the middle.  This type of (affiliate link) trellis is not expensive, especially for how much visual interest they give!

 

This is so pretty because of its simplicity.  Plus, I like the little ceramic frog :)!

Looking for some tips and hints on how to put together beautiful flower planters?   As I was taking pictures, I was chatting with these green-thumbed people.  Are you surprised I was chatting?  Well, you shouldn't be : ).

Let me show you my fall container garden from last year.  I painted this container and if you want to see how to make your own black and white planters, click on the colored link.  It was fun to do and it has held up great!   I love when the grasses start drying in the fall (the thriller grass is purple fountain grass).  And who doesn't love adding pumpkins gourds and mums to fall containers?

I'm going to show you one more!  We have to get a winter/Christmas planter into this post, right?

Flowering Planters - tips and tricks.

1. Everyone seems to be a fan of Miracle Grow.  They use it more frequently than what the directions state. It's commonly mixed at the strength recommended on the bag, but fed every one to two weeks. Our summer season in Wisconsin is so short and the planters can only hold so much.

2. Water frequently. Especially during the hot and sunny days. It was not uncommon for some of these plant lovers to water a couple of times a day during a heat spell.  If possible, water early and late in the day.  But, if your plants are drooping and begging for water, please give them a drink!  I like pretty watering cans like this one.  Then it's ok to leave out at your backdoor : )

3. Trim those plants.  The last couple of petunia pictures were taken on Sept. 7th.  They were still going strong when most other's were scraggly and droopy.   They were cut back about two weeks prior.   And, I was also told to make sure to regularly trim the sweet potato vines.  They look so much better when plants aren't dragging on the ground.

4.  Beware the sun and heat spells.  Sometimes, the planters need to be pulled into shadier areas to give them a little break.

5.  Deadhead your flowers!!.  A must for geraniums.  Even petunias benefit from deadheading.   It doesn't take long if you do it regularly.  All deadheading means is clip the finished bloom off the plant.  I always keep pruning shears handy so that I can just clip the old flowers off when I have just a minute or two.

6.  Lastly, but here is one of the most important tips.  Buy great plants from a good source.  A weak-looking plant never seems to do really well.  Make sure you buy healthy looking plants from a reliable source.   Not sure where a good spot is to buy?  Ask your neighbors, who have plants you admire, where they buy their plants.  Hopefully, they will tell you!

7.  People that have beautiful planters aren't "lucky".  They do something for them almost every day.

Hope this post has given you lots of inspiration.

More outdoor planter | container garden ideas

Looking for some more ideas?  These are some of my most popular container gardening posts!

How to Keep Water from Running Through Hanging Planters

Make your own unique and inexpensive LARGE planter.

How I planted my outdoor planter | flower container.

Pretty Planters - 20 more planters!

Window Box Planters - some 'how to' tips.

Plan your fall planter in the spring - reuse your grasses!

 

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Originally published March 13, 2016.