Below are over 25 beautiful planter ideas! I had some talented neighbors who seemed to try to outdo each other with their flower planter ideas. If I see some other interesting and inspiring ideas, I'll be sure to add them to this post.
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'm always looking for ideas no matter what time of year it is.
I'm sharing 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 spring and early summer is the time you really need to take a look at these.
Table of contents
My favorite fall outdoor planters
Looking for fall outdoor planter ideas?
Fall planter ideas - reusing your grasses.
Fall Planter Ideas on a Budget.
Want to create your own DIY beautiful planters? I'll be sending lots of ideas and inspiration. "How to plant" tutorials & planter care tip articles will be shared too!
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 blooming flowers 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 its 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 center right of this planter. The pretty lime green color makes the flower colors pop!
A Succulent Garden in a Birdbath
The container itself 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 share exactly how I put this together.
Here is a pretty close-up of this succulent garden in the morning sun.
Outdoor Flower Pot Ideas
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 on the left 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 (a perennial) 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.
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.
Table top flower planters are also wonderful for a splash of color. Look at the one below!
And, the front door. Diane's geraniums always look great!
Garden Planter Ideas
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.
These patio planter ideas are beautiful! I know my neighbor makes all of her own planters because I've often shopped for flowering plants and other appropriate patio plants with her.
Below is her super cute front door planter.
If you haven't noticed, all of these outdoor flower pot arrangements 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 your 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 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?
FAQ's
The gardeners I asked all used Miracle Grow. These planters are all in Wisconsins and the summers are short. So watering weekly with diluted fertilizer is a great idea.
That is a long in depth question. Here is a post dedicated to answering this question with lots of detail. How to water your plants.
Lots of details and images in this post. How to deadhead petunias.
More outdoor planter | container garden ideas
Looking for some more ideas? These are some of my most popular container gardening posts! Many are repeats of the links above but now they are conveniently all in one spot.
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!
Looking for more planter ideas? Sign up on the form below!
Originally published March 13, 2016.
Mistie Babin
Great tips! I have one for you that works wonderers! In fact I did this after my fil helped me move my Chaste tree. He helped me dig up the football and managed to cut it to maybe a 5-10 gallon size, I/2 of what it was. Then drove it down the highway at 55! When it got to our new house it looked dead. I immediately got it in the ground, but the next day every leaf was brown, by the third day they fell off. Within two weeks of replanting it had new green leafs and it even bloomed that year. I devised my own method of using a diaper in the planter trick. I bought the biggest size dollar general had, two small packs and filled every single diaper up with as much water as it would hold. Then after placing about 4-6 cubic yards of soil I’d tear the diapers open and cover the soil, then lightly rake it in. Then I balled up up newspaper and made another layer. Then more soil, then more diapers then more newspaper and finished with soil. I finished it up with torn cardboard as a weed barrier, tearing the strips to fit and mulched. After mulching I used miracle grow quick start. And then watered once a day. For about 10 days. LIGHTLY. The diapers don’t go away. Once the water has been depleted from the goop it fills up with whatever water fertilizer mix you use. Slowly nourishing your plants. It saves big bucks all year! The chaste tree has grown so much more than it did at our previous house where I didn’t do this. I wouldn’t put the diaper goop in a regular hole in the ground either. I made a raised bed for the chaste tree so it stays contained with the soil. It is perfect for this and planters too. I live in south Louisiana where temps in August reach the hundreds and more years than not we are wearing shorts at Christmas. It has worked beautifully every time I’ve done it and works tremendously better than just using the whole diaper. As for the cardboard trick it was what I had on hand and mostly clay soil with only about 2-3” of good soil. ( my parents God bless them aren’t gardeners ) Since we bought the house after losing ours in the Louisiana August 2016 flood I haven’t had to pull but a few weeds and that’s been this year. The cardboard is breaking down and amending my soil as well as keeping all those pesky weeds away, not to mention keeping the roots and plants warm on those cold days! In 2017 we got snow twice in two weeks, unheard of here and it stuck. All of my plants thrived, none of which were covered. The newspaper has also been helping in both departments! Hope this can help y’all out too! Those planters are gorgeous!
Lisa
Could you please advise what you and yourneighbors do for pest control, such as aphids and mealy bugs?
Marie Parker
I would love to see some of the planters. Thank you.
momcrieff
Hi Marie,
Just click through the Pinterest image and that will take you to the blog post with the planters. Hope you see some ideas you enjoy!
Mariana Carris
Loved your pictures and am inspired. May i suggest you add how much sun these arrangement need. I need heat tolerant plants that are low maintenance as i travel but want flowers.
Michelle
I am in the northeast, when do I starrt?
momcrieff
It depends! You should talk to your local nursery and find out when the average last frost date is in your area. Plant about a week or two after that. No guarantees there won't be another frost, but usually, it's safe to plant.
Debbie Wilson
The best advice I got regarding flowers/planters was: filler, spiller, thriller. If you pick and plant your flowers according to those, you'll have a beautiful planter. Look at the majority of planters you see, and you'll notice that pattern.
Anonymous
Enjoyed your pictures I am in love with pic # 1 where did you get the dragon fly stake ?!
momcrieff
I bought it at a spring craft show. I love my dragonfly stake!
Monica
Deadheading is pinching back or snipping off the dead blossoms to encourage more flowers.
momcrieff
Yes, a very important thing to do to keep those flowers blooming!
Meridee
What is deadhead?
julie
Love the pictures.