25 Beautiful Plant Combination Ideas For Container Gardens

Planning and planting your container garden can be one of the most fun exercises a gardener can experience. It allows you to think of flower colors, foliage colors, structure, height, and textures when planning out the perfect container garden ideas. I also think of a theme. What are the vibes my container is giving? Cottage, modern, desert, whfernimsical…?

For beautiful container combinations, aim to have three components: a thriller, a filler, and a spiller. There are many varieties of plants that can take on these unique roles in a container. Each adds color, texture, and definition.

There are just so many possibilities when it comes to planting your perfect container. I’ve compiled a list of my favorite container garden arrangements. There are also some substitutions if the suggested plants don’t grow in your climate. I hope these inspire you to test some beautiful container gardens this season!

Hydrangea, Cedar, and Ivy

This is a classic arrangement in containers. Plant the tall cedar in the back, then place a compact hydrangea variety in front. These provide a filling pop of color! Plant the ivy so it spills out of the container.

All these plants like to be kept in part sun and kept evenly moist. The hydrangea will especially tell you when it needs water. It will appear droopy. I think this container arrangement is elegant and low maintenance.

Switch it up: Try using a lemon cypress instead of the cedar. Or you can use an upright juniper, such as ‘Wichita’.

Red Scarlet Canna, Royal Velvet Supertunia, Brocade Fire Geranium, and Potato Vine

If you want an explosion of flowers in a hot sunny location, this is the design for you. Start with a stunning Bronze Scarlet canna lily. Plant these in the middle or towards the back in the center (if your pot will be viewed from all angles, I tend to plant in the center. If it is against a wall or pillar and only viewed from the front I tend to plant it in the back center or a container).

Then plant 3, 5, or 7 (depending on the size of your container) Brocade Fire Geraniums. I always use odd numbers for plants, it’s more appealing to the eye. The limey green foliage on these geraniums with the red centers plays off the bronze scarlet canna perfectly.

Then add some Royal Velvet Supertunias interspersed with bright green potato vine to spill out of the pot. The Supertunias are a deep velvety purple color that breaks up all the red in the canna lily and geranium blossoms. The bright green potato vine ties everything together.

Switch it up: If you can’t find Brocade Fire geraniums try using a regular red variety, such as ‘Galaxy’. Golden Lysimachia will work in place of potato vine. Another good switch would be to use a red banana if you can’t find a canna lily.

Palms, Tuberous Begonias, and Lysimachia

Shade pots are my favorite. Maybe because I live in a cold dry climate, and shady containers have a lush feel that makes me feel like I’m in the tropics. I use this combination over and over again. It’s easy to throw together and provides a big impact.

Majesty palms or cat palms are cheap and easy to find. Go to any garden center and you should be able to find one. Then pick an odd number of begonias that will fit your pot. This is where you can get creative.

Pick a color of begonia that matches your door or patio cushions. They come in lots of colors, orange, red, white, yellow, and pink. The tuberous varieties feature large bold rose-like blossoms. I like getting them in the larger 6″ pot size so they really fill the pot.

Then get golden lysimachia and plant them in between the begonias near the edge of the container so they can spill out. The golden vine really brightens up the shade without being too busy against the solid begonia flowers.

Switch it up: Use an alocasia instead of a palm for an exotic look. You can also use senecio ivy instead of golden lysimachia. It does really well in shady areas and gets large and lush.

Coleus, Lemon Cypress, Spider Plants, and Lobelia

This is a stunning part shade-shade combination. Use a small lemon cypress in the back of the container slightly off to one side. Then place a red rooster carex slightly to the front so and off to the other side. You don’t want them side by side. Slightly staggered so the coppery grass is wispy and in front of the chartreuse lemon cypress.

Then, there should be a gap behind the red rooster grass. Plant a tall variety of coleus. I like using a mixture of Colorblaze ‘Wicked Witch’ and ‘Golden Dreams’. Make sure you choose a variety that has some height.

Then place a small spider plant in the front. I usually place it on one side. Underneath the lemon cypress is probably where it should go, but use your judgment (I often take a step back and look at things as I go).

Then fill the empty holes with a six-pack cell of lobelia. I usually add some trailing plants. Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ is a good choice, or I will use variegated creeping Charlie.

Switch it up: Use a cedar if you can’t find a lemon cypress. I would then change up the spiller plants to a chartreuse sweet potato vine, or golden lysimachia to add the pop of brightness you would have gotten from the lemon cypress.

Castor Bean and Sunpatiens

Castor Bean plants look out of this world. They are exotic and strange. So for this container arrangement, I really wanted to highlight the castor bean and not make things too busy. Castor beans have large palm-shaped leaves that are dark with a red tinge to them. Then they grow fuzzy red seed pods.

The dark foliage really pops when planted with the variegated Sunpatiens unique foliage. They have dark green margins and bright yellow centers. The flowers come in a variety of colors. I think red or white look best, but that is an entirely personal preference. You could even do a mixture.

Switch it up: I think the big element in this planter is the castor bean. So switch up the underplanting. Anything sharp and bright provides a great contrast. Golden lysimachia, sweet potato vine, or ‘Electric Lime’  coleus would all work great.

Palms and Coleus

I love a pot that looks great without even a flower. This container arrangement is so simple but has so much impact and interest. Use a majesty or cat tail plant in the center of the container. I use these palms a lot in my designs because they add height, an airy texture, and best of all they are fairly inexpensive.

Then layer lots of coleus underneath. This is where I like to use a shorter variety. Fairway or Wizard mixes are perfect. They often come in mixed six-pack cells. Grab a few packs of them and tightly pack them. These varieties will grow low underneath the palm and be like a beautiful tapestry of color.

Switch it up: Use a single color of coleus. Wizard ‘Jade’ is a beautiful green and yellow variety for a neutral look. Or Wizard ‘Rose’ is a pink variety that would add a lot of color underneath a palm. You could also use a large green dracaena variety instead of a palm. It has the same light airy foliage of a palm so you can really see the coleus underneath.

Rose Topiary Diamond Frost and Bacopa

This container arrangement is like a fairytale. Light, airy, and floral. Pick up a rose topiary from your local nursery. I love a classic red rose, but pink, yellow, white whatever you like, will work.

Plant it in the center of a container. Then plant diamond frost euphoria all around the base. Then add fluffy white bacopa to trail out the sides. The dark red rose with pure white around it looks romantic and whimsical.

Switch it up: Any flowering topiary can work for this design. Hibiscus, gardenia, azalea, etc.

I love the diamond frost because of how light and airy it is, but if you can’t find it, allysum will work too. White calibrachoa or supertunias will look great in place of Bacopa.

Or, try the reverse. Use a white rose and then plant red geraniums and Amore ‘Queen of Hearts’ petunias underneath.

Willow Branches, Pansies, Daffodils, and Ornamental Kale

I like to do seasonal pots, this design is perfect for spring. You can purchase willow branches from most local florists, or you can clip your own. Place the branches in the center of your pot. I like to arrange them so they fan outwards in a vase shape.

Then place already-blooming or about-to-bloom daffodils in the center of the pot. You can purchase forced daffodil plants from florists as well. The willow branches hold them up well. When they finish blooming, their grass-like foliage looks good in between the willow branches. Then I place ornamental kale in the front. 

Finally, fill the gaps with your favorite color pansies. To give it an even more spring vibe, add moss to cover any visible soil (available for purchase at craft stores, garden centers, and florists).

Switch it up: This is an easy design formula to create a fall planter. Use curly willow branches, ornamental kale, heather, and mums to create a warm fall design.

Prince Tut Grass, Begonias, and Jade Frost Lamium

Tut grasses are a really fun thriller plant to use in containers. This particular design is great for a seasonal container. If you live somewhere where there is no frost, this might not be a good long-term container choice. The watering needs of these plants are different. But they work together in harmony over a summer.

Tut grasses come in a variety of sizes, from baby to king. But I really like prince tut. It’s large and has a presence, but it isn’t as tall and floppy as king tut. Prince tut grows between 2-3′ in height with sturdy stalks that end in large plumes of airy foliage.

At the base of this design, I surround it with begonias. Reiger or tuberous begonias work best. Choose whatever color you like. Then plant jade frost lamium to spill out the front. This planter comes together fast. Feel free to add a touch of lobelia for another flower color and texture in the pot.

Switch it up: This one is so simple, it can be substituted with almost any type of flowering begonia. Impatiens would work as well. Any shade trailing vine will work too. Senecio ivy, English ivy, or even pothos will work as trailers.

Purple Fountain Grass, Calibrachoa, Osteospermum, and Dichondra

This container arrangement gives warm fall vibes. It thrives in full sun and is the perfect combination of flowers and foliage, textures, and colors. Place the purple fountain grass in the back center of a pot. Then off to one side plant the osteospermum.

On the other side plant the calibrachoa so it spills downwards. At the front edge if the container plant dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ spills downwards. The calibrachoa will spill into the dichondra and it will be floral and vine harmony.

I didn’t mention colors for the osteospermum or calibrachoa. This is where I will leave it to you to play with. Try ‘Zion Purple Sun’ osteospermum which has a magenta purple center that turns to orange petals with ‘Million Bells Trailing Magenta’ calibrachoa. The solid color calibrachoa will pull the center color from the osteospermum and look really sharp.

Switch it up: This is what I would call a formula planting. All it needs is a tall grass, an upright flowering annual, a low-growing flowering annual, and a trailing plant. Fill in the blanks with whatever combination you like. Try ‘First Knight’ Pennisetum with ‘Snapshot Coral Bicolor snapdragons, ‘Ladybird Lemonade’ calylophus, and lotus vine.

Dusty Miller, Geraniums, and Sedge Grass

The large soft fuzzy white foliage of dusty miller is lovely. They have been appearing more and more often in garden centers in my area and I have fallen in love. They work great paired with geraniums, I love bold red ones.

This combination works great in smaller planters, like an urn-shaped container. I place the dusty miller in the back, then layer three geraniums in front off to one side. Then I take a sedge grass (I like rosy sedge) and tilt it slightly down so it can spill out the side.

Switch it up: This container arrangement is a great combination of textures and colors. The only switch-up I would offer is you could use a flower other than geraniums. Make sure it is upright and smaller than the dusty miller. Petunias or marigolds would work. I prefer seeing one bold solid color, rather than multi-cored flowers alongside the velvety silver leaves of dusty miller.

Mandevilla and Petunias

This is a simple but effective little combination. Get a trellis or an obelisk for the center of your container. Then plant mandevilla in the middle of the pot. It will grow and twine around the obelisk.

Next plant a variety of petunias underneath. I would pair a regular petunia like ‘Daddy Blue’ with a trailing variety like Easy Wave ‘Red Velour’.

This combination loves full sun and lots of water. The petunias will require regular deadheading to keep them blooming throughout the season. Play with the colors of the mandevilla and petunias, whatever you like and have available to you.

Switch it up: The mandevilla can easily be swapped out for firecracker vine, black eyed Susan vine, or cup and saucer vine. Also, the petunias can be calibrachoa, verbena, or any other flowering full sun annual you like.

Dracaena, Lobelia, Geraniums, Potato Vine, and Lotus Flower Vine

I love combinations that play with flowers, foliage, and textures. This one has it all! Start with a spiky dracaena in the center towards the back. Next layer in some Geraniums such as ‘Galaxy Red’ in close to the dracaena.

 In the front center underneath the geraniums add in the sweet potato vine. For this pot the sweet potato vine will be acting as more of a filler than a spiller plant. Then add a border of blue or purple lobelia. Finish off with the feathery fine texture of silvery lotus flower vine as the trailer. 

This is a full sun combination that requires frequent even watering. It looks great as a window box design but also works in a round or square pot.

Switch it up: Try adding purple sweet potato vine with alyssum instead of lobelia for a reverse color combo. I would use a pink geranium like ‘Galaxy Watermelon’ to finish the look off.

Lavender, Geraniums, and Licorice Vine

If you want a low-maintenance water-wise combination, this little trio is a great choice. Lavender has silvery grassy foliage with purple flowers and that unmistakable scent when you touch it. These plants not only look great in a container but would look great together in a flower bed.

Pair it with bold pink or red geraniums and then add a silver-colored licorice vine to trail out. This is a perfect combo of foliage and flower.

What I like about this combo is how low maintenance it is. All the plants are drought-tolerant and heat-resistant. Plant in full sun. Water when it dries out.

Switch it up: If you want more height and drama in your container, try adding a lavender topiary. I see them everywhere in the summer wherever bedding plants are being sold. They come on a single woody stem. Plant the geraniums and licorice vine underneath.

Pansies and Coral Bells

This combination is a sweet and simple woodland combination. Just layer in a variety of coral bells and some pansies. There are so many varieties of coral bells to choose from and equally as many pansy varieties to match. This combination likes a part shade location and evenly moist soil.

The best way to find combinations of the two plants is to go to your local garden center and find some coral bells and then add pansies and mix and match to find combinations that pop.

Try ‘Peppermint Spice’ heuchera paired with Matrix ‘Raspberry Sundae’ mix pansies. Or go dark with a Primo ‘Black Pearl’ heuchera and brighten it up with Sorbet XP ‘Blueberry Frost’ pansies. 

Switch it up: Add some drama to this container arrangement by adding a large leaf tropical into the center. Bird of paradise, banana, or an elephant ear alocasia would all look great.

Snowland Daisy, Lobelia, Creeping Zinnia Ivy Geraniums, and Fuschia

If flowers are your thing, then this is a combination for you. While I do like playing with foliage textures and colors, I do a lot of flower combinations. The trick is to choose flowers that fit different roles in the container and to choose flowers with different textures and colors.

In this container creation, Snowland daisies are the upright flower. Next, add some lobelia and creeping zinnia. These two flowers will collide and meld together as the filler flower.

Feel free to tuck in some ivy geraniums, such as ‘Blizzard Red’. While not completely necessary, it does add a big bold flower which is a nice contrast to the flurry of small flowers.

Then to finish it off, tuck in fuschias and petunias as trailers. Tuck the fuschias in to the side that receives less sun. The combination of the two spilling out the sides looks great.

Switch it up: This is a really loose design. Play with it and make it fit your taste. Butterfly daisies, diamond frost, calibrachoa, verbena, and many more flowers will work. Go to the garden center and see what you can find. Just remember to choose a variety of flowers. Choose some that are upright, some that creep, and some that trail.

Dahlia, Salvia, and Ivy Geranium

This planter is simple but bold. It has everything. Dramatic foliage, different textures, and lots of flowers. Start by planting a red leaf dahlia such as ‘Giselle’ in the center of your planter.

Then plant an annual salvia such as ‘Victoria Blue’ underneath it. Finish it off with an ivy geranium such as ‘Mini Cascade Pink’ to trail out.

This is a sun-loving combination with medium water requirements. It will require a large container since all the plants get fairly large.

Switch it up: I think sunflowers in the center instead of dahlia would look great. Try a dwarf variety such as ‘Sundance Kid’ that only grows to 2′ high. I would pair this with ‘Red Hot Sally’ salvia and ‘Blizzard Red’ ivy geraniums.

Fern, Pansies, and Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’

This sweet combination is made for shade. Grab a fern, I like the look of a big full Boston fern, but just about any fern will do. Ponytail fern, ostrich fern, maidenhair fern, whatever you like and can find will work. Then place pansies underneath.

I wouldn’t get too caught up in the variety, a mixture looks great. Then add dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ to spill out. The silver foliage looks great against the green fern.

Switch it up: For a more formal look try swapping out the pansies for begonias. The big rosettes of tuberous begonia blooms would look rich and elegant tucked in under a fern.

Pineapple Lily and Diascia

This design is so simple, with only two plants, but it has a lot of impact. I think this because the two plants are not super common. Start with a big pineapple lily in the center. Then add Diascia all around. Boom, you’re done.

This combination looks best in a full-sun location. It looks dramatic and tropical.

Switch it up: Don’t get too caught up on the diascia if you can’t find it. Verbena, bacopa, or wave petunias would be a great substitute.

The Edible Arrangement 

If you are short on space and keep going back and forth between a decorative pot or a veggie pot, why not do both? Vegetables and herbs can be beautiful when combined. First you will want to determine if you want to do a shade combo or a sun combo. 

In shade opt for leafy greens like lettuce, chard, and kale. Dinosaur kale has big textured leaves and looks great in the center of a pot. So do the brightly colored stems of rainbow chard.

Use ‘Freckles’ lettuce for a pretty pop of speckled leaves that are delicious finish this combination off with chocolate mint trailing out. Putting mint in a container is a great way to prevent it from spreading. 

In the sun, use herbs and plants that produce fruits. Like an ‘Indigo Sun’ cherry tomato in the center, some basil all around, and thyme spilling put. Or you could do lavender or rosemary with curly parsley and sage.

Grow what you like to eat and think of colors and textures of the foliage when you are preparing an edible arrangement.

Switch it up: Remember edible flowers. Pansies are cute little shade flowers that look great on cupcakes and in salads. Nasturtium is a deliciously spicy trailing plant with bright red and yellow flowers. Or even chives have delicious purple flowers that are great with eggs or potatoes.

Mandevilla, Calibrachoa, Geranium, Bacopa, Potato Vine, and Sedum

I like this bold red and pink combination. It is bright, beautiful, and comes together fairly easily. Start with a Mandevilla in the center of your pot, you might need a trellis or obelisk for it to climb. Next, add some geraniums around the Mandevilla as the filler plants.

What makes this planter so eye-catching is all the things that trail. Layer in some lime green sweet potato vine, bacopa, calibrachoa, and trailing sedums to create a fountain of colors and textures.

This combination needs full sun and lots of water. I would opt for a larger container to fit all these plants into it and to create impact.

Switch it up: This design can be switched up in many ways. Go to the garden center and play around with trailing plants. Creeping Jenny, Angelina sedum, torrenia, verbena, wave petunias, and more can be easily substituted. The center plant can also be switched out. It could be a dracaena, dahlia, or even a small cedar.

Coral Bells and Lupine

This little combination is so simple and yet the juxtaposition of the foliage and flowers is really striking. This combination prefers part shade conditions and evenly moist, but never wet, soil.

For this combination, it is best to choose a dwarf variety of lupine such as one for the ‘Gallery’ series. I love ‘Galler Pink’ lupines. Plant them in the center of the pot. Next pick a coral bell such as Dolce ‘Wildberry’. Plant this around the perimeter of the pot. I would use an odd number of coral bells, three, five, or seven.

Switch it up: There are so many varieties of lupins and coral bells. Try a ‘Georgia Peach’ coral bell, which is a lovely copper color, with a ‘Popsicle Yellow’ lupin.

Mixed Succulents

My front door was a full south exposure. I found keeping up with watering my front containers a full-time job. They were always dry and they would fizzle out quickly. A great solution to this is planting a container full of sun-loving succulents.

Head to your garden center and see what they have. You can usually find echeverias, burro tail, bunny ear cactus, aloe vera, crassulas, and more.

When choosing your succulents consider the color, shapes, sizes, and textures just like you would a flower container. Also, think of the thriller, filler, spiller concept. Use an Aloe vera plant in the center as the spiky thriller.

Then tuck in a variety of echeverias as the filler. Finally, finish it off with ‘Baby Necklace’ crassula trailing out. I find with succulents in pots, the more types of succulents you add, the better it looks.

Make sure your succulents are planted in loose sandy soil, I recommend a cactus blend. Also, make sure they are in full sun and the pots have lots of drainage.

Switch it up: Cactus and succulents lend themselves perfectly to ‘funky junk’ containers. If you have a head planter you always wanted to try or an old boot, or even a teacup. These things lend themselves perfectly to filling with succulents since they don’t require much soil, nutrients or water. If they don’t have drainage, make sure you keep them out of an area that gets rain.

Coleus, New Guinea Impatiens, and Ivy

If you want an easy-peasy three-plant design that looks thought out and elegant, this is the design for you. The wonderful thing about this simple planter is that it can take sun-shade. It likes being evenly moist, but not over-watered. 

Start with a ‘Chocolate Mint’ coleus in the back at the center. Then add ‘Infinity White’ impatiens in front. Then add variegated English ivy out the front. 

Switch it up: Don’t get too caught up on the color combination. If you can’t find a dark coleus, opt for a pink variety, like ‘Chocolate Covered Cherry’. You can then play with the color of new guinea impatiens. White would still look great, but a pink variety would shine as well.

‘Lanai White’ Verbena, ‘Blackcurrant Punch’ Calibrachoa, and Superbells ‘Lemon Slice’ Calibrachoa 

I picture this arrangement in the center of an outdoor table. It’s low-growing and has plenty of textures and colors. Simply mix ‘Black Currant Punch’ calibrachoa, Superbells ‘Lemon Slice’ calibrachoa, and ‘Lanai White’ verbena. This is a perfect sun combination. Use a fluffy potting mix so it can hold onto moisture.

Switch it up: This one is easy to switch up. Pick whatever variety of verbena and calibrachoa you like. Just keep the flower size and colors in mind when choosing. Choose plants that contrast but do not clash. I like keeping it to three flowers so it’s not too busy.