If there’s one thing we look forward to every year, it’s planting up our summer containers.
Here in our Zone 6A garden in upstate New York, our large planters become focal points throughout the season. We want them to deliver color, texture, fragrance, and plenty of wow factor from early summer through frost.
This year, we designed three different full sun container combinations that all work together while still having their own unique personality. Think of them as cousins—not twins.
If you’re looking for ideas for large outdoor planters, Proven Winners container combinations, or full sun annuals that thrive all summer long, these recipes are a great place to start.
When we design containers, we think about more than just flower color.
We consider:
The goal is to create containers that look beautiful individually while contributing to a cohesive garden design.
This container was built around a beautiful centerpiece planting of David Austin’s Penelope Lively rose and Lavender Queen butterfly pea vine growing up an Elegance Queen Obelisk.
The deep mulberry tones of the Nemesia provide rich color and incredible vanilla fragrance. Since the flowers have a soft, fluffy texture, we paired them with contrasting elements:
One of our favorite details is how the dark throats of the Supertunia Mini Vista Plum Vein and Superbena Royale Plum Wine repeat throughout the container, creating visual cohesion.
Meanwhile, Supertunia Hoopla Vivid Orchid adds a bright white ring that instantly lifts the entire planting.
The Proven Winners Aromance series has completely changed our expectations for Nemesia.
These plants are:
The Mulberry variety smells wonderfully vanilla-like and performs beautifully in full sun containers all season long.
Our second planter uses many of the same design principles but with a softer, more romantic color palette.
We wanted this container to feel related to the first design while still standing on its own.
Meteor Shower Verbena creates height and movement while weaving through the decorative obelisk.
The new Aromance Plum Honey Nemesia brings gorgeous yellow and purple tones while filling the surrounding area with fragrance.
Our favorite surprise may be the pairing of:
Together they create an elegant blend of purple, lavender, and yellow that feels inspired by the gardens we visited in England this spring.
The result is soft, romantic, and packed with season-long blooms.
The front of our house presents a unique challenge.
These planters sit in:
In other words: maximum heat.
The peach tones of the Carding Mill rose become the inspiration for the entire design.
Peachy Keen Superbena echoes those rose colors below while Meteor Shower Verbena bridges the gap between the tree rose canopy and the annuals underneath.
The addition of Jazz Hands Variegated Loropetalum provides rich foliage contrast and a unique shrub-like texture that’s rarely seen in summer containers.
Finally, Supertunia Bordeaux and Mulberry Nemesia repeat the purple and burgundy tones throughout the planting, helping everything feel intentional and balanced.
Whenever we plant containers, we add a slow-release fertilizer directly into the planting holes.
This acts as a backup feeding system throughout the season and helps keep containers performing their best between liquid fertilizer applications.
We also use:
Together, these simple practices help our containers stay full, healthy, and colorful all summer long.
One thing you’ll notice throughout these container recipes is repetition.
We intentionally repeat:
Repeating key plants throughout a garden creates rhythm and makes the entire landscape feel more professionally designed.
Even when the containers aren’t identical, they still feel connected.
Some of the products featured in these container designs:
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These full sun container combinations prove that great container design is about much more than simply choosing pretty flowers.
By combining color, texture, fragrance, and repetition, you can create containers that look beautiful on planting day and continue improving throughout the season.
We’re especially excited to watch these combinations mature as the roses, butterfly pea vine, verbena, and annuals begin to fill in over the coming weeks.
Which container recipe is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below—we’d love to hear which combination you’d plant in your own garden.
Happy gardening!
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