I don’t know about YOU and the size of YOUR garden pots, but mine just aren’t large enough to comfortably include what we’re always told we should – a spikey thriller, bushy filler and trailing spiller. That virtually universal advice just makes container gardening harder to do well.
Above are two arrangements at Maryland’s Brookside Gardens. The humongous on the left IS large enough for an assortment of plants with different sizes and growth patterns. On the right, the smaller pots (still large by the standards of most private gardens) need less complexity, so we don’t see all three plant types in single pots. The pots hold fillers and spillers while the pot in the rear provides the thrill of height.
In my front yard, these three pots hold similar fillers – Iresine ‘Blazin Lime’ and ‘Blazin Rose’; Coleus ‘Twist and Twirl’ and a plain red one – and spilling is provided by Sedum sarmentosum. Which is plenty, but there’s also a thriller behind all that filler – it’s just not IN the pots. Growing happily in the soil are the ‘Little Joe’ Joe Pye Weed that grow to 4 feet or so and thrill me plenty (me and the pollinators).
We hear about complex, thrill-fill-spill arrangements needing to be fussed over right about now, mid-summer, but more simplified arrangements like these will ride it out until frost. The annuals need supplemental water but since these are all about foliage, they don’t need me to feed them.
A few feet away is another arrangement that IS flowery, so I feed it regularly. Still it’s simple, with petunias doing double-duty – they spill AND fill. The easy thrillers in the larger pots are Little Bluestem grass and a banana tree plant.
Next to my front door are two pots I recently painted mint-green, and am repeating the combination I tried during the pandemic when I couldn’t find my usual annuals for these pots, and they performed! The Filler that’s gradually becoming a Thriller is Persian Shield, and the Spiller is the common chartreuse Sweet Potato Vine. Yes, I notice that something is eating the vine but they’re leaving enough for me and I’m fine with sharing.
In my back garden are more signs of my painting spree of 2020 – tomato red pots that used to hold annuals, until deer convinced me to give up on them in this spot. Now they’re about as low-maintenance as pots can be, with one ‘Standing Ovation’ Little Bluestem per pot, rising above more trailing Sedum. No watering or feeding required.
Finally, my new bird bath container, located under the living room window, is doing well with just one Switchgrass and some trailing Sedum.
There are some great combinations in your post.
I have never heard of thriller, filler, etc but I remain awkward and non conformist and confess here that I really generally truly dislike seeing more than one plant in a pot. Especially as they are usually all piled up with loads of other pots. Simplicity is my great pleasure.
But Strobilanthes dyeriana (for the benefit of my UK friends) with Ipomoea batatas (as before – but you’ll very very lucky to find either in the UK: the RHS is lying) is Extra Extra Fabulous! Shame I can’t copy…..
Your combos are amazing. I love the lush look of them. Less feeding is so nice I think. Your painting jobs are perfect! I see “Susan Harris” I click and read, automatically ❤️
Amanda you made my day!
Great combos that seem so natural together.
I also like the simple beauty of a single specimen in a pot. Sometimes those overstuffed pots seem too fussy. A carex on my porch is currently my favorite container. It’s lovely fountain shape isn’t distorted by anything else.
Love all your posts, Susan. Always good info.
Thanks so much for the encouraging comment.
I love the idea of using a bird bath for a planter, and have been wanting to do it for some time now. Because my Spring garden had three big false indigo plants, and lots of foxgloves, now that those are out of bloom, I have so much GREEN in my garden. I think a bird bath with some plants with colorful foliage (anything but green!) would provide color and also a solid place to catch the eye.
I figure if it is my garden, I make the rules….but when helping clients with few containers and limited space I try to keep to the recipe in the showpiece containers. Scale and contrast are key ingredients that make it work for me. When possible, I translate the triangular concept into larger container groupings. This is great because it cuts down on the watering. Also, I like to include plants that can be re-homed in the garden or house when the container is changed out. Lastly, I am quite envious of the painted base of your elevated planter! Bravo!
Beautiful!
I especially love the Joe Pye Weed behind the containers of coleus, etc.
I often put a full planting of just one species in a pot to include in a grouping. That way, each pot has one watering schedule and no competition for space, nutrients.
Thanks, as always, for good information.
ANd thank YOU for the nice comment.
Good post and happily puts into words some thoughts I have often had myself. Putting thriller/filler/spiller in every single pot doesn’t always make sense especially when you have pots composed into groupings.
I just use my containers as additional places to plant, never did follow any rules. For streetside community planters I do, but those are big planters.
Why not just one? Be really radical. I don’t get the obsession with jamming in as many plants as possible. None of them can be healthy for long that way. Group the pots, don’t jam the plants.
Susan, an important concept, perfectly illustrated! Conforming to the garden mainstream, yet allowing a little improvement on the established conventions. A true pioneer. Kate said it best; “group the pots, don’t jam the plants.”
Yes totally agree with this post! Why are we so married to thriller filler spiller? In my eyes it makes sense in certain contexts like flanking the entrance to a building but is a total visual fail when used for a grouping or mass of pots- much too busy, hectic, and visually confusing. It glosses over other diverse approaches to container gardening around the world. On my urban apartment 11th floor balcony I have grown native grasses in large grow bags in a grouping and right now I’m focusing on growing heirloom annuals like jasmine tobacco, heliotrope, and balsam, also in a grouping. I’m inspired by Mediterranean courtyards and balconies featuring many many groups of pots together each featuring a single type of plant. The effect of this type of grouping is to suggest the intention or idea of a garden for those of us that are not fortunate to have a garden of our own and must make the best of urban spaces like balconies.