Create a welcoming garden-like entrance for your home with some easy ideas for front outdoor planters that will make your porch pop with color!
what do you put in front door planters?
What do you fill large outdoor planters with?
The easiest way to ensure you have a stylish mix of color, texture, and interest for your outdoor planters is to use the ‘thriller, filler, spiller’ method! This is an easy way to take all the guesswork out of styling those outdoor containers for summer.
thriller plant ideas for your front outdoor planters
You know right off the bat that you’ll need to plant something spiky or tall in the center first (the thriller). Choose plants that have a tall or spiky growing habit. These plants will reach up and maintain a vertical focal point for the center of your front outdoor planters. I chose to add a tropical flare using the tall and bright green leaves of a young Canna lily for my ‘thriller’.
filler plant ideas for your front outdoor planters
You’ll also want to consider adding some smaller flowering plants that will fill the main surface area of the dirt around the tall plant (the filler). Consider flowers that will produce continuous blooms all summer for your filler plant.
This helps to keep the main area of the outdoor planter flowing with color all summer. My absolute favorite for this is Calibrachoa! These little flowers are power bloomers and they provide consistent, healthy, colorful blooms for your planters all season long. They never disappoint. This year I chose to go with the peachy/apricot variety and they have been a joy to care for all summer.
spiller plant ideas for your front outdoor planters
Lastly, you can add cascading or vining plants along the front and/or side edges of the outdoor container to create a pretty growing green waterfall effect (spiller). Choose plants that have a long and lengthy growing habit for this. Easy favorites that never fail include vinca vine and creeping jenny.
These make easy care accent plants for your stylish outdoor front porch containers. Plant them early in the summer, when planning your outdoor containers, to produce lush cascading effects for your tall planters.
Pictured above, you can see I have placed the creeping jenny plant behind my calibrachoa to give it room for spilling over and down out of my container. It will produce vibrant, almost neon green to chartreuse green foliage.
These creeping plants will make a stunning and dramatic addition with a cool bonus: they are both perennials! If you choose not to pull them out for the winter, trim them down a bit and leave them untouched. They’ll die back over the cold season and then grow right back next spring!
What If I Don’t Get much Sun On My Front Porch Area?
If you don’t receive a lot of sun on your front porch area or deal with more dappled sun areas in the front, consider shade-loving plants. People underestimate the decorative power and beauty of shade-loving plants! These aren’t just for gardens people!
You can create stunning shade-loving containers that will really make a statement for your home.
The best part? Shade-loving plants are usually low-maintenance plants to care for and lots of the popular ones are perennials. This means they will come right back and grow again for your next season! You only need to water and prune lightly to maintain.
What are some shade-loving plants I can fill a planter with?
- Coral bells – any variety. They will produce stunning wine red foliage.
- Hosta – smaller variety. Some varieties can come to grow very large so stick smaller varieties such as ‘marrakech’ or ‘stiletto’ hosta.
- English Ivy – any variety. This will provide beautiful cascading plants for your shade planter.
- Creeping Jenny. This will also provide spilling or cascading plants for your outdoor shade container.
- Vinca Vine. This ‘spiller’ variety of plant will also grow in sun or shade and produce cascading foliage for your container.
- Standard Impatiens. These flowers come in a variety of colors and will bloom happily all summer in the shade.
- Geraniums. They will provide beautiful taller blooms in a variety of colors.
consider perennial bulbs for your outdoor planters
Consider perennial bulbs or perennial flowers such as tulips or daffodils for your front outdoor planters. These provide an elegant variety of sun-loving blooms that will come back year after year!
Remember to check your gardening zone to see how hardy different varieties of plants may be in your area for over-wintering, if needed.
Consider grouping planters together for a bigger statement
Sometimes grouping planters of different sizes together makes a grand and beautiful entryway statement. These matching planters in different sizes are pouring over with sun-loving blooms to create a garden-inspired look.
add dried branches to your outdoor planters for drama and height
Consider decorative dried branches to bring height and length to your planters. This can work especially well if you are not using long/tall planters. It’s an easy way to draw the eye up and fill vertical space in a shorter planter like this one.
Consider hanging planters for your front porch potted plants
Hanging planters now come in a variety of styles, but these organic matter mossy type planters are always a stunning touch. This one is filled with celosias and marigolds which make excellent flowers to plant for transitioning into fall. Chrysanthemums are also another great option when looking for easy plants to help transition your outdoor containers to a fall look.
I hope some of these fun and colorful ideas for front outdoor planters inspire you! With a little planning, you can add beautiful garden touches throughout your porch that bloom for you all summer long!