Creating a beautiful flower pot can be a fun and exciting experience. It’s a chance to really let your artistic side show through, and get creative with the plants that you place inside them. While many plant lovers stick to a simple single plant formula, you can definitely get a bit more creative with a gorgeous flower pot arrangement!
The difference between a great flower pot and a good one is the arrangement. This is the mixture of multiple plants that work symbiotically to create a little ecosystem that will dazzle guests in your home. This can be done by using the simple ‘thrill, spill, and fill’ technique.
Thrill, Spill, and Fill.
The best way to create a great looking flower pot is to employ a simple technique with a variety of plants. Here’s how it breaks down:
The ‘Thriller’.
The thriller is going to be the main centerpiece of your flower pot. It is essentially any plant that has an upward growth. This can mean anything from Lady palms to a decorative piece of wood. You can get creative and even add in some climbing vines growing up a support structure. This is a way to add some central flair growing out of the pot in an organic way.
When choosing your thriller, you want to consider the size of your pot. A smaller pot won’t need a lot of height out of your thriller, but a larger pot will look best with something very tall as the centerpiece. Here are some examples of great thrillers:
Dahlia.
Canna lily.
Aztec grass.
Bromeliad.
Purple fountain grass.
Climbing vines.
Small palms like Pygmy Dates.
Essentially anything that will provide upward motion for the pot is a great ‘thriller’.
The ‘Spiller’.
The ‘spiller’ of your pot should be something that provides overflowing motion to the piece. These are generally plants that have a flowing and cascading growth patterns and create a downward motion to the piece when they grow out of the pot and ‘spill’ over the sides. Here are some examples of great spillers:
Sweet potato vine.
Trailing lobelia.
Ivy.
Creeping Jenny.
Moss rose.
Trailing rosemary.
Essentially anything that grows in a spilling and downward habit is a great ‘spiller’.
The ‘Filler’.
Finally, you want to fill in the space between the ‘thriller’ and the ‘spiller’ with a ‘filler’. This is a plant, or multiple plants, that add volume and color around the base of the thriller and inside the spiller. You want to choose species that are known to grow well together, and will look beautiful next to the motif you have established. Here are examples of great ‘fillers’:
Alyssum.
Begonias.
Caladium.
Gerbera daisies.
Polka-dot plant.
Cooking herbs such as rosemary, basil, or mint.
Essentially any plant with a long bloom life and great volume can provide a beautiful accent for your pot as your ‘filler’.
Final Thoughts.
The secret to a great looking flower pot is creating a scene of plants that compliments each other. You want downward growth, filler volume, and upward motion in the center. Make sure to play around with various colors and species to get an eye-catching and lively flower pot every time!