Create a summer planter: 7 ideas

Navy & Silver Planter

For this planter, the basic idea is to combine blue-violet and silver. Peruvian heliotropic is well suited to container growing. This dwarf variety produces a myriad of small amethyst flowers with a delicious vanilla scent. It is beautifully set off by Helichrysum’s small silver leaves. The Helichrysum may trail over the edge of the planter, adding a touch of unmatched elegance. Finally, Bacopa brings its soft, luminous colour.

Heliotrope ‘Marine’, Bacopa ‘Gulliver Pink Heart’, Helichrysum petiolare ‘Silver’

Place this planter in full sun on a garden table, for example, or near a path to enjoy this delicious scent.

Care

Remove faded heliotropic flowers regularly. Other plants in this composition require no special care.

Pastel planter

Pastel shades are often among your favourites, which is why we’ve put together this gorgeous planter in mauve, pink and white tones. You’re going to love it! Angelonia is a little-known annual and yet a marvel! Vigorous and easy to grow, it offers abundant flowering made up of long spikes of small mauve flowers highlighted with white.

Angelonia ‘Wedgewood Blue’, Ivy Geranium ‘Roi des Balcons’ lilac-pink, Petunia Tumbelina Priscilla double lavender-veined, Lobelia ‘Snow White’

Geraniums, or more precisely Pelargoniums, kings of balconies! Pelargonium produces abundant clusters of lilac-pink flowers. Petunia displays superb large double mauve flowers delicately veined with violet, while lobelia is covered with a cloud of small white flowers. These three plants have a trailing habit and will tend to spill over from the planter, which looks very attractive!

Care

This arrangement will enjoy full sun provided you keep to regular watering (without excess, especially early in growth; Pelargoniums are sensitive to overwatering which causes them to rot) during periods of high summer heat. Remove spent flowers as well to encourage plants to produce new flowers.

Solar pendant light

Fans of sunny hues will enjoy this hanging basket! L’ostéospermum is a perennial often grown as an annual that produces a multitude of small golden-yellow daisies for the variety ‘Voltage Yellow’. It is a sun-loving plant, particularly floriferous and a delight in summer compositions! It is accompanied by another flowering champion, nemesia ‘Plus Little Vanilla’ with scented cream corollas with yellow centres. Its habit is trailing and it will form a lovely crescendo of flowers in a setting of small golden leaves, although greener in summer.

Osteospermum ‘Voltage Yellow’, Nemesia ‘Sunsatia Plus Little Vanilla’ and Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’

Care

Water regularly and apply a fertiliser for flowering plants. Remove spent flowers and don’t hesitate to prune nemesia hard between flowerings to encourage formation of new floriferous shoots.

Pastel Cherry Basket

For this hanging basket, we’ll combine soft tones with a pop of colour. Petunias are regulars in window boxes and other summer hanging displays. You’ll fall for this candy-pink shade, fresh and luminous. With incredible floribundity, ‘Vista Bubblegum’ remains superb even after rain or in sweltering heat (with regular watering, of course)! Its habit is trailing, offering a lovely cascade of flowers.

Salvia farinacea such as ‘Victoria’, Petunia Supertunia ‘Vista Bubblegum’ and Zinnia ‘Profusion Double Hot Cherry’

Place your hanging basket in a sunny spot.

Care

Cultivated as an annual, Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria’ bears tall deep blue‑violet spikes. It is drought‑ and heat‑tolerant. Water regularly but without excess, using a liquid feed once or twice a week to keep this hungry little plant happy. Finally, this zinnia is an exceptional variety: abundant flowering, vigour, disease resistance, always perky! Its intense cherry colour is a real pick‑me‑up. Zinnias are easy to grow; deadhead spent flowers so the plant doesn’t waste energy producing seeds.

Romantic planter

Hard to imagine summer without a rose! Dwarf varieties are perfectly suited to growing in pots. We chose ‘Bordure Rose’ for its delicious fresh pink colour. It’s an easy-care rose, extremely floriferous, perpetual and disease-resistant. It has been awarded numerous medals… a must !

Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, dwarf rose ‘Bordure Rose’ and Penstemon ‘Schoenholzeri’

Take a large planter, plant your rose and surround it with 2 or 3 clumps of salvias with spikes of a superb deep violet such as the fabulous ‘Caradonna’. Finally, add a cherry-coloured penstemon with a harmonious bushy habit and you’ll have a lovely composition to brighten your sunny terrace from June until the frosts !

Care

In periods of drought, water regularly and feed the rose with a special rose fertiliser to stimulate flowering. Remove faded flowers regularly. For sage, remove any faded flower spike to encourage new ones.

Bohemian planter

If you dream of originality and vivid, shimmering colours, a bohemian planter is for you! For this, Zinnias are the perfect candidates; they are very easy to grow and offer magnificent colours from July until the first frosts. We mixed three different colours, one of them a striking flaming orange: Zinnia ‘Profusion Double Fire’. It is accompanied by a Zinnia with large, intense pink pompom flowers, ‘Double Zahara Strawberry’, and another with bi-coloured scarlet-red and yellow flowers, ‘Macarenia’. A Physalis provides the original touch; place it in a corner of the planter. Finally, add Coreopsis rosea ‘Heaven’s Gate’ for tireless pink flowering.

Zinnia ‘Double Zahara Strawberry’, Zinnia ‘Profusion Double Fire’, Zinnia elegans ‘Macarenia’, Coreopsis rosea ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and Physalis

Install your planter in full sun to obtain abundant flowering!

Care

To encourage renewal of flowering, it is best to remove faded flowers. Once ripe, you can eat physalis in small quantities as they are laxative.

Late-summer hanging basket

Ornamental grasses are as wonderful in the garden as in pots! They form pretty little clumps, adding volume and lightness to compositions and highlighting flowering. Our choice fell on a Carex and an Uncinia with very ornamental foliage. The small Gallery dahlias are essentials in pots or window boxes. To change things up a little, we thought of a hanging basket. We chose variety ‘Art Nouveau’ with strong pink flowers and a raspberry heart that will serve as a focal point. In late summer a few cyclamens will echo the dahlia and add a further decorative touch.

Cyclamen hederifolium, Uncinia rubra, Dwarf dahlia ‘Gallery Art Nouveau’ et Carex comans ‘Frosted Curls’

Place your hanging basket in partial shade, or in sun if it is not too hot.

Care

Carex are easy plants that require almost no maintenance. Beware, the potting mix dries very quickly in containers, so it is wise to water occasionally, especially during dry spells, but not excessively, otherwise the cyclamen bulbs and the dahlia tubercles may rot! Remember you must let the rootball dry out between waterings (stick your finger into the rootball to check if it is dry deeper down… touching the surface is not enough!) Remove faded flowers regularly. Finally, these grasses are not pruned!

Some additional tips and tricks

• Choose quality potting compost. Discover our range of potting compost specially designed for window boxes and pots
• Bear in mind that the smaller your containers, the faster potting compost will dry out.
• Do not neglect fertiliser; potted plants only have what you feed them. Read our advice sheet to choose the right fertiliser for your potted plants and window boxes.
• Also useful if you buy your plants as plug plants: How to plant window boxes and hanging baskets with annual plug plants?
• You can harmonise pot colour with flower colour.