Choosing Flowers for a Container Garden

When choosing flowers for your container garden you can choose either annuals or perennials, or a combination of the two. Annuals live for just one season, while perennials last for a few years or even longer.

Annuals are bright and cheery and come in many different colors, shapes and sizes making them a popular choice amongst container gardeners.

One annual that does well in just about any type of container is the Petunia. Petunias can be found in many different colors including red, white, purple, magenta, and pink to name just a few. They are relatively hardy plant as long as they are not placed in intense heat.

Other popular annuals for container gardening include marigolds and zinnias, both of which add a splash of cheerful color. Zinnias are heat tolerant as well, which makes them an ideal choice if you have a container garden that will be placed in a hot or sunny area.

While annuals are fun to grow, you may also want to consider growing perennials. Why perennials? Well, first off they have a longer life span than annuals so you can enjoy them for a lot longer. Second, because they live longer they have more time to grow and fill out so they can be a good choose for areas or containers that need larger, fuller plants.

Perennials require more care than annuals, but in general they are still relatively easy to grow. You may need to fertilize them on ocassion and it is a good idea to trim or prune them back to keep them growing strong.

With proper care, though, perennials can create beautiful flowers year after year and grow into large, lovely plants. Not only that, but when spring rolls around you will already have your flower shopping taken care of so you won't need to head off to the nursery or spend more money on plants.

Whether you choose annuals or perennials you will need to be sure to select plants that grow well in your particular growing conditions. For instance, if you are placing a container in a shady spot of your yard or garden you would want to look for plants that thrived in the shade, and vice-versa for sunny spots. Also, be sure to look for flowers that do well in your growing zone.

Here is a list of some of the most popular flowers for container gardening to get you started:

Annuals:

Alyssum, Begonias, Coleus, Geraniums, Impatiens, Lobelia, Marigolds, Nasturtiums, Pansies, Petunias, Salvia, Snapdragons, Zinnias

Perennials:

Crape Myrtle, Daylilies, Tulips, Daffodils, Geraniums, Many types of daisies, Bougainvillea, Chicks and Hens, Ferns, Columbine