Once you've thought about color, which was discussed in Container Garden Design - Color, it is time to start designing how to put together your container. There are several ways to begin designing containers. For patio pots, one common way to start designing is to use the thriller, filler, spiller concept.
This concept utilizes three different types of plants to create well-rounded combinations. Thrillers are plants with height that add drama and a vertical element to the combinations. Thrillers can either be flowering or foliage plants. Some examples of thrillers are: coleus, spikes, tall ornamental grasses, Butterfly argyranthemum, gaura and Angelface® angelonia. For other ideas for plants that function as thrillers, click this link and then choose thriller from the Container Plant Style drop-down menu.
Thrillers are generally put either in the center or at the back of a container. You want to place the thriller in the center of a container if it will be viewed from all sides. Below are some examples of combinations that use thrillers in the center:
The photo on the left is Anything Goes and uses Daredevil® Rosita as the thriller. The center photo is Canyon Sunset and uses Graceful Grasses™ 'Rubrum' as the thriller. The photo on the right showcases Angelface® Blue as the thriller in Newport Cottage.
If a container will be viewed from one side you will generally place the thriller in the back of the pot. Below are some examples that use thrillers at the back of the pot:
The photo on the left is of Razzle Dazzle and uses Dappled Apple coleus as the thriller. The middle combination is Rhapsody Blue and Angelface® Blue as the thriller. On the right is Honey Bunches which uses Graceful Grasses™ Red Riding Hood.
Once you've chosen your thriller, next start choosing your fillers. Fillers tend to be more rounded or mounded plants. These plants fill in the middle ground of the combination. They are essential for making the planters look full and more than one filler may be used. Fillers are generally placed in front of or around the thriller. Fillers should be placed midway between the edge of the pot and the thriller. If the thriller is in the center of the pot, the fillers should surround the thriller. Some examples of fillers include: Diamond Frost® Euphorbia, Luscious™ lantana, nemesia, diascia, shorter coleus, Artist® Ageratum, and Flambe® Chrysocephalum. For more Fillers, click this link and then choose filler from the Container Plant Style drop-down menu. Some thrillers can also be fillers. For instance coleus, can be a thriller as it is in the Razzle Dazzle combination above or if paired with an even taller plant as the thriller it can function as a filler, as it does in Honey Bunches, above.
In the Cottage Grove combination above on left, Superbells® Red and Superbells® Dreamsicle are the fillers, in this combination they also function as the spillers. Break of Dawn, in the middle above, uses Diamond Frost® Euphorbia and Flying Colors® Trailing Antique Rose Diascia are the fillers. In the photo on the right above, Heat Wave uses Acorus Ogon, Sinbad Begonia, Glennis Coleus, and 'Tuscan Sun' Heliopsis are the fillers.
Finally, you add the spillers. Spillers are trailing plants that hang over the edge of the planter. Spillers are the icing on the cake. Some examples of spillers include: Superbells® Calibrachoa, Supertunia® Petunia, Sweet Potato Vine, Pink Chablis® Lamium and Superbena® Verbena. To see additional examples of spillers, click this link and then choose spiller from the Container Plant Style drop-down menu.
Spillers are placed close to the edge of the pot. If a pot is going to be viewed from all sides spillers should be placed on all sides. If a planter is going to be viewed only from one side then spillers should be planted at the front of the container. In the photo on the left, In Harmony, uses Supertunia® Cotton Candy is the spiller, although is also functions a bit like a filler. Red Threads, middle photo, Supertunia® Red is the spiller and also the filler. The photo on the right shows The Bold and the Beautiful window box, which uses Catalina® Pink Torenia as the spiller.
Utilizing the thriller, filler, spiller concept will help you create well-balanced and full upright patio containers. However, it doesn't work for hanging baskets. Thrillers tend to be too tall for hanging baskets. Hanging baskets can be designed using a mixture of spillers and fillers or just spillers. Some spillers will also function as fillers. For instance, many Supertunia® Petunias have enough height to function as a filler, but also spill over the edge of the pot - acting as a spiller. Many plants could fit 2 different categories depending on the other plants used in the combination.
All three of these basket combinations, Wildfire, Bombay Spice and Barbecue on the River, utilize plants that can function as both fillers and spillers. These plants are an excellent way to make nicely rounded combination baskets.
Thriller, filler and spiller is only one of many ways to combine plants. It helps to insure that you get combinations with good height, that are full in the center and have plants that spill over the edge. However, there are many was to combine plants and you should always feel free to play!
Daredevil® Rosita 'Fisrodeep' US PPAF; Can. PBRAF; Angelface® Blue 'Anblauzwei' US PP14,189; Can. PBR 1921; Diamond Frost® 'Inneuphdia' US PP17,567, Can. PBR 2830; Pink Chablis® 'Checkin' US PP17,925; 'Tuscan Sun' US PP18,763; Flying Colors® Trailing Antique Rose 'Diastu' US PP13,949; Can. PBR 2056; Superbells® Dreamsicle 'USCALI411-7' US PP19,492; Can. PBRAF; Superbells® Red 'USCALI28' US PP14,847; Can. PBR 1928; Diamond Frost® 'Inneuphdia' US PP17,567; Can. PBR 2830; Supertunia® Cotton Candy 'Kakegawa S84' US PP18,698; Can. PBR 2685; Supertunia® Red 'USTUNI223' US PP14,871; Can. PBR 1937; Catalina® Pink 'Dancatpink' US PP17,025; Can. PBR 2525;
