Pretty Flowers

​“I want some pretty flowers”, I overheard the tall slim man with a small round container of succulents in his hand declare to the garden center clerk.  Here’s a place where there is a smorgasbord of flowers in abundance.  I wondered how she would guide this customer.  I didn’t hear her answer but the man replied with “something like pansies”.  Good choice I thought as pansies are usually my very first purchase of the year to start the garden season.  

​I was on my annual pilgrimage to purchase flowers for my containers.  Some years I’m more adventurous and try to fill my containers with everything new; other years it’s the regulars that have proven successful.  My first containers followed my Grandma Minnie’s standard of red geraniums with dracaena spikes.  She planted them each year in a white washed metal trough that sat on the low roof between their porch and the cheese factory. 
 
Some years I have a detailed plan for each container after studying the magazines all winter.  Okay, I did that one year.  Most years if I have a plan at all it’s more a count of how many filler, spillers, and thrillers I need to buy.  For those unfamiliar with the terms:  fillers are bushy flowers filling the container, spillers are ones that overflow and run down the edges, and thrillers are showy ones that are the focal point of a container.   There even was a year when I challenged myself to use as many divided perennials from my own garden in containers as possible. 
 
This year’s plan is more an aspiration:  to try some succulents and ornamental edibles.  I liked the tall slim man’s approach at the garden center in buying a container already planted with an arrangement of succulents since I know so little about that type of plant.  I need some ornamental edibles for a demonstration for a summer garden program and have already planted several containers with kale and pansies.  On this trip I bought some Rainbow Swiss Chard that with its bright stems will need no companions for a colorful container.  Beyond that my plan is to grab and go.
 
Mostly I revert to my standards:  Calibrachoa, also known as million bells; Egyptian Papyrus (King Tut ®), Wave ® Petunias, Sweet Potato Vines, New Guinea Impatiens, Elephant Ears, and Dahlias.
 
Whether I plan out in detail, make multiple trips to the garden centers, or just enjoy potluck it all seems to come out fine.  And every year I buy pansies.