Thriller, filler, spiller pots

[itsnotabouthepasta]

I’m a total beginner gardener. I’ve been reading about the TFS approach to pots - is there anywhere where I can just buy complementary bulbs to plant myself? I have absolutely no idea what I’m looking for or even where to look to be honest.

my garden is south facing and I want to have lots of collections of pots on the patio

Well, you would normally be planting this type of pot up with young plants, and it's too early for that atm. Usually all the plants appear in the supermarkets and garden centres in March/April, so you can see what you're buying and what colours go together.

Sarah Raven and Crocus do ready made mixed pots which you can just buy and plant, or you can look at the website to give you some ideas about what the different plant combinations look like.

Crocus

Yes. I look at the Sarah Raven catalogues for ideas and buy the plants/bulbs featured at places that are a bit less dear.

Bulb lasagnes can be done in the autumn. Wait a bit for young plant groupings in pots.

I was just on the rhs website and they have various pot ideas which tell you what to mix together

I would start with say three pots of varying sizes or shapes and try to theme them together. To get the correct look you need height and colour differences. So maybe a small slow growing conifer at the back in each pot, or some ivy trailing from the front. Then you can add colour with some primroses as they will also fill some space. Chose bulbs like small daffodils and crocuses to place in front of the primroses. For another look just take one bulb type, I would use anemones as they are my favourite. Over fill the pot with the bulbs so that you get total coverage with no earth showing. Try it out and see what you like best.

Are you wanting pots filled with spring bulbs such as tulips, daffodils etc, to flower in the next couple of months? Or TFS pots that will flower all summer?

If spring bulbs, you can go into garden centres now (as well as B&Q, Home Bargains etc) and buy them in the green - though they are quite expensive if you are planning on buying enough to fill lots of pots. And they won’t last long.

If you want pots that will flower over the summer months, spring bulbs wouldn’t help as they will be finished flowering by June or earlier.

For summer TFS pots, I think your best course of action is to do some research now to identify what plants you like, what pots you will need (size is very important) and start making a list so you are ready to buy when nurseries start stocking suitable plants, usually around April.

I would recommend you look at annuals (not perennials) for your fillers and flowering spillers. Annuals tend to flower all summer long, and even small plants (plug plants) can grow and fill your pot quickly. By contrast, perennials may only flower for a few weeks or late in the season, so your pots won’t achieve the desired effect. Annuals such as petunias, lobelias, marigolds, pelargoniums, calibrachoa, lantana, impatiens, begonias all make good fillers/spillers.

Try and avoid buying the teeniest plugs, as they can be quite fragile. It’s better to buy jumbo or garden-ready plugs, so you won’t need to harden them off before planting. Do not plant out annuals until after all risks of frost have passed, as frost will kill them.

If you want to include foliage spillers, perennials such as hedera (ivy) and Creeping Jenny are good choices. Creeping Jenny is fast growing and makes a lovely spiller with its small chartreuse leaves. Annuals such as sweet potato vine are also good.

For your thriller, there are lots of options, depending on your budget (it does add up once you factor in the price of compost, pots etc). Something like pink cordylines with its tall red spikes might be a good starting point. You may also want to use tall ornamental grasses, which don’t have foliage that would shade the rest of your plants.

Make sure that you consider foliage as well as flowers. Foliage in different shapes (eg small round leaves, large spiky fronds) and colours (eg lime green, dark purple) are often key to creating interesting pots.

You also need to group plants according to their sun and soil requirements. Some flowers like shade, some like to be dry, some need to be kept well watered or in full sun. If you have some ideas of flowers you like, we can suggest companions.

Finally, make sure you know the feeding (fertilising) needed for your pots. Most plants need to be fed with nutrients from time to time in order to give their best show. That’s not complicated but if you don’t feed them, they won’t grow as big or floriferous.

Here are some ideas:

https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/best-summer-containers/

https://www.provenwinners.com/learn/container-garden-design-planting

https://costafarms.com/blogs/get-growing/mix-it-up-11-cool-containers-that-break-the-rules

https://www.ruxley-manor.co.uk/planting-up-pots-thriller-filler-spiller

If you are a beginner get to know your gardening neighbours we love to share ideas, knowledge and plants😀

Also might be worth you signing up to RHS website (Royal Horticultural Society) as they have fantastic detailed well ordered advice on every category of plant. You can learn a lot from them and save expensive mistakes eg what a plant’s needs are. The main thing with pots is to make sure you water them as they can easily dry out in warm weather.Exciting project OP. Growing things is my antidote to the woes of the world - so heartening.

…and if all of this looks too much hassle, stick some red pelargoniums into terracotta pots for instant impact 😊