OUR FAVORITE FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR CONTAINER GARDENING
Adding containers full of plants to your outdoor spaces is a fun way to decorate your patio or porch, or even just your window sills with window boxes. There are tons of beautiful flowers that you can plant in your containers, but you don’t have to limit yourself to just flowers. There are some plants out there with fantastic foliage that can bring a little something special to your container gardens.
Here are eight of the best foliage plants that you can use in your garden this summer. Some of these plants give you multi-season interest, and some can be brought indoors as houseplants for the winter, giving you year-round joy.
Sweet potato vine is one of the best trailing foliage plants, and there are quite a few variations available. They’re most commonly available in purple or several different shades of green. Leaf shapes are either palmate, like maple leaves, with thick or thin lobes, or heart-shaped. As a beautiful foliage plant option, sweet potato vine works well in hanging baskets, cascading over the edge, or in a container with a trellis or poles for them to climb. The large, vibrant green or nearly-black purple leaves contrast beautifully with plants with a more delicate texture.
Coleus has to be one of the most colorful foliage plants available. They are a member of the very diverse mint family, featuring almost any color and many different leaf shapes and sizes. Breeders are regularly creating beautiful new varieties with even more beautiful and unique color patterns. Coleus is a super low maintenance foliage plant that grows quickly as a filler in containers. They look fabulous all season long, and you can even bring them indoors as houseplants for the winter.
Dichondra ’Silver Falls’ is a low-growing ground cover type plant that looks stunning in hanging baskets or tall containers. It features masses of tiny fan-shaped leaves that trail down on long stems. The leaves and stems are a beautiful silvery-green and covered in soft fuzz, similar to lamb’s ears. The silvery-white foliage of this spiller plant is the best backdrop for more colorful plants or flowers. It looks good all season long and can also be brought indoors as a houseplant.
Elephant ears make a dramatic statement in a container garden, and you can also bring them indoors for the winter.
Elephant ears are a dramatic foliage plant with large leaves that are usually heart or arrowhead-shaped. There are many different varieties and sizes available. Like sweet potato vine, they’re typically varying shades of purple or green. Some types feature dark purple or red stems with vibrant green leaves. Elephant ears make a dramatic statement in a container garden, and you can also bring them indoors for the winter.
Ornamental grasses are another beautiful and unique texture and style to add to your container garden. There are many different varieties available, from short and mounding to tall and stately. All ornamental grasses add a unique super-fine texture compared to other container plants. Grasses also add sensory ambiance to your patio, with the delightful soft sounds they make whenever a breeze blows through them. Grasses look great right through the winter as well.
Herbs are some of the best foliage plants for container gardening. You get to enjoy their beautiful foliage, as well as the delightful scents when you brush them or when the wind blows through, and it’s convenient to snip a little bit off for your recipes. Herbs like rosemary, tarragon, and lavender have beautiful silvery leaves. Creeping thyme is low-growing, spills over the edges of pots, and offers lots of delightful scents when touched. Basil is tasty and smells great, and there are purple and green varieties available. Oregano, mint, and lemon balm grow fast and do great in containers. Lemongrass makes an excellent ornamental grass, and mosquitos don’t love the smell of it.
Persian shield is a fantastic thriller plant for containers in full sun locations. The long shield-shaped leaves are variegated dark pink, purple, and green. The veins are dark purple or green, with pink swathes in between each vein, and the edges are usually dark purple or green as well. The large leaves of the Persian shield are iridescent and look amazing all season long. You can also bring these indoors for the winter.
Whether you want to go all foliage for a clean and simple look, or if you’re looking for unique foliage to complement flowers, you can’t go wrong with the options above for your container garden. Stop by Dammanns Garden Co. today and check out what’s in store.