As a home stager, I always begin with curb appeal and one of the tasks I advise clients to do is to display a showy pot of annuals near their front door. Since everyone defines “showy” differently, it’s important that I give very simple but explicit directions of how to create a great-looking potted container. I think we’ve all seen (many) of those massive planters in public spaces that are planted with one kind of flower that barely grows above the edge of the pot. That’s proof that many people don’t know how to create beautiful planters. So instead of the opportunity to showcase organic beauty, what we see is mostly a huge, manufactured container. Blah.

I’m not a master gardener or a horticulturist but I do love gardening and have learned a lot from all of my many mistakes over the past 25 years. I’m not sure where I heard the cutesy phrase “Thrillers, Fillers, & Spillers” but the rhyming helps me remember this simple formula that always works for me to plant beautiful containers. 

First and foremost, determine how much sun your pot will get. Most annuals need full sun (at least six hours) but there are some beautiful, brightly colored annuals that need their shade to be dramatic. 

The Thriller

This is the tall, spiky flower or foliage that most garden centers put in the middle of their pre-made planters. I usually put my thriller in the back because I view my pots from the front so I don’t want other flowers hidden behind my thriller. I don’t pay attention to the spacing directions either because our growing season is short and I don’t want to wait half the summer for impact. Yes, I’m a Type A!

The Filler

Next choose a wider, stockier annual that fills out horizontally. There are a lot of fillers to choose from and they don’t necessarily have to be flowering. I’m really getting into foliage more now and planted only a licorice plant in my middle pot. It has such beautifully colored, soft leaves and will contrast nicely between my other two flowering pots. At least, I’m hoping it does. It’s a canvas for me!

The Spiller

These cascading flowers or foliage are so necessary to soften the hard edges of pots and provide a flowing, fluid movement of mass color. Spillers are sometimes labeled as a trailing variety. For example, some Lobelia grows more mounded and some kinds of Lobelia trail or spill.

For my pots with 9-inch openings, I just choose one thriller, one filler and one spiller which is enough to fill the pot with a little added potting soil in between the three. For huge pots, of course you’ll want to plant more than one of each.

Want to move beyond simple? 

Take design to the next level by varying the color, texture, shape, and sizes of the flower and leaves between your thriller, filler, and spiller. Add contrast with a deep, intense color against a softer, pastel color. 

In the image above, the thriller is the arching grasses while one of the fillers is the only flowering plant in the pot which appears to be a purple/pink mum flanking the grass. The ornamental kale is also used as a filler and it’s large, almost round leaves contrast so perfectly with the thin, long blades of grass. And I think the spillers are different varieties of ivy with a really cool succulent that also provides great contrast with it’s thicker, lighter-colored, variegated leaves. This succulent does bloom at some point with hot pink flowers (I tried it last year) which ties in with the pinkish mums.

This example is so much more dramatic and stunning than those massive planters that I talked about earlier. Those are just tragic. 

Once you’ve chosen your annuals and get them planted, then it’s time to nurture them with daily watering, once-a-week fertilizing, and dead-heading to promote fuller plants with more flowers.

Enjoy!!!