14 Colorful Spring Containers to Cheer Up Your Porch or Garden
Fragrant hyacinths, darling daffodils, bright tulips, colorful pansies and more make the sweetest container combos yet
If the popularity of our first spring container garden story is any indication, we’re all more than ready to welcome the start of the new season. Whether spring has sprung in your area or you’re still waiting for the snow to melt, here is a fresh crop of spring container inspiration.
2. Classic spring combination. Complementary purple and yellow blooms are a classic pairing at any time of year. For spring, try lavender-colored hyacinths, deep purple pansies and sunny yellow daffodils. Variegated ivy adds a trailing element, and winter branches provide height.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
3. Pastel rainbow. Bicolored violas, tiny grape hyacinths, purple hyacinths, miniature yellow daffodils and pink tulips make a cheerful doorstep combination. To have all bulbs bloom at the same time in a container, pick up a combination bulb bag at planting time and layer the bulbs according to the package instructions.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
4. Miniature charm. Even the smallest spring containers can stand out when the rest of the garden or patio looks bleak. This pint-size trio of velvety purple pansies, grape hyacinths and ‘Angelina’ stonecrop (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’) pops in a shiny black ceramic container.
Water requirement: Moderate; sedum prefers soil to partially dry out between waterings
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water requirement: Moderate; sedum prefers soil to partially dry out between waterings
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
5. Built-in planter. The masses of mixed white, pink-streaked and magenta tulips steal the show for this container on a London roof terrace. Other plants growing beneath the pair of olive trees include grape hyacinths, Latin American fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus), coral bells (Heuchera spp.), sage and creeping rosemary.
For any container, you have the option of aiming for one peak bloom period (like early spring, midspring or late spring) for all flowers in the container or planting for staggered flowering periods using a combination of bulbs, foliage plants and flowering perennials. The latter option makes the most sense for large built-in containers so that there is always something of interest on display without needing to constantly replant.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
For any container, you have the option of aiming for one peak bloom period (like early spring, midspring or late spring) for all flowers in the container or planting for staggered flowering periods using a combination of bulbs, foliage plants and flowering perennials. The latter option makes the most sense for large built-in containers so that there is always something of interest on display without needing to constantly replant.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
6. Beautiful blues. A simple grouping of mixed potted grape hyacinths and purple violas makes a charming statement on this stone ledge. Give smaller containers a bigger punch by using the same plants in multiple containers and then grouping them in clusters of three, five or more.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
7. Yellow and plum. Try something different from the usual spring pastels with a container packed with blooms and foliage in rich burgundy, deep green, silver and yellow.
Plants in this container include (from top to bottom): purple fritillaries, plum-colored hellebores, yellow miniature daffodils, burgundy and silver-leaved coral bells, grassy sweet flag (Acorus sp.) and trailing ‘Silver Falls’ dichondra (Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’).
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Plants in this container include (from top to bottom): purple fritillaries, plum-colored hellebores, yellow miniature daffodils, burgundy and silver-leaved coral bells, grassy sweet flag (Acorus sp.) and trailing ‘Silver Falls’ dichondra (Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’).
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
8. Pretty in pink. There’s nothing easier than picking up a few budding spring blooms at the nursery and nestling them into a container or window box. While hydrangeas naturally bloom later in the spring and summer when planted out in garden beds, greenhouse-grown “bedding” hydrangeas can be found budding in nurseries in early spring. If you plant them out in beds after the blooms fade, the plants will revert to their natural blooming cycle next year.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
9. Mixed with conifers. The designer of these entryway containers put together a combination of tulips (only foliage remains here), blue bedding hydrangeas and purple annuals, centered around two evergreen junipers, to create a soothing spring display.
It’s a smart overall design, as the junipers and evergreen boxwoods could remain in the containers year-round, while the bulbs, annuals and hydrangeas could be easily swapped out as the season changes.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
It’s a smart overall design, as the junipers and evergreen boxwoods could remain in the containers year-round, while the bulbs, annuals and hydrangeas could be easily swapped out as the season changes.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
10. Doorstep welcome. The daffodils in this spring container have already bloomed, leaving their strappy foliage above a combination of bicolored violas, trailing speedwell (Veronica sp.), coral bells and a clump of lime green spikemoss (Selaginella sp.). There’s no need to cut back bulb foliage after the bloom. In fact, leaving it can add interest to the container overall and allows the bulb to restock nutrients from the green leaves.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
11. Box of tulips. When choosing a vessel for your potted spring displays, think beyond typical containers. Baskets, wooden fruit crates, metal feed troughs and buckets can all make attractive containers. Here, a wooden crate is used to display pastel pink tulips (grown in a plastic crate, then set into the wooden one). The understated arrangement is elegant in its simplicity and would work well with traditional or cottage-style gardens.
Tip: If you’re setting a nursery pot of bulbs into a container, you don’t need to worry so much about whether the outer container has drainage holes, as long as the nursery container is slightly raised on a gravel bed.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Tip: If you’re setting a nursery pot of bulbs into a container, you don’t need to worry so much about whether the outer container has drainage holes, as long as the nursery container is slightly raised on a gravel bed.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
12. Preserved beauty. This transitional winter-to-spring arrangement is made up almost entirely of dried ingredients, including preserved purple sea lavender (Limonium sp.), proteas and branches of pine cones, plus a cluster of fresh pansies.
Water requirement: Low to moderate for the pansies; otherwise no water
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade for the pansies; otherwise any amount of sun
Water requirement: Low to moderate for the pansies; otherwise no water
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade for the pansies; otherwise any amount of sun
13. Edible. You might not know it at first glance, but both spring plants used in this container are edible. The red-veined leaves of sorrel (Rumex acetosa) have a lemony flavor and can be used in soups or mixed with other greens in salads. The viola flowers are also edible and make a pretty salad garnish. The two plants’ dramatic color combination makes for an eye-catching winter or spring container.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
14. Spring brights. This cheerful combination of bulbs, foliage, and flowering shrubs and perennials is enough to banish the late-winter blues in any climate.
Plants in this container include (top to bottom): cut branches, snapdragons (Antirrhinum sp.), pink bedding hydrangeas, orange tulips, magenta ranunculuses, yellow daffodils and trailing ivy.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Plants in this container include (top to bottom): cut branches, snapdragons (Antirrhinum sp.), pink bedding hydrangeas, orange tulips, magenta ranunculuses, yellow daffodils and trailing ivy.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Houzz readers: Have you potted up your spring containers yet? Show us in the Comments below.
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How to Choose the Right Container
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Note: Hyacinth and other spring-blooming bulbs are planted in the fall. If you missed the boat but still want a spring show, pick up potted bulbs from your local nursery and either replant them in a container or sink the nursery pots into a container. Bulbs of all varieties need well-draining soil.
Water requirement: Moderate to high
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade