5 Stunning Summer Container Combinations

At 5 feet tall, this glamorous grouping can serve as either a screen or a space divider. By July or August, the knotweed will explode into airy sprays of tiny white blossoms, accentuating the dark dahlia blooms and relaxing the overall look. The combination will impress for months, changing shape and color as it develops. At first it appears formal; when the gladioli are in flower and begin to pierce through the other plants, the combination takes on a jagged look; then, as knotweed bursts into bloom, the combination becomes irregular and informal.

Using three plants—each with different but complementary habits and similar cultural requirements—is a trusted formula in containers. Here, statuesque upright cannas rise from an anchoring middle ground of bushy coleus, and free-flowering petunias form an outer circle that trails and clambers down the side of the pot. Setting the combination in front of a relatively spare, uniformly colored background emphasizes its architectural shapeliness and pumps up the volume of its bright hues. The warm tones of the terra cotta container complement its contents, all of which revel in full sun. (You can use other varieties of cannas, coleus, and petunias to create this effect in shades of red, yellow, and pink as well.)

The interweaving of horizontal and vertical foliages in this combination reveals engaging details that beg to be observed up close. For instance, the serrated leaves of honey bush stand out in dramatic relief where they overlay darkly contrasting sweet potato vine. The restrained, sophisticated color scheme and crisscrossing pattern are echoed in the verdigris Fibreclay planter (which is a small fraction of the cost and weight of a genuine copper container). All plants used here are usually available through much of summer, allowing you to plant late and enjoy them until frost. Beware that honey bush grows particularly luxuriantly and will eventually overwhelm the Persian shield and even the New Zealand flax, so either prune judiciously or enjoy the altered visual.

Stately flowering tobacco is the star of this planting. Its tall, handsomely foliage-clad stems shoot up sprays of white tubular blooms that are powerfully scented in the evening all summer long. Variegated maidengrass and a low froth of Diamond Frost euphorbia complete the Fountain-like look. White gladiolus blossoms lasting about 2 weeks contribute a burst of fleeting interest; the tiniest amount of buttermilk yellow at their centers gently bucks an otherwise monochrome theme. Cream-colored inflorescences emerge from the maidengrass in late summer, extending interest well through fall, after all the other flowers have faded. The planter elevates the composition to an overall height of about 6.5 feet, making an elegant statement beside an entrance or as a focal feature. Given the mature height of this planting, the container should be at least 18 inches tall.

Exotic bromeliads huddle in lush exuberance beneath the umbrella fronds of a tree fern in dappled shade. Although bromeliads are most often grown indoors, many will contentedly spend summer outside provided a minimum nighttime temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The two epiphytic species here were arranged in their individual pots at the foot of the tree fern—and loosely tied to the trunk for support—so they could be easily moved indoors during winter. Shade-loving ferns and fancy-leaved rex begonias were planted into the same humus-rich compost as the tree fern. The salt-glazed earthenware pot balances the abundant planting and picks up the browns of the Tasmanian tree fern trunk.