Add vibrant color to your porch, patio, or small garden with easy-to-grow flowers that thrive in containers—perfect for any gardener.
If you want to grow flowers but don't have a garden or want to add a focal point or pop of color to your landscape, grab a container. Almost every type of flowering annual and most perennials can be grown successfully in containers. Once you get the hang of it, you'll find yourself mixing and matching plants to create interesting container gardens with several different plants that add height, color, and movement.
To grow flowers in containers, select a vessel that has good drainage holes and is an appropriate size for the plant you choose. For extended beauty, don't overcrowd the container so the plants have some room to grow. When mixing different plant types, ensure they have the same sun and moisture tolerance. Use a nutrient-rich potting mixture and monitor the container daily because it will dry out more quickly than plants in the ground.
Here are some of the best sun- and shade-loving flowers for containers.
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Geranium
Geranium blooms officially declare the start of summer. In shades ranging from white to pink to fire-engine red, geraniums produce upright blooms all summer long until the first frost. Provide plenty of sunlight, moisture, and deadhead often for lush foliage and blooms. Want a trailing geranium? Look for P. peltatum.
- Botanical Name: Pelargonium x hybridum
- Sun Exposure: Full sun
- Soil Type: Nutrient-rich, moist, well-draining
- Soil pH: Neutral to slightly alkaline
02 of 15
Hellebores
If you want a beautiful container with early spring flowers for a shady spot, plant hellebores. A perennial with evergreen foliage that blooms in late winter or early spring, the colors range from white to pink to red to green. Once the blooms disappear the dark green, glossy, leathery foliage remains to add interest to the container.
- Botanical Name: Helleborus
- Sun Exposure: Dappled sunlight, partial shade
- Soil Type: Organically rich, loose
- Soil pH: Neutral to alkaline
03 of 15
SunPatiens
Grab a pack of these annuals for continuous blooms in your container until the first frost. As the name implies, they love full sun and are even a bit drought-tolerant if you forget to water them. Available in a range of colors, they can stand up to heat and humidity in a standing or hanging container.
- Botanical Name: Impatiens x hybrida SunPatiens®
- Sun Exposure: Full to partial sun
- Soil Type: Well-drained, moist, rich in organic matter
- Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral
04 of 15
Nasturtium
Planting nasturtium seeds is one of my first gardening memories. I loved the parasol-shaped leaves and the bright yellow and orange blooms. A trailing annual, they work well in a hanging basket or on a trellis to add height to a container. There are multiple cultivars that perform well in all hardiness zones.
- Botanical Name: Tropaeolum majus
- Sun Exposure: Full sun to afternoon shade
- Soil Type: Good drainage
- Soil pH: Neutral
05 of 15
Torenia
Torenia, commonly called wishbone flowers because the two stamens join at the anthers in a wishbone shape, are a great flowering choice for a container in a shady spot. The blooms are trumpet-shaped in usually variegated white, yellow, pink, and purple tones. The flowers are long-lasting, and don't fade while the plant maintains a compact growth habit if you keep it pinched back.
- Botanical Name: Torenia fournieri
- Sun Exposure: Partial to full shade
- Soil Type: Well-draining
- Soil pH: Acidic to neutral
06 of 15
Mandevilla
You'll feel like you're on a tropical island with mandevilla in your containers. With brilliantly-colored flowers and lush green foliage, you can choose between mounding or vining types for your containers. Be sure to add a trellis for vining varieties because they can grow up to 20 feet.
- Botanical Name: Mandevilla
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Organically rich, well-drained, sandy
- Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral
07 of 15
Fuschia
It's the blooms that draw you to a fuchsia. The magenta to red, singular or double, drooping, tubular flowers have prominent stamens. Often used in hanging baskets, the plant (technically a deciduous shrub) does well in containers. Protect it from direct sun in the afternoons to keep it blooming profusely.
- Botanical Name: Fuchsia magellanica
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Fertile, well-draining but moist
- Soil pH: Slightly acidic, neutral
08 of 15
Million Bells
The first time I saw Million Bells, I thought some botanist had perfected miniature petunias! But this is a totally different species and part of the nightshade family. With a trailing habit, these plants will bloom nonstop without having to deadhead spent blooms. Name a color you love - blue, yellow, orange, pink, purple, red, white, variegated - and you can find it blooming on a million bells.
- Botanical Name: Calibrachoa x hybrida
- Sun Exposure: Full
- Soil Type: Well-drained, organically rich, moist
- Soil pH: Acidic
09 of 15
Impatiens
Grown in the South for centuries, impatiens are one of the most popular shade flowering plants. With prolific white, peach, apricot, pink, or red blooms, they will provide color in containers from late spring until the first frost of fall. The five-petaled flowers can be bicolored, single, or double depending on the variety.
- Botanical Name: Impatiens walleriana
- Sun Exposure: Full to partial shade
- Soil Type: Well-drained but moist
- Soil pH: Neutral to slightly acidic
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Scaevola
A perfect container flower for the South's hot summers, scaevola, or fan flower, doesn't require lots of water. In cooling colors of blue, lavender, or white, it is a "spiller" that trails over the edge of a container. It is a perennial that can overwinter in hardiness zones 10 and 11 but is usually grown as an annual. Cuttings root well if you need extra plants.
- Botanical Name: Scaevola aemula
- Sun Exposure: Full, partial
- Soil Type: Well-drained
- Soil pH: Acidic, neutral, alkaline
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Marigolds
If you've never attempted to grow flowers in a container, start with marigolds because they are so easy to grow. Sow seeds or use greenhouse transplants and you'll have blooms in no time. Choose from African, Mexican, or French forms to enjoy bright, warm red, oranges, or yellows with aromatic foliage.
- Botanical Name: Tagetes spp.
- Sun Exposure: Full sun
- Soil Type: Well-draining
- Soil pH: Acidic to neutral
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Lantana
Lantana is a perennial in the warmest Southern hardiness zones but is often treated as an annual in containers. This plant is easy-care and doesn't need frequent watering as it produces dozens of flower clusters. Pick your favorite color -red, pink, orange, yellow, purple, white or variegated. Each one will attract butterflies until the first frost appears.
- Botanical Name: Lantana camara
- Sun Exposure: Full sun
- Soil Type: Well-draining
- Soil pH: Acidic to neutral
13 of 15
Petunia
Petunias are another Southern classic found in window boxes and porch containers. A tender perennial usually grown as an annual, today's hybrid petunia varieties like Easy Wave® are offered in more colors and produce more blooms per plant. Pinch back or prune plants if they become leggy for a bushier plant and more flowers.
- Botanical Name: Petunia x hybrida
- Sun Exposure: Full
- Soil Type: Organically rich, well-drained
- Soil pH: Acidic, neutral
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Zinnia
Zinnias are quick-growing, heat-tolerant, easy-care flowers that are perfect for containers. With so many varieties and cultivars, you can find almost every color in the rainbow and forms from button- to palm-sized. Pinch back young seedlings for a bushier plant and deadhead spent flowers to keep the blooms coming.
- Botanical Name: Zinnia spp.
- Sun Exposure: Full
- Soil Type: Well-drained, moist
- Soil pH: Acidic, neutral, alkaline
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Begonia
With so many cultivars from large angel wings to wax-leafed begonias, you can find a foliage form and bloom color perfect for your container in a shady location. Some begonias are annuals, others perennials so always read the care tags but all prefer full to partial shade.
- Botanical Name: Begonia spp.
- Sun Exposure: Partial shade, full shade
- Soil Type: Organically rich, well-drained, moist
- Soil pH: Acidic, neutral
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