• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Living Lou

Simple, fresh and flavorful recipes.

  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Contact
    • Work with me
    • Press & Media
    • Send me a Message
  • About

Home » Parties & Entertaining » Secret to a Show-Stopping Planter

Secret to a Show-Stopping Planter

Published: Jun 1, 2014 · Modified: Jan 24, 2020 by Louisa Clements · This post may contain affiliate links

This post may contain affiliate links

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

the secret to a show stopping planterScroll down for a $50 President’s Choice gift card giveaway open to Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) over the age of 18. 

So, it’s finally feeling like summer! The weather is beautiful, I’ve got some vegetables growing in the garden for some fresh salad recipes I’ll be sharing over the summer. Today I thought I’d do something a little different and bring you a different sort of recipe. A recipe for success (Ha – I’m here all week, folks!). But don’t worry, I’ve got some delicious summer grilling recipes up my sleeve – just check out what I’ve been up to on Instagram for a taste of what’s to come.

Anyways, there are lots of secrets to a show-stopping planter, but I’ve got a few of my favourites to share with you. I’m by no means a gardening expert, but I was invited to a fun President’s Choice Garden Party earlier last week hosted by the wonderful Lindsay of Little House Blog and we got to learn all about the amazing, high quality plants and vegetables they have in their garden centre and all the secrets to creating a show-stopping planter. And this was all from two extremely knowledgable gardening experts Peter Cantley and Bob Martin, so naturally, I thought you guys would want to know.

1. Thriller-Filler-Spiller

Ok, call me crazy but before my lesson from the PC Garden folks, I had no clue there was an actual method to building a gorgeous planter. But there is, and it’s genius. You use a thriller, a filler and a spiller. It’s a simple, three step process.

The thriller is the tall, spiky plant that you put in the centre of the pot. It’s kind of like the big attraction.

The filler sits beside the thriller and fills in the spots around it. You place the filler in a triangle formation around the thriller. For my filler I used a few different types of flowers. The bright pink are hula hot pink, the darker pink are the hula cherry and the gold are hula gold. The purple are the “Blue Jays” petunia.

The spiller are the flowers that will “spill” down the sides of the planter. You use the spiller to fill in the spaces. I used the Namid™ Early Yellow and Atlas™ White.

2. Colour 

I’ve always kind of shied away from lots of bright, vibrant colour (the amount of grey, black, white and navy I own is ridiculous), but I quickly realized that when it comes to flowers you need to have lots of colour! It makes all the difference and it will really make your planter standout.

3. Add some white

I know that I just talked about colour, but I have to say that the white flowers were the last thing that I added to the planter and they were what really pulled the whole thing together. Kind of like the way a scarf can pull together an outfit. I just love the way the colours bounce of the white and I find that the white kind of helps to “ground” the whole planter.

Now for the giveaway open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec) over the age of 18 (see terms & conditions for more info). It’s super simple, all you have to do is enter your name and email in the rafflecopter widget and then leave a comment below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: I was invited by President’s Choice to the PC Garden Party and they have generously provided the $50 giveaway for one of my readers. The decision to write about my experience is completely my own and all opinions are mine. Thank you for your support!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Review Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Jenny

    June 11, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    Aw, Lou! Your planter is GORGEOUS!! I'm thinking I need to replant mine because it's AWFUL. Such a talented girl! XO
    Reply
    • Lou

      June 13, 2014 at 11:01 am

      Thank you, Jenny!! xo!!
      Reply
  2. Shareba

    June 07, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    Your planter is beautiful Louisa!
    Reply
  3. Asiya @ Chocolate & Chillies

    June 07, 2014 at 11:51 am

    The planters look gorgeous!
    Reply
  4. Jeanine

    June 07, 2014 at 9:44 am

    Great tips! Your planter is gorgeous!
    Reply
  5. christine

    June 07, 2014 at 8:44 am

    Great tips!
    Reply
  6. Anna (Hidden Ponies)

    June 06, 2014 at 6:13 pm

    These are gorgeous! I'm slowly working on my green thumb...outside plants seem more forgiving than indoor ones for me :)
    Reply
  7. Laureen Fox

    June 06, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    Your Planter looks lovely!
    Reply
  8. Carole Brown

    June 06, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    I am a gardening fool who might as well rent a cot at my Loblaws garden centre lol. Love the container formula
    Reply
  9. janet

    June 05, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    Lovely - really lovely!
    Reply
  10. Olivia

    June 04, 2014 at 7:18 am

    Thanks for the tips ;-)
    Reply
  11. Lisa | Je suis alimentageuse

    June 02, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    They look lovely! Love the rhyming, thrillers, fillers, spillers! I'll keep those in mind if I ever have the chance to have some planters. The same could be applied to centrepieces I think =)
    Reply
  12. Shaorn Schembri

    June 02, 2014 at 9:37 am

    Now your talking, I an avid gardener and I will try your planter advice. Thank you Lou
    Reply
  13. Brenda Penton

    June 02, 2014 at 5:39 am

    That looks really nice. I'm currently starting landscaping and building a new deck and I think a few planters like this would be nice and seems very simple.
    Reply
  14. Danielle

    June 01, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    Thanks for the tips, your planter is beautiful.
    Reply
  15. Ana

    June 01, 2014 at 11:59 am

    Simple and lovely!
    Reply
  16. Kristi Renout

    June 01, 2014 at 10:03 am

    I've been wanting to do a planter for a while. Maybe this will be the motivation I need to get it done.
    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Lou!

Hi, I'm Louisa Clements & welcome to Living Lou. I've been creating simple, fresh & flavorful recipes for the modern kitchen for 12 years.
Learn More

Let’s connect

Living Lou

Copyright © 2023 Living Lou | Privacy

  • Home
  • All Recipes
  • Contact
  • About

Footer