Thriller Filler Spiller Part 2

In my previous post, I explained the thriller filler spiller concept. What good is a gardening blog without some visual examples of these concepts? In the next 2 posts, I'll give you some of my favorite plants in each category, and some that I've discovered while working at Bates as being trustworthy. I'll throw in a couple pictures of pots that I've constructed here at home, as well as examples I've seen at garden shows. This post will be all about pots for full or mostly full sun.

Full Sun

Thrillers: My go-to are grasses. There's several varieties of annual grasses, or you could even go with a perennial variety. I love the airiness and the structure of grass. Another option is elephant ears, black or green. If you're working with a rather large pot and have plenty of room, a canna would be some stunning architecture. Those will get a few feet high, though, so it'd better be a pretty big pot. this year, upon the recommendation of employees at work, I'm using 'Silver Shield' Plectranthus as a thriller, and it looks wonderful so far! In the fall, I like using millet as my thriller, especially the purple variety. 

Fillers: Petunias are old-fashioned, but still a great option. You will need to dead-head them (pinching off the spent blooms) periodically to keep the flowers coming. I really like African Daisy (Osteospermum). When I plant them in a rich potting soil, they bloom profusely for me. A lot of people love Gerber daisies. I love the blooms, but honestly, I just usually don't get enough of them to satisfy me. Lantana and verbena are both great for attracting butterflies. There is a variety of impatiens called Sunpatiens, and as the name suggests, they can handle the full sun. There are sun coleus as well. Vinca fill in nicely, as well as bronze leaf begonias, though personally, I find the begonias a tad boring. But that's just me. A filler that gives interesting texture and color but doesn't bloom is dusty miller. In the fall, pansies, violas, ornamental kale or cabbage, ornamental peppers, and mums are all great as fillers.

Spillers: Sweet potato vine is one of my favorites. There are a few varieties, but I've found the lime green one to be the best performer. Another favorite is creeping Jenny. I'm partial to the golden variety. Dichondra 'Silver Falls' was recommended by employees, so I used it this year. I really like it! It's leaves are similar in shape to the creeping Jenny, but it looks like it's been dusted with silver powder. It's hard to go wrong with ivy or vinca vine, but again, those two are not quite interesting enough for my taste. If you want something that blooms, Wave petunias have a trailing habit, and you don't have to deadhead that variety. Scaveola blooms in white, pink, and light blue. Calibrachoa (more commonly known as Million Bells) has blooms that look like miniature petunias. They come in many colors and cascade nicely over the edge of a pot.

This is one of the pots by my front door.

My thrillers are purple fountain grass and Silver Shield;

earlier this spring, I had some purple hyacinth in there,

but it's on it's way out. My fillers are blue-veined petunias and

'Moonshine Yellow' African daisies. My spillers are 'Silver Falls'

dichondra and lime sweet potato vine. Not sure why my 

sweet potato vine isn't drapey yet, but it will be.

If you look closely, you'll see a purple ring around the

center of the African daisy that pulls in the blue-purple

of the petunias behind it. 

As you can see, I love the red/purple/yellow color combo.

Once again, I used purple fountain grass as a thriller, along with

elephant ears. My fillers here are 'Tiger Eye' rudbeckia (black-eyed Susans, but

this is an annual variety) and purple heart (Setcreasea). My spiller

is creeping Jenny.

I LOVE my red pots! Here's something I put together

for fall. My thriller is 'Purple Majesty' millet. I used lots of fillers here:

ornamental cabbage, ornamental peppers, 'Ruby Red' swiss chard,

and yellow pansies. My spiller is creeping Jenny. BTW, the photographer

in me is REALLY distracted by the dirt on the rim of the pot that I didn't wipe off. 

Here are two examples I've seen on garden tours:

I love this! Looks like the thriller is a red canna lily. The fillers are Black and Blue

salvia and lantana (that little bit of orangey pink in the center). The spillers

are 2 varieties of creeping Jenny (lysimachia): Aurea is the gold one and 

Midnight Sun is the purple one.

 These are a little harder to identify, but I'll give it a shot. It looks

like their thrillers are purple fountain grass, Icicles helichrysum (silver/gray color)

 and maybe Red Ruby amaranth (?? I can't be sure about that one. That's the purple 

leaf in the back.). The fillers are Diamond Frost euphorbia (tiny white airy blooms), and I think that bright green in the center is a geranium. The spillers are verbena and ivy.

I hope this gives you some ideas. Part 3 will be all about pots for the shade.