Container gardens are one of the best and easiest ways to bring color to your garden. Portable pots are simple to take care of and small enough to move around. You can fill them with new plants, flowers, and leaves whenever you want to keep your garden, deck, or patio looking new. The greatest challenge is selecting just a few plants when there are so many available!.
To create containers that will wow every time, use our “thrill, spill and fill” formula. This can be used to make any kind of container you want, with plants for pollinators, in the sun or the shade.
Container gardening is an excellent way to add splashes of color texture, and charm to patios, balconies, and small outdoor spaces. The key to creating visually captivating containers is using the “thriller filler, spiller” technique. This formula ensures you have the elements for a stunning display that blooms with life and vibrancy.
When designing combinations for full sun containers the choices of plants that can provide thrills fillers, and spillers are abundant. With the right selections, your pots and planters will flourish with colorful flowers, attractive foliage, and trailing greenery cascading over the edges.
Thrilling Choices for Height and Drama
The thriller in a container arrangement adds excitement, vertical structure, and eye-catching allure. Typically the tallest element, the thriller draws the eye upwards and commands attention. Some top recommendations for thrillers that thrive in full sun include:
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Ornamental grasses – Feathery plumes that sway gracefully in the breeze, Purple fountain grass and pampas grass make excellent choices,
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Cannas – Large, tropical-looking leaves and bold clusters of flowers in shades of red, orange, yellow, or pink. Grow up to 4-6 feet tall.
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Banana trees – Huge paddle-shaped leaves and a tropical vibe. Can grow quite large in just one season if given ample room and sun.
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Elephant ears – Immense heart-shaped leaves often over 2 feet across. Dramatic foliage adds bold texture.
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Sunflowers – Happy faces lift your spirits with bright blooms. Maximize impact by planting a cluster.
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Giant dahlias – Dinner plate-sized flowers up to 8 inches across create quite the spectacle.
Filling in With Color and Texture
Filler plants add mass, color, and harmonious textures to bridge the gap between thrillers and spillers. Excellent choices for fillers that thrive in full sun include:
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Zinnias – Available in a rainbow of colors, from bright solid hues to bi-colors. The Profusion series offers disease resistance.
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Marigolds – Cheerful flowers bloom relentlessly. Choose African marigolds for large blossoms or French for neat patterns.
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Pentas – Rising columns of star-shaped flowers attract butterflies. Easy care, drought tolerant once established.
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Coleus – Grown for its vividly colored and patterned foliage. Newer sun-loving varieties available.
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Sweet potato vine – Trails gracefully and comes in green, chartreuse, purple and variegated forms.
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Petunias – A myriad of colors and habits. Wave and Supertunia types are ideal for sprawling over edges.
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Verbena – Clusters of small flowers blanket plants all summer. Great for sun and heat tolerance.
Spilling Over the Sides
The spiller plants trail over the container edges, softening lines and creating graceful movement. Some top recommendations for sun-loving spillers include:
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Sweet potato vine – Charming heart-shaped leaves spread readily. Works well in mixed containers.
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Bacopa – Delicate, trailing stems adorned with tiny white blooms keep blooming all season.
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Scaevola – Dainty flowers creates cascades of electric blue. Heat and drought tolerant once established.
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Calibrachoa – Hundreds of tiny petunia-like blooms blanket these prodigious trailers.
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Ivy – Evergreen vines provide verdant appeal. English ivy and variegated types add interest.
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Dichondra – This silver-toned groundcover has a flowing, fine texture. Great for softening container edges.
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Creeping Jenny – Bright chartreuse leaves bring brilliant color as a curtain over pot edges.
Thrill, Fill, and Spill Plant Combinations
When selecting your specific thriller, filler, and spiller plants, it helps to consider colors, textures, and proportions. Some examples of combinations that are sure to dazzle in full sun include:
- Pink polka dot plant (filler), ivy (spiller), canna lily (thriller)
- Zinnias and marigolds (fillers), creeping Jenny (spiller), ornamental grass (thriller)
- Coleus (filler), calibrachoa (spiller), elephant ears (thriller)
- Pentas (filler), dichondra (spiller), giant dahlia (thriller)
- Verbena and petunias (fillers), sweet potato vine (spiller), banana tree (thriller)
The important thing is to choose plants suited to the same conditions, with a similar vigor and season of bloom or foliage. Mix colors, shapes, and textures for visual interest. Then stand back and enjoy the compliments your beautiful containers will surely receive!
Growing and Maintaining Full Sun Container Gardens
To help your thriller, filler, and spiller plants thrive, provide these optimal growing conditions:
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Full Sun – Most varieties prefer a minimum of 6 hours direct sunlight per day. Morning sun is particularly important.
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Large Containers – Choose generously sized pots or planters to accommodate the plants’ root growth.
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Well-drained soil – Use a commercial potting mix and add perlite or vermiculite to ensure excellent drainage.
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Consistent watering – Check soil moisture frequently and water containers before they dry out completely.
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Fertilizing – Apply a balanced liquid fertilizer every 2-4 weeks during the active growing season.
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Deadheading – Remove spent blooms to encourage continuous flowering.
With the right thrillers, fillers and spillers selected for full sun exposure, it’s easy to create stunning container gardens that flourish with vibrant color. Follow the design formula and tend properly to maximize your enjoyment of these movable masterpieces!
What is Thrill, Spill, Fill?
Choose at least one plant from each of these groups when you plant a container to make sure the design is well-balanced. The number of plants you choose depends on the size of the container. If there is only room for one of each, that is fine.
Thrill plants provide height to your container.
Spill plants cascade over the side of the pot.
Fill Plants fill in the spaces in the middle of the pot.
Plant Combinations for Sun
For your container, choose a bright purple color and fill it with Heuchera, Lamb’s Ear, and calibrachoa. The Salvia will be the thriller plant.
In this great container, the colocasia is the show-stopper plant. Other plants, like coleus, calibrachoa, and verbena, fill the bottom and spill over the edge of the container.
Bouganvillea, Bacopa and Lobelia combine to create a stunning container in pink and white.
Learn to do the Thrill, Fill and Spill // Potted Style // The Gardenettes
FAQ
What is the thriller filler spiller rule?
What is the best outdoor potted plant for full sun?
What goes well with foxtail fern outdoor?
What is a thrill fill & spill container garden?
Thrill, fill, and spill container gardens don’t have to be limited to flowering plants only. Flowers and veggies alike can come together in an awesome thrill, fill, and spill container garden design. Tomato and pepper plants are often used as the thrill, while a mixture of herbs and flowers provides the fill.
Do thriller plants need full sun?
Some plants thrive in full sun, while others prefer partial shade or even full shade. Matching your plants’ light requirements is crucial for their health and longevity. When selecting your thriller, filler, and spiller plants, consider their colors and textures.
What is a thriller filler & Spiller container garden?
The thriller, filler, and spiller concept is a tried-and-true formula for designing eye-catching container gardens. It’s all about creating a harmonious balance of height, fullness, and cascading elements within a single planter. Here’s a breakdown of each component: Thrillers are the attention-grabbers, the divas of your container garden.
Is thriller a filler or a Spiller when choosing plants?
Remember: ‘Thriller, filler, spiller when choosing plants,’ advises Isabelle Palmer of The Balcony Gardener, an expert in container gardening and author of Modern Container Gardening What is thriller, spiller, filler?
Should I use a round-leaved filler with a spiky thriller?
Texturally, I might use a round-leaved filler with a spiky thriller. Since fillers are usually plants with a mounded silhouette, they also do just what the name implies: They fill up the pot while embracing the thriller. Often, they help by hiding the bare knees—the less interesting stems or stalks—of their larger neighbor.
How to choose a thriller & Spiller for your container?
Let’s dive in and choose the thrillers, spillers and fillers for our pots, baskets, and containers. These are the showstoppers of your container, adding height and drama. Think of them as the leading characters in your garden story. Go big, go bold.