After living in cold weather cities for the past 15 years, I’ve come to look at spring as my saving grace—it’s the only thing that gets me through it. That and electric blankets. And massive amounts of hot chocolate. For me, springtime means being outside and taking up my pretend hobby of gardening. I say pretend because I don’t really know what I’m doing, I know I just love looking at plants so I pick out whatever I want from the nursery and hope it works out.
But I got smarter this time, folks! I recruited the help of Richard Bingham, a landscape designer here in Utah, who helped me come up with some plants that would be perfect for a container garden. A container garden is perfect for renters like me, especially those who don’t have a full yard to work with, and can take the pots wherever you go. My house is south facing and we get a ton of sunshine so I needed plants that have full sun exposure. Richard helped me pick out these gorgeous plants that will no doubt become even more gorgeous as the season draws on. I partnered up with Monrovia, one of my favorite plant brands, who I’ve been turning to for the past couple of years because of their high quality plants that they grow in California. They also provide great information for growing plants according to your region.
Another condition I had was that I wanted plants that could act as pollinators, meaning that bees would LOVE them. We need more bees in the world, you know?!
The following plants are great for containers and full-sun exposure:
- Takara Itoh peony (I’m so stoked about him and happy that he’s a great pollinator))
- Allgold Scotch Broom (grows to be big! And bees will love them!)
- Blue fescue (grows a wheat type extension)
- Snowdrop anenome (so sweet! again, bees will love them)
- Ground cover sedum (it’ll start to drape around the pot)
I am so so so so stoked for this peony. I have 4 peony plants already. They tend to be pretty hearty, which is something I need with my black thumb tendencies. And though they are trendy, I can’t help but collect them all. 
When planting your container garden, make sure you’re giving your plants ample room to grow in the containers themselves. You can do this by selecting pots that are about twice as big as the plant itself and filling the container with an organic potting soil. Richard recommends the Master’s Pride or Master Nursery Gardener’s Gold, which are both high in organic matter and area good all around potting soil. Follow the instructions on the Monrovia site for specific instructions for your chosen plants.
So, get out there and plant! What will you be planting??? Tell me! And show me pics! You know I love me some garden photos.
Photography by Brittany Jepsen | Plant expertise from Richard Bingham (who also sells his gorgeous terrariums on his Etsy shop) and does landscape design. Email him [email protected] | Plants bought at Sun River Garden | Plants from Monrovia