POWER
PLANTERS
Create drama by simplifying
colors and playing
with height and texture.Janet Kayser-Johnson has a fl air for
designing containers with big impact.
“I have so much fun redoing them each
year,” she says. Here are her tips for
focal-point-worthy planters.GO MONOCHROMATIC.
Avoid the box-of-crayons effect.
Opting for one or two harmonious
colors per pot or pot grouping lets
you focus on varying plant textures
and shapes. For extra pizzazz, echo
the color of a nearby rug or cushion in
blooms or leaves of your plant palette.GROUP POTS OF VARYING HEIGHTS.
A trio of similar pots pleases the eye,
especially displayed at varying heights.
Choose a tall, medium, and small
container of the same color and fi nish,
or choose three identical pots and
elevate two of them on plant stands,
concrete blocks, or steps. Janet favors
black glazed containers that recedeinto the background, letting plants take
the starring role.
PRIMP AND PRUNE.
Deadheading fl owers, removing
damaged or yellowing leaves, and
trimming leggy stems regularly lets
Janet keep an eye out for pests and
disease. As summer annuals fade,
she pulls them out and replaces them
with ornamental grasses or small
evergreen perennials to extend a
container’s beauty into fall.1
2
3
1 A trio of black pots
nearly disappears
beneath a cascade
of white and silvery-
green plants. Elegant
Euphorbia ‘Silver
Swan’ stands tall in the
highest pot, with white
geraniums, verbena,
pentas, and SunPatiens
fl oating down like fat
snowfl akes. ‘Ice Dance’
sedge, ‘Silver Falls’
ponysfoot (Dichondra
argentea), and Bacopa
spill over the sides.2 Fireworks seem to
burst from a tall black
pot, where the lime
green, sparklerlike
foliage of ‘King Tut’
papyrus dances above
chocolate-and-lime
leaves of Cordyline
‘Electric Star’.
Orange ‘Cheyenne
Spirit’ Echinacea and
burgundy-and-lime
coleus harmonize, while
‘Desana Lime’ sweet
potato vine cascades
over the edge.3 When the deck
fi lls up with planters,
Janet goes vertical.
Hanging on the fence,
a half-circle metal
planter displays aloes
and other succulents.
Purple and lime green
foliage and fl owers,
including Persian shield
and impatiens, add zing
below. A yellow-green
gazing globe accents
the color scheme.