A Patriotic Planter Project For Your Garden

This patriotic planter project is ideal for summer time giving on Mother's or Father's Day. It is also a great one to do with children at home or in group settings because kids love being involved with gardening projects.

As well, small versions of a patriotic planter would make super gifts for retirement or nursing homes, and they would be perfect in bazaars for fund raising. Most everyone can find some sort of use for this garden project and I hope to hear of some new ideas for it's use from readers.

Check out the basic plan for this patriotic planter below and think through your own project. Then, let us know how you design yours by making a hub about it. If you do write about your patriotic garden project please notify me so I can link it to this one!

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Due to circumstances beyond our control throughout last summer and fall our garden got bent out of shape. “How bad was it,” you ask? Bad enough that I thought the good plants might sprout legs and walk off. Bad enough that I thought our kitty might turn wild on us. Why, it was bad enough that I thought our neighbors might ask us to move far away. (Seriously, I am thankful for their patience.)

Anyway, it’s been great to start getting caught up and finally start some reworking that includes a couple of new projects. With so much to catch up on I’ve had to start small with the new projects but here is one I thought you might like to hear about early enough to incorporate into your garden or patio/deck area.

My friend gave me the idea of making a patriotic planter. Well, you know how it goes, I had to stop everything in order to get it done so it could be at its peak this July. There are a couple of considerations to think through but the project is really as easy as eating apple pie.

First, with the red, white, and blue blooms in mind, give some thought to the color of the planter you want to use. I thought I might go with blue, then possibly green, but when I went to buy one I decided on a clay colored pot because our house is a clay colored brick.

Next the size needed to be considered. Mine is placed in a large island so it needed to be good sized, but if I were to design one for our porch it would probably be quite a bit smaller. Giving the size some thought ahead of time is important, but it is not hard to decide what you need and want when you look your area over.

Then comes the decision about the kind of flowers you will use. Will the planter be in the shade, part shade, mostly sun, or full sun? Mine will be in the hot sun for most of the day so I chose full sun plants--white petunias, with blue and red verbena. However, I may switch out these plants as more varieties become available this spring.

It’s not easy to find true blue flowers but there are several to choose from. One of my favorite blues is the balloon flower, but they do not bloom all summer like verbena. Red flowers need to be a blue red, not an orange red, and they need to be the kind that don’t fade to pink or coral before wilting. Wave petunias are not out in my area just yet, but if these white petunias don’t bloom profusely I can always transplant them when the Wave’s are available.

The size of the flower plants should be considered as you plant so that low growing ones are on the outer edge of the planter with the taller ones in the middle. As well, the size of the bloom is a consideration. Just think it through according to what is available in your area.

A friend with a large round planter in his driveway asked me to recommend a design for it. I helped him plan black-eyed Susans in the center, then red and white Wave petunias encircling them, with blue balloon flower plantings around the outer edge. His Waves will trail between the blue balloons and spill over the sides of the planter.

By July he should have his patriotic flowers going strong and the black-eyed Susans bursting yellow fireworks over their heads, that is if he plants in good potting soil and waters consistently, for his planter is in direct sun all day. A full shade container could have impatiens and forget-me-nots dancing in the shadows to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner.

My planter is just getting started but I will try to post a new photo or two when it is filled out and going strong. In the meantime, I am posting two flower pics below, each from opposite ends of the world. Can you guess where they are from?

Oh yes, if you create a red, white, and blue patriotic planting write a hub and post some photos, then be sure to let me know so I can link it to this one. Happy gardening!

How appreciative are you for the sacrifices that service men and women make for your country?

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