As much as I love colorful flowers, there’s something about one with a dark and moody edge that always draws me in.
So when I found this beautiful Surfina variety called Heavenly Blackberries & Cream while browsing in Milmont Greenhouses (my favorite go to spot), I snatched it up and began searching for complimentary plants to create a sophisticated porch display.
Because Surfina is what I consider to be a “spiller,” (i.e. it will trail down the side of the pot), I knew I wanted to find a couple of taller plants for the middle of the pot, as well as a dramatically taller variety for a corner. I also wanted to find more spillers to make sure all sides had something spilling from it without it looking too uniform by getting all Surfina.
Here’s the plant list I came up with and how I chose it:
Ipomoea batatas, also known as Sweet Potato Vine, ‘Sweet Caroline Upside Black Coffee”
-this felt perfect as a complimentary spiller to the Surfine because it has a different texture and shape, but the tones were almost identical given that it has both green and dark maroon leaves
Coleus in ‘Wizard Mosaic’ and ‘Black Dragon’
-just as with the Sweet Potato Vine, these offered a nice mix of darks and greens, and their fluffy nature made it perfect for the back of the planter to add a soft wall for others to shine off of
Salvia in “Purple Volcano’ and ‘New Dimension Rose’
Salvias and have a nice fluffy leafed bottom that lovely spikes of flowers shoot out of all season long. The ‘Purple Volcano’ variety offers a beautiful dark foliage and deep purple flowers, whereas the ‘New Dimension Rose’ offers traditional green foliage with deep pink and purple spikes. The latter variety was a bit of a chance, given that sometimes pictures can be deceiving and the pink may be brighter than I want for the planter. The good news is that Salvias are perennials, so if I don’t like it in this planter, I can simply take it out and put it somewhere in the landscape to live and flourish for years to come.
Cordyline (Dracaena) Indivisa
This is what I call the thriller plant, aka something that stands out and makes you take notice. I like to off center taller flowers in arrangements and pots, so I naturally gravitated towards putting this in a corner. However, if I wanted more of a symmetrical look, I could have put this in the corner.
Nasturtium ‘Purple Emperor’
I was growing this from seed already, and it felt like the perfect ingredient to pop into the arrangement as another purple toned flower and spiller, given that it’s a longer/taller variety of nasturtium.
Here’s the final result! I can’t wait to see it really fill out and take shape this season.
