It’s a lot to ask that mixed containers you plant in early May still look great in August. But if you combine plants that play well together, they not only can still look good—they can look even better. I create more than a dozen containers each year, using plants that capture my fancy at garden centers or online. Here are three that transitioned through the months to still look good or even better by mid-August.

1. Spotlights in the Shade:

This 16” diameter pot receives just two to three hours of direct sun in the afternoon. Each of the following plants made a colorful planter, even though only one is meant to bloom. The container holds one of each of the following:

• Coleus Color Blaze ‘Lime Time’: This coleus is labeled for sun or shade and will grow as tall as 36”. One of its advantages, besides its outstanding chartreuse coloring, is its reluctance to bloom. I prefer my coleus to remain foliage plants throughout the summer. However, many varieties will sport ho-hum flowers late in the season. ‘Lime Time’ never bloomed, so its strength went toward its amazing color instead.

• Dorotheanthus ‘Mezoo Trailing Red’: This South African succulent, also known as Livingstone Daisy, is grown mostly for its foliage, which is bright green with white edges on each leaf. It holds its color well even in partial shade.

• Aphelandra squarrosa ‘Louisae’ (zebra plant): Aphelandra squarrosa plants have glossy green leaves with bold white leaf veins. The dramatic leaves are ovate to elliptic growing up to 23cm (9 inch) long and 5cm (2 inch) wide within the center of the leaf and they have pointed tips.

• Aglaonema Red: Technically a “houseplant,” this beauty can be put to good use outdoors in a shady spot. While its leaves wear more than one color, it’s not a distinct bicolor like the zebra plant, but more like a blended red and green. I think this is why it can be used with other bicolor plants.

• Begonia ‘Doublet White’: This begonia’s flowers positively glow against its bronze foliage. The gumball-sized blooms come at a good pace, dropping on their own to make room for more, so this plant doesn’t require deadheading.

2. Bodacious beauty:

The beauty of this planter (approx. 16″ diameter) is its ability to transition through the season in a partial shade location, with four out of the six plants chosen for their awesome foliage color and form. Flowers are just accents until early August when the Pachystachys lutea (lollipop plant) begins to bloom. The pot holds one of each of the following:

• Cyperus involucratus ‘Baby Tut’: (umbrella grass) this little cutie stays under two feet tall and provides soft tufts of green fireworks that add a little exuberance to any planting.

• Coleus ‘Saturn’: is one of the big boys, growing bushy and tall—up to three feet toward the end of summer. Besides its velvety, deep maroon leaves splotched with a generous dollop of chartreuse, this variety doesn’t burst into bloom by mid-July—a real plus with a plant grown for its gorgeous foliage.

• Ipomoea Bright Lights Camouflage: I love the bi-color, green-purple look of this sweet potato vine, which is effective even in partial sun. It doesn’t become as rampant as some of the others. Height: 8-12”, 18-20” spread

Cont.

• Pachystachys lutea: I fell in love with this little beauty (AKA lollipop plant) while vacationing in Jamaica, where it surrounded the walkway around the hotel. It has finally become more available in the Midwest, and it’s spiky, lemon-yellow flowers thrive in the heat.

• Pelargonium ‘Indian Dunes’: It was the name of this annual geranium that caught my attention. With an additional “a,” its name would become Indiana Dunes, which is just down the road from where I live. Either way, this little plant’s flowers are somewhat of an afterthought. It’s rounded leaves feature chartreuse around a rosy center, the opposite of the Coleus ‘Saturn’. Leaf color (both) becomes more pronounced with more sun, and when the temperatures heat up, it produces bright, tomato-red flowers.

• Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’: This plant took the gardening world by storm when it appeared at garden centers. Its versatility, long bloom period and go-with-anything appearance are what have kept it on my list of plants to buy every season for the past 10 years.

3. Hummingbirds and more:

This 12-inch pot for full sun packs a punch—in color, scent and as a lure to hummingbirds and butterflies. The four plants look great all summer long, with only the Helenium requiring a shearing to promote more flowers. The pot holds one of each of the following:

• Pentas Graffiti Red Lace: Flowers on this hummingbird candy couldn’t be a brighter shade of red, and with its white centers, it’s obvious where the “lace” reference was chosen. At around 14 inches, it’s one of the taller varieties available. In my mind, it’s more graceful than the real shorties.

• Helenium ‘Dakota Gold’ (annual): I’ve never grown the annual cousin of perennial sneezeweed, or Helen’s flower, as it is sometimes called. To keep this plant compact and in bloom, it should be grown in full sun, and occasionally clipped back. But for most of the summer, expect tiny rays of sunshine with stems that are somewhat relaxed, providing a good contrast for the other upright plants in this mix.

• Heliotrope ‘Scentropia’ Dark Blue: This bushy 18” plant is rich in color and scent. And compared with the old-fashioned cherry pie plants that melted in the humidity, ‘Scentropia’ Dark Blue came through the worst of the weather in bud and ready to pop into bloom, providing deep blue flowers on healthy dark green leaves.

• Abutilon savitzii: This flowering maple doesn’t have a fancy cultivar name, but this bi-colored beauty is impossible to forget. It will even flower if it’s happy, with drooping, coral-colored blossoms.

Best tips

Here are a few suggestions on how to keep your containers in the best condition possible to get through the whole summer, and even improving through mid-October.

1. Keep your Coleus plants happy, strong and colorful by removing flowers as they form. It also helps to cut stems back a couple of inches while you’re pinching out the flower buds.
2. Feed after a heavy rain: even if you feed with a water soluble fertilizer, be sure to fertilize after those downpours, especially those that leave an inch or more in their wake. All of that rain water serves to flush out your containers. It’s not a bad thing, be it’s a good idea to replace the nutrients.
3. Cut back the bullies: check your containers to make sure they don’t encourage bullies. Check your sweet potato vines and mints or anything that looks like it’s ready to swallow up its neighbors.
4. Move them: Sun angles change, and plants grow huge by August. Make sure your plants are getting enough light and aren’t overshadowed by one another, by moving them if you need to. At the other end of the spectrum, make sure shade-lovers aren’t being scorched in the mid-summer heat.
5. Deadhead: Removing flowers that are past their prime accomplishes at least two things—encourages more flowers and keeps the plant’s vigor from needlessly forming seeds. It will, in general, keep your plants from looking bedraggled.