Spectacular containers overflowing with plants are all the rage these days. Although in books and magazines you can find step-by-step plans for exact combinations to copy, it's much more fun -- and satisfying to experiment on your own. Fortunately, creating great container combinations is easy, and if you plant one that doesn't do well or isn't to your liking, it's not a disaster. Either replant with another mix next year or clump out the container right away, move plants to the garden (or discard them), and try again. It's a fun, creative way to learn about designing combinations, using colour, and growing plants. With experience, you'll learn what you like.

The Mix-and-Match System
use a simple mix-and-match system to design combinations. It roughly divides container plants into four general categories: "flags," "fillers," "contrast and accent plants," and "trailers and weavers". When you design every pot should include plants from each category -- the exact number depends on the size of the container. In the largest ones, include one or two flags, two or three fillers, one or two contrast and accent plants, and two or three trailers and weavers. For a small container, plant just one from each category or eliminate one of the categories.

Flags. These have an upright, vertical habit and add height to plant combinations. They also add a bannerlike flair to any design. Flags can contribute foliage and/or flowers. Ornamental grasses primarily provide foliage; dwarf cannas add both bold foliage and flowers.

Fillers. The best plants to use as fillers have handsome, fine-textured foliage age and/or small flowers. As their name suggests, these plants fill in the combination, but more important, they add texture and set off the foliage and flowers of bolder participants in the combination.

Contrast and accent plants. Essential for adding surprise and color to your combinations, contrast and accent plants often feature bold foliage. Leaves that are variegated or exhibit unusual color, such as burgundy or chartreuse, are especially effective. Large flowers can also be the main accents in a container garden.

Trailers and weavers. These plants, which provide much of the charm to a plant combination, are at their best trailing over the edges of containers, spilling out of hanging baskets, or mingling among other container inhabitants. They can feature ornamental Foliage or handsome flowers, as well.

Vines as Flags. Vines trained on a handsome trellis at the back or center of a container function as flags, because they add height and flair to a combination. For this reason, they can be used like cannas, ornamental grasses, and other flags. Keep in mind that all the branches of a vine don't have to be trained onto the trellis. Let them wander among the other plants, acting as fillers or trailers. Pinch the stem tips, if you like, to increase branching on these wanderers

Designing with Foliage and Flowers. Many people think of flowers as the central Feature of container gardens, but foliage is usually the most important element in many of the best combinations. Instead of starting your selection with flower colour, look at foliage first. Plants with attractive leaves all season long can echo or complement the color scheme you want. Foliage in a planting combination should set off the flowers, but it should also be interesting and handsome in its own right. In fact, it's not hard to create fabulous combinations based entirely on foliage, with no flowers at all.

Using a variety of leaf and flower sizes adds excitement and interest to a planting combination. A container filled with plants that all have small, fine-textured leaves and flowers will look bland and uninteresting. On the other hand, a planting that combines large, tropical-looking leaves with fine-textured, ferny foliage will have pizzazz. Combining bold flowers with tiny, lacy-looking ones creates a similar effect. When it comes to contrast, don't stop with size. Look for contrasting shapes, textures, and other characteristics you can use to bring life to your designs.

The use of repeating elements in a container, just as in a garden, helps integrate a design visually, making it look like a well-defined entity. Mirror colors by combining a plant with purple-flushed leaves with another that picks up the same shade of purple in its flowers. Or include two different purple-foliage plants with one as a flag and one as a contrast or accent plant. Also, select other plants for the container that repeat or echo leaf or flower shapes and textures.

Combinations with exceptionally tall or bold flags that are not balanced by an adequate number of lower-growing plants tend to seem top-heavy and are unsettling to look at. Be sure to include enough plants in the combination to balance out the tallest specimens, then pinch and train the plants to encourage bushy growth. On the other hand, a combination that contains lots of low-growing plants without a bold upright specimen toward the center may look just fine, especially if you are trying to achieve a rounded mound of flowers and foliage.

Plants to Use as Flags
Red-hot-cat's tail, Acalypha spp.
Giant hyssops, Agastache hybrids
Angelonia, Angelonia angustifolia
Rose mallow, Anisodontea x hypomandarum
Swiss chard, Beta vulgaris
Dwarf cannas, Canna x generalis hybrids
Cordyline spp.
Purple fountain grass, Penniserum setaceum 'Purpureum'
New Zealand flax, Phormiurn tenax
Musa Basjoo
Salvias, Sages, Salvia spp.
Coleus, Solenostemon scutellarioides

Plants to Use as Fillers
Cushionbush, Calocephalus brownii
Dusty millers, Centaurea cineraria and Senecio cineraria
Cupheas, Cuphea spp.
Braychome
Curry plants, Helichrysum italicurn spp. serotinum
Polka-dot plant, Hypoestes phyllostachya
Bloodleaf, Iresine herbstii
Flowering tobacco, Nicotiana alata
Scented geraniums, Pelargoniurn spp.
Plectranthus, Plectranthus spp.

Contrast and Accent Plants
Begonias, Begonia spp.
Caladium, Caladium bicoloUr
Ornamental peppers, Capsicum annuurn
Coreopsis, Coreopsis grandi, fiora
Cosmos, Cosmos spp.
Dwarf dahlias, Dahlia spp.
Fuchsias, Fuchsia spp.
Transvaal daisy, Gerbera ]arnesonii
Heliotrope, Heliotropiurn arborescens
Garden impatiens, Impatiens wallerana
Zonal geraniums, Pelargoniurn spp.
Egyptian star-cluster, Pentas lanceolata
Coleus, Solenosternon scotellarioides
Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta
Marigolds, Tagetes spp.

Plants to Use as Trailers and Weavers
Bacopas, Bacopa spp.
Licorice plant, Helichrysum petiolare
Ornamental sweet potato, Ipomea bataras
Weeping lantana, Lantana montevidensis
Edging lobelia, Lobelia erinus
Parrot's beak, Lotus vine, Lotus berthelotii
Petunias, Petunia spp.
Creeping zinnia, Sanvitaha procurebens
Fan flower, Scaevola aemula
Purple heart, Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea'
Common nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus
Verbenas,Verbena spp.
Greater periwinkle, Vinca major 'Variegata'