Spring Has Sprung: Colorful Planters

Contributed by Kristen Doherty, The Hive Overland Park

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If you are like me, I love my winter pots but they get tired and dry by early spring and I am so ready for some vibrant color. While it is too early to plant summer planters (general rule is Mother’s Day), spring planters are a fun and easy way to satisfy the urge for some energy and color on your front porch, deck or patio. Spring has sprung!

I am an interior designer with strong interests in landscape and floral design. Decorating my planters for every season is a bit of work but so satisfying.

Spring flowers and bulbs generally like the cooler temperatures making the lifespan shorter than summer and winter seasons. Here are some guidelines regarding color, landscape and flower selections when planting:

Color

This is an opportunity to add some excitement to your exterior so don’t hold back! My go to is the quintessential red, blue-purple and yellow combo which falls under the triadic color scheme.

If you are interested in color scheme and color combinations, here is a guide:

Monochromatic

It is based on one color with various tones and shades of it. The monochromatic harmony is always a winning choice since it’s hard to make a mistake and create a distasteful color scheme.

Analagous

To create analogous harmony, you need to use colors located right next to each other on the color wheel (colors such as red, orange, yellow). This type of color scheme is best for the design where no contrast is desired.

Complementary

The complementary scheme is the mix of colors placed in front of each other on the color wheel. This scheme is the opposite of analogous and monochromatic since it aims to produce high contrast. For example, yellow sunflowers and purple French lavender together create a beautiful, high contrast bouquet.

Split-Complementary

This scheme works similar to the previous one but it employs more colors. For instance, if you choose a blue color you need to take two others which are adjacent to its opposite color, meaning yellow and red. The contrast here is less sharp than in complementary scheme but it allows using more colors and looks amazing in a planter.

Triadic

When the design requires a variety of colors you can try a triadic scheme. It is based on three separate colors that are equidistant on the color wheel. To save the balance in this scheme, it is recommended to use one color as a dominant, the other as accents. For example, purple-blue Hydrangeas, yellow Roses and red Gerbera Daisies create a triadic scheme.

Tetradic/Double-Complementary

The tetradic color scheme is for experienced designers since it is the most difficult to balance. It uses four colors from the wheel that are complementary pairs. If you connect the points on the chosen colors, they form a rectangle (for example blue, yellow, purple, orange). The scheme is hard to harmonize but if you do everything right, the results are stunning.

Landscape and proportion

Plants in the shorter spring season do not have a chance to grow and expand so embellish with faux plants for height and drape. Here are some examples of birch branches and real and faux plants incorporated in the planters.

A great example of complimentary colors and embellishing with birch branches from the winter pots and forsythia for extra height and color. The example may be from a real forsythia bush but some realistic faux branches could be used too. Bonus, they can be used year after year!

Flower Selection

I keep it simple and use the easily accessible flower options. These were all purchased at Lowe’s for the sake of price and convenience. Nurseries will have larger selections and more specific plant varieties which is why I prefer shopping there for the longer planter seasons.