How to Make an Outdoor Floral Container | Jenny Cookies Ladies Lunch
Summer is on the horizon and I couldn’t be more excited to get my home and yard ready for outdoor entertaining. One of the easiest ways to spruce up your property is to add flowers!
Just about every month I host a “Ladies Lunch” with a few of my girlfriends. We get together for a few hours and have a little lunch and follow up with some sort of DIY or activity. I have been wanting to host a Ladies Lunch at Molbaks for awhile now and finally had an opportunity to invite the ladies to one of my favorite plant stores!
Molbaks Garden and Home is located in Woodinville, WA and is family owned and operated for over 60 years. Their plants are locally sourced and almost all of their edible plants are organically grown and harvested. They have a little of everything which makes it a little wonderland filled with plants, flowers and a gigantic gift shop with everything you could dream of.
For the lunch portion of our afternoon we met at Russells Garden Cafe and Wine Bar, which is located inside of Molbaks.
They have a delicious assortment of items on their menu from salads and sandwiches to a great wine list. Bonus!
Our lunch was delicious. I highly recommend visiting the cafe the next time you meet a friend for lunch!
After lunch we met Sarah who has been with Molbaks for several years. She explained the steps for creating a gorgeous floral container and walked us through the greenhouse to show us the right types of flowers to select for our containers.
Sarah explained it in the easiest way. A great container design has three parts: a thriller, filler and a spiller! This design technique utilizes three different types of plants to create well-rounded and upscale looking containers.
Thrillers are plants with height that add drama and a vertical element to the combination.
- Thrillers can either be flowering or foliage plants or ornamental grasses
- Thrillers are generally put either in the center or at the back of the container
- Place it in the center of the container if it will be viewed from all sides
- Place it in the back of the container if it will be viewed from only one side
- Some examples are: Angelface® angelonia, Butterfly argyranthemum, Graceful Grasses®
Once you’ve chosen your Thriller, next start choosing your Filler varieties:
- Fillers tend to be more rounded or mounded plants and make the container look full
- Fillers are generally placed in front of, or around, the Thriller variety
- Fillers should be placed midway between the edge of the container and the Thriller variety
- If the Thriller is in the center of the container, the Fillers should surround the Thriller variety
- Some examples are Diamond Frost® euphorbia, Superbells®calibrachoa, Supertunia® petunia
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Lastly, you add the Spillers:
- Spillers are trailing plants that hang over the edge of the planter
- Spillers are placed close to the edge of the container
- If the container is going to be viewed from all sides, Spillers should be placed on all sides
- If the container is going to be viewed from only one side, Spillers should be placed in the front of the container
- Some examples are Snowstorm® Giant Snowflake® bacopa, Snow Princess® lobularia, Sweet Caroline sweet potato vine
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After we selected our thriller, fillers and spillers, we got to work! 
We chose containers made from a family owned business in Mukilteo, WA. Mukilteo Cedar creates gorgeous containers made from sustainably harvested cedar and sealed with Brazilian Rosewood oil (which doesn’t require any trees to be cut).
We filled the containers with dirt and then carefully arranged the plants (still in their pots) inside the container to see how we liked the lay out.
After the flowers looked good (and Sarah approved), we began potting.
Sarah guided us through our planting and made sure everyone’s containers were done correctly.
It was really fun to see how each container turned out. We all chose different plants so each container was unique!
I filled mine with lots of coral, white and pops of orange. I loved how it turned out!
We had the best afternoon. We all agreed we’ll be back in September to create a fresh container for fall!
If you’re needing to spruce up your yard or just want to escape for a minute, take a trip to Molbaks! They have everything you could ever think of from succulents to flowering plants, trees and more! I never leave empty handed!!
Photos by Kelly Clare Photography
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