Outdoor Garden

• Outdoor container gardens give the gardener significantly more control over her flowers than planting them in the ground. A container gives you the chance to decorate your porch, balcony or patio with any combination of flowers you wish. Container gardens usually require more maintenance than in-ground plantings, but a successful design offers a long-term visual feast. Auburn University suggests this colorful combination: red nasturtiums, pink geraniums and orange begonias. It also recommends lilies, hyacinths and impatiens.
  
  

Houseplants

• Most people spend the majority of their time indoors and houseplants provide attractive floral displays in an intimate setting. Gardeners must ensure, however, that indoor plants receive sufficient light and that the flower tolerates the room's temperature and humidity. For example, southern or western exposures typically give a plant the most sunlight, while the best temperature for most plant is 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Orchids and African violets are recommended as indoor container plants by the University of Georgia.
  
  

Hanging Containers

• Hanging baskets filled with colorful flowers make a great addition to a porch or breezeway. Gardeners can choose from a wide variety of hanging containers that fill the aisles of home and garden centers. The Maryland Cooperative Extension recommends growing upright flowers, such as marigold and pansies, in the center of the containers, and placing a spreading or climbing plant, such as myrtle and English ivy, about 1 inch from the edge. Be sure to place the containers where each plant will get enough sunlight.
  
  

Maintenance

• Container plants thrive in a moist soil. Too wet soil, however, can lead to problems such as root rot. Flowers in small pots typically need watering every two to three days, while flowers in large pots do well with watering every three to five days. Drip irrigation, where water releases slowly into the potting soil over time from a drip tube, helps prevent over-watering or under-watering. Clean any litter from the pot as necessary, since dead flowers and leaves may promote disease.