I have 35 planters so it takes a lot to do all with 3 plants each.

Your color combinations are inspiring!
I like to see your plans for the next year's containers.
Because I start most things from seeds----I never know what will be ready for containers
until I go to plant them. And sometimes there are plants at the garden centers which wind up coming home with me.

I dont mean to give the impression I stick to my rules. I always leave a few buck for the surprises that I find and that seems to happen every year.
I visit my sister 100 miles away at her birthday time which is mid May. We always go to a garden store in her town. It also has a website that has just listed all their plants for 2015. I can get a lot of planing done ahead of time this way. I see they carry several torenias so I will work those into the spectical for next year.

Jo Anne you always have some awesome plant combos.

Caroline, that is why I started using tropical plants for my pots on the patio. Seeds were to slow and you never know what is going to be available at the nurseries. I am cheap and I could not make myself order annuals on line and pay the high shipping price.

I have been using Tropical plants like the colorful bananas, Elephant Ears and Cannas with the leaves that have the most color, for impact and look for a few annuals to compliment the big impact plants.

At the end of the season I drag the pots in put them in garbage bags and put them in the laundry room. About March they start growing and I throw a little water on them and they take off so fast when I put them outside for the summer.

Thats a great idea Cinta. I used to order annuals on line so I had total controle of color.HA !! What a joke. After 2 years of half the plants dying in transit and several wrong colors due to website photoshopping I stopped.
I like the surprises of a local store. Much is done ahead but as stated above I leave room for spontaniety,sometimes it means buying a planter ( my vice )

Jo Ann the last time I order annuals was 15 yrs ago. I was stupid enough to even order them from one of the most expensive places they were 14.00 for little 3" pots I do not know what I was thinking. I love the dollar store for bulbs like dahalias and glads for some late in the season flowers. But most of my pots are color foliage.

35 pots is a huge amount to fill. I don't keep many because I stay with my elderly mom several days a week. In the hot, humid summer months only the toughest survive that watering schedule.

Cinta: We all have learned some things the hard way. We eventually tailor our plant purchases to our situations. I also use a lot of foliage ( coleus ) in my pots. I tried perennials in some to keep the annual plant cost down. Last winter I lost most of the perennials due to a long hard winter.

Teresa, that is hard. It happened to me with my tropicals. I was caring for my Mom before she past for a year. I was in such a bad place even when I came home I could not water then winter came and I did not get them inside before frost. Some of the canna's survived but I have been trying to replace my tropicals slowly. I do not know if this will help you but I put pampers in the bottom of the plants that really wanted to stay moist at all times.

Jo Ann, I am trying perennials in 4 pots the biggest thing in those are knockout roses and Heucheras. It is going to be interesting to see if they survive. I put cuttings of the Fairy Rose in some of the pots. That one blooms from Spring until frost.

Cinta : I found the bigger the pot the better chance perennials had to survive. I had clematis in a 20 inch planter for 4 years but cold is cold and last winter was just too much and it killed the clem. I also lost campanula white clips,Hosta Cherish and a heuchera the deer ate to death.

I think everyone lost extra plants last year. This year is starting off harsh for KY. We have had a hi of 25 on Monday and them rebound today to 58.

I have them planted in styrofoam coolers with the hopes that it will give them some degree of protection. I still have not planted the clematis I purchased at the end of the season. I have a better chance of winter survival than deer survival.