Do you have some pots with more than 1 kind of plant? Curious to see what others put together.

Here's a palm tree with a ground cover of WJ (Tradescantia zebrina.) I put a little cutting of umbrella tree (Schefflera) in there a few days ago.


This pot has some bigger & smaller palms, variegated lucky bamboo (Dracaena braunii,) and Ficus microcarpa.

I know you'll love this, I used re-cycled soil in my grapefruit when I transplanted it

I have very few pots that I DON'T have more than one lant on the pot. I believe it is more appealing and the plants grow bigger and better for me than growing each plant in a pot by its self. I also think single planted plants look like they are in a retail store for sale and not a decorative display.

Why would I plant one plant per pot and have to prevent myself from having more plants when I can triple my buy and have less pots if I double up or triple up.

Anyway here is.....
Dracenea and a philodendron orange prince.


Everything but the kitchen sink. I have houseplants, Glad, coleus, tri-color oyster plant, Purple Heart, purple passion houseplant, and other friends....I brought this pot in last winter and set it back outside this summer. It still looks good and so colorful. It is my cherry pot.

Those are SO awesome!! Ditto to each of your rationalizations too!

I didn't want to start this discussion with a bomb of pics, but when I went to take a few more pics to add, I realized how many plants I've put in the ground for temporary summer vacation. Those are still groups in my mind that will mostly stay together, but the effect is totally lost w/o the pot, and technically don't count right now, little to add until fall. Anticipate a photo bomb then! I need to move the remaining pots to get good pics w/o ugly under-construction scenes in the background. No idea when that impulse will kick in... :+)

Tiffany, I like combo pots because it is like gardening in the ground. Grouping plants to compliment each other. If I see single plants I think of nursery because they are selling a single plant. When you buy garden plants you buy one plant in a pot. You would not put all one plant in the garden you put plants together to compliment each other for a nice visual effect.

Unless you are a collector I can see why someone would want singular pots. I am not a collector I am a gardener. Gardening is grouping and complimenting. It could be why if I plant one plant in a pot they die. I cannot grow a single plant in a pot.

Here's a pot that gets sun all morning:
http://www.allthingsplants.com...

Various Begonias, Swedish ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus,)


Some out in the rain a couple days ago.

How are your in ground combos doing Tiffany? I will take pics of my summer combo pots that have developed over the summer. I put combined some more of my houseplants in anticipation of moving them in for the winter. One pot instead of four, one pot instead of 6 and so on. I keep combining to see how few pots I can bring in and still have room to buy more this winter. I always get the winter blues and have to do some retail therapy.

Here are some crazy combos I'm enjoying this spring.
Coleus & Tahitian bridal veil (Gibasis geniculata.)


Variegations, snake plant (Sansevieria,) basket plant (Callisia fragrans,) and Callisia elegans.


Dracaena 'Lemon Lime' with Easter cactus (Hatiora/Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri,) Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata.)


Crazy "bit of everything" pot that I keep taking cuttings from:

Was just out taking more pics.
Begonias & false Aralia.



Begonia, Coleus, snake plant (Sansevieria) and WJ (Tradescantia zebrina.)

Just for the record I have to speak against this. I do not decorate with plants. I grow plants because they are interesting, etc. Trying to give them the best home, etc. 1 pot with a single species in it can be quite beautiful to me. I cannot imagine throwing things together that need different soils, different water requiems, different light. Of course they are your plants and you can do whatever you like. My biggest thrill is when a plant thrives. I'd rather have a beautiful specimen than a mix of colors, textures I guess. I do not have a single pot with more than 1 species in it. Sorry, had to try and balance this conversation. Gene

Your objection is noted, and will be on the record, should there be an appeal. ;) My intention wasn't to advocate one or the other, a deeply personal and complicated decision for each grower per plant, just to show/discuss crazy combos. I ran out of room to give each plant its' own pot years ago, and that's how I arrived at starting with companion potting.

Good job Tiffany, Christine & Cinta ... lovely combinations!

I don't happen to do combo pots myself but I do group houseplants together, each in their own container ... that being said, I see nothing wrong with combo planters when the plants all require the same light, soil, moisture, etc. I grow plants for their interest and enjoy decorating with them both indoors and out!
Plants in the corner of my kitchen ............ And on a table in the pool area:

When I first started container gardening, I tended to overpot. I wanted to make sure that the plants had plenty of growing room I lost a lot of plants that way, so I started filling in around the main plant. I love a contrasting ground cover at the base of a plant, for example. It also lessened the number of pots that I had to take care of and water.

The web is full of gorgeous and unexpected combination pots, as is our own NGA site I see things that other people do, and I think, yeah, maybe I can do something similar. None of my pots are ever going to be on the cover of Southern Living or anything, but I have fun doing it.

I do have some pots with just the one plant in them. Usually it's a specimen plant that I picked up, and I think it's pretty all by itself. But for the most part, I find myself trying to match plants so I can group them in the same pot.

Took some fresh pics today:

Various succulents:


Vines & Begonia:


Dracaena marginata with small D. braunii (lucky bamboo, variegated) being wound around one of the bigger trunks, an air plant, Begonia:


Syngonium & Philodendron:

Very nice Tiffany ... I love that tall variegated succulent in your first picture! Is that a variety of Kalanchoe?

TYVM! Yes, it's K. fedtschenkoi: Lavender Scallops (Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi)

I love that one, but can not find it down here.

Agree, one of my favs!! It looks like I'll have more than I can keep again this fall, and will be offering for-postage if so. Would offer here, in late Sept-Oct.

Several parlor palm individuals, variegated lucky bamboo (Dracaena braunii,) Epiphyllum oxypetalum, Ficus, Begonia, and a couple small surface-dwellers that can't be seen without closer inspection.


Philodendron erubescens & 'Brazil.' This looks a little lean because I just cut a bunch of vines a few weeks ago. I'm planning to re-do the trellis. This was cute when the vines were tiny a few yrs ago but it needs something bigger now (and repotted!)

I haven't tried growing a parlor palm in years. I was a newbie then and working full time, so don't quite remember what happened to mine. I may have given it away when DH said that I needed to downsize.

That's likely. My bigger pot (with 4 bigger plants) can hardly fit through a doorway.