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The Secret to Great Garden Containers

Thrillers, Fillers, and Spoilers



For a stunning green container, use three types of plants that perform different functions but work in harmony.


One of my favorite gardening pastimes is cooking up new ideas for container planting. I don't bother counting how many pots I plant each year, but the number is easily over 100.


But no matter how many pots I showed, I realized that there was no mystery to creating a wonderful container plant until I followed a simple three-ingredient recipe. The first is what I call "Thriller," a centerpiece with star quality, big, bold, and beautiful. Then I add a few spicy "fillers," foliage or flowering plants that complement but don't overwhelm the main player. Finally, I add a tasty twist, a "spiller" that falls out of the pot.


Thriller is the star




As the name suggests, thrillers are big, attention-grabbing star players. They're usually tall, upright plants, with colorful leaves, an intriguing shape or dramatic flowers—and they last all season. Many thrillers are architectural. Think the boldly colored, paddle-like leaves of Canna 'Pretoria' or the bright spikes of Yucca filamentosa 'Gold Edge'.



Thrillers do best in compounds where they are the tallest plant. To me, they are the starting point of a container design. I choose my thriller and build around it. At planting time, the thriller goes into the center of a pot so it can be viewed from all sides, or the back of a pot can be displayed in a corner or against a wall.


Agave (Agave spp. and cvs., Zones 11)

Bananas (Musa spp. and cvs., zones 8-11; Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii', zones 11)

Cannas (Canna 'Pretoria', 'Tropicana' and 'Black Knight', Zones 8-11)

Purple fountain grass (Pennicetum setaceum 'Rubrum', Zones 9-10)

Taros (Colocasia esculenta and cvs., zones 9–11)


Fillers add mass


Next, I add fillers - pillow, weave around very fine textured plants and thriller. Fillers add mass to the overall composition and, more importantly, establish dialogue with the thriller. Fillers add a textual contrast or colorful counterpoint. In a monochromatic composition, they can echo the thriller, albeit with less saturated color or less volume. Textually, I might use a round-leafed filler with a spiky thriller. Because fillers are typically plants with a tall silhouette, they do what the name suggests: they embrace the thriller and fill the pot. Often, they help hide the bare knees—less interesting trunks or stalks—of their larger neighbors.



When planting a pot, I position my fillers around the thriller. I often use a mix of plants for this work: some with foliage interest, others with flowers. For flowery fillers, I avoid perennials that are unusual, striking annuals or tender perennials for their long blooming season. Since the goal of container plants is to draw the eye, these plants add an attractive unusual flavor. I like generous looking containers, so I fill with as much filler as I can.


For foliar interest



Begonias (Begonia spp. and cvs., annuals)

Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides cvs., annual)

Dusty Miller (Centaurea cinerea 'Colchester White', zones 7-9)

Persian shield (Strophyllanthus tyrianus, Annual)

Plectranthus (Plectranthus spp. and cvs., annuals)


For floral interest



Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia and cvs., zones 9–10)

Cuppies (Cuphea spp. and cvs., annuals)

Fairy fan-flower (Scevola emula 'Blue Wonder', annual)

Heliotropes (Heliotropium arborescens and cvs., annual)

Lantanas (Lantana camara cvs., Annual)

Pentas (Pentas spp. and cvs., annuals)

Trailing petunias (Calibrazoa cvs., zones 8–11)


Spillers anchor the pot



I have enough room to shoehorn in a few spillers towards the edge of the pot. Sometimes it's fun to mix up a mix by training in some of the spieler's tendencies to climb both filler and thriller. However, the main role of a spiller is to extend over the sides of the container, smoothing its edges and falling towards the floor. When the parts of a container plant touch the soil, the pot is rooted into place.


But spillers do more than soften a pot and attach it to its place. Well-chosen spoilers continue the conversation started by thriller and filler. To deepen that conversation, I look for spillers that resonate or contrast with other plants in the pot in terms of shape, color, or texture.



Alternantheras (Alternanthera spp. and cvs., annuals)

Bacopas (Sutera spp. and cvs., annual)

Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimacia nambularia 'Aurea', Zones 4-8)

Nasturtiums (Tropaoleum spp. and cvs., annual)

Sweet potato vines (Ipomoea batatas cvs., zones 9–11)


Every plant has a role to play



The photo to the right is a good example of well-balanced container planting. Thrillers like this New Zealand flax (Phormium cookianum 'Maori Sunrise', USDA Hardiness Zones 9-10) are a highlight of the container, and ideas often spring up.


As a complement, salvia (Salvia splendens cv., annual) does what any good sidekick should: make the hero—thriller—look pretty.


A good spiller like licorice (Helichrysum petiolare 'Variegatum', Zones 10-11) will end up as a little thriller, growing down rather than up.



Keep the size in mind


Planting the right mix of thrillers, fillers, and spillers creates a lush, intriguing mix rich in color, texture, and form. It fills a pot by exploiting space in every available direction—up, down, and sideways. When choosing plants, I also consider the element of size. Although I often aim for extreme contrasts in terms of color combination, texture and form, I like to use plants that are closely related in size. I usually try to group plants using fillers that are one-third to two-thirds the size of the thriller.


I also note that the boundaries between my three basic plant types are not fixed. Depending on a planting arrangement and size, some fillers can be raised as thrillers, some fillers—many types of verbena, for example—can shed a little, and some thrillers can act as fillers when paired with larger and more exotic ones. . But there is no need to overdo the process. For any particular plant, using a thriller, filler and spiller is a sure recipe for success.



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Location: United States

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