Last night we covered our plants outside due to a freeze warning. Today we’re heading to the nursery to buy more flowers for the yard. This is the stuff we deal with in Illinois. Regardless, I’m looking forward to summer gardening and thought I’d share container flower garden ideas to help inspire you with your own garden plans.

 

My yard has big trees and plenty of shade so the majority of my flowers are shade lovers – like this mix of red impatiens and blue lobelia.

 

Who’s a petunia lover? There are so many varieties of these colorful flowers. Try a wave petunia in a container and add a trellis so the flowers can climb up as well as spill over the edges of the flower box.

 

Every year I always hang a couple of simple flower baskets like this on my picket fence. It adds a nice pop of color against the wood.

 

The main challenge with a container flower garden is having to water it more frequently than those planted in the ground. Keep that in mind when you start potting up flowers. You might want to keep them to a minimum.

 

Or, consider grouping a bunch together like this cottage style porch. It makes an easier and faster job of watering them.

 

We have a tree stump about this same size in our backyard. I usually set a flower pot on top but after seeing these happy geraniums, I think I’ll have hubby carve out a bowl of sorts and we can plant flowers in the stump.

 

Although I enjoy formal gardens, I prefer slightly messier gardens with a cottage vibe in my own yard. Here a pot of blue lobelia mixes with rocks, a wood stump, and another container flower garden.

 

Who has a painted bicycle in the yard with a basket filled with flowers? I love the color the yellow bike with purple petunias against an aqua fence. I think I’ll be on the lookout for an old bike to paint this summer to use in the garden.

 

This vintage white bike looks like it was made for flower gardening!

 

A vintage wooden wagon makes for a great container flower garden. I forgot I have an old wagon that’s just sitting in the shed. This is the year I’ll bring it out and plant it up!

I hope you found some gardening inspiration from today’s post. Hopefully last night was the last of our weather challenges. I’m itching to get dirt under my fingernails!