America the Beautiful: Creating a Patriotic Garden Display to Celebrate our 250th Anniversary

There has been a long tradition in our country of proudly showing our colors of red, white and blue to mark historic occasions. To celebrate the United States Bicentennial in 1976, Peachtree City Garden Club members planted red, white and blue flowers around their mailboxes. It was a small, but beautiful way to honor America during a milestone birthday!  Why not continue the custom by creating your own special patriotic garden for our 250^th anniversary celebration?

Right now there is an amazing array of annuals and perennials to choose from to create your own patriotic garden. If you don’t have lots of space or time, just pot up some containers with flowers of red, white and blue, as cheerful accents to enjoy throughout the summer. These containers can also make great gifts for military families to thank them for their service.

Here is a short list of plants you might consider:

Bold Reds: petunia, geranium, zinnia, verbena, snapdragon, salvia, impatiens, rose, begonia, bee balm, dianthus, coleus, caladium

Crisp Whites: geranium, petunia, zinnia, Shasta daisy, alyssum, clematis, cosmos, impatiens, caladium, calibrachoa

True Blues: lobelia, agapanthus, salvia, morning glory, bachelor button, verbena, baptisia, hydrangea

Containers make a big impact and can be moved around to where you need a splash of color. Use odd numbers of plants in your containers. Make sure your plants all have the same sun/shade requirements. Include a “thriller” plant that has height, and place in the middle or back of the container. “Filler” plants are the colorful blooms that fill in the space.  “Spiller” or cascading plants spill over the sides of the container for a balanced look. Make sure you select a potting mix especially designed for containers.

Use a mixture of bright ceramic pots in red, white and blue, or buy inexpensive terracotta pots and paint your own design – like painted white stars! One stunning design idea is called the “layered trio stack.” Place a large blue pot at the bottom and fill half way with potting mix. Then place a medium white pot inside the larger pot and fill halfway with potting mix. Place a small red pot inside the white pot and fill with potting mix.  Plant and space several spiller plants in the large blue pot, like white calibrachoa, so they cascade over the edge. Red petunias can be planted to cascade in the medium white pot and then fill the top red pot with blue lobelia. Add some bling with ribbon, patriotic pin wheel, or a miniature flag. Happy Birthday U.S.A!