Four container ideas guaranteed to make a knockout entrance

Sunset, Jan, 2008 by Sharon Cohoon

MEET THE DESIGNER

Mark Bartos

After moving to California in pursuit of movie stardom, Mark Bartos (626/791-2040) went back to school to study landscape design. His containers often combine small trees, billowy shrubs, and mat-forming groundcovers with plenty of Hollywood pizzazz.

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Q: What do you choose first, the pots or the plants?

A: The pots. Their style is always driven by the setting, which includes the style of the house. The containers pictured here, for a ranch-style home with a bit of art deco thrown in, are simple and contemporary; they're large and have strong architectural shapes. But then I always prefer big pots--24-inch-diameter minimum. You need that scale to create drama.

Q: Which plants always command attention?

A: New Zealand flax, for one. I love its boldness and iron constitution. 'Firebird' is my favorite--it's a great color [red, turning bronze-orange in summer]. 'Skyrocket' juniper [Juniperus scopulorum] is very narrow and blue, and looks great flanking an entrance. Agaves give Mediterranean gardens punch, and growing them in containers restricts their size. A. angustifolia 'Marginata' is a favorite. Mexican weeping bamboo [Otatea acuminata aztecorum] has a beautiful lacy texture that creates instant serenity. Variegated Italian buckthorn [Rhamnus alaternus 'Variegata'] has the simplest of leaves but a complex, almost tortured shape. I love the contrast.

Q: Flowers never play a very important part in your containers. Why is that?

A: Choosing plants for their flowers is like picking an actor for his wardrobe. But if you base your decisions on the shape, texture, and overall character of plants, you'll have a container that looks good year-round.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY THOMAS J. STORY

*GREAT LIGHTWEIGHT CONTAINERS: sunset.com/lightpots

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Triple decker

Each pot contains Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Marjorie Channon', cotoneaster, red 'Dragon's Blood' sedum, and chartreuse juniper.

Mini landscape

Threadleaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum 'Seiryu') towers over red-leafed 'Little John' azalea, variegated ivy, and abelia in a 2- by 4- foot rectangular black zinc container.

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Trio of textures

ABOVE A cluster of pots gathers on center stage. Left pot: Aeoniums flank a dwarf mugho pine, with Dianella tasmanica 'Variegata' and 'Silver Dragon' liriope behind. Center pot: dwarf Alberta spruce and 'Burgundy Lace' ajuga. Right pot: silvery Artemisia 'Powis Castle', 'Moe's Gold' helichrysum, Juniperus horizontalis 'Glacier', Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Golf Ball', and black mondo grass.

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Meadow in a bowl

RIGHT Small-leafed plants share a 30-inch-wide concrete bowl. Silvery Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' fills the center, while purple fountain grass, hens and chickens, a silver-leafed hebe, and 'Teenie Genie', a slow-growing dwarf Syzygium (also sold as Eugenia), grow around it.

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