Party pots: containers can set the stage for backyard summer parties - includes related article on planting and plant maintenance

Sunset, June, 1999 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Colorful, flower-filled pots make your garden sparkle for a summer celebration. And by continuing your party theme - for a fiesta or wedding, for instance - container plantings add to your garden's festiveness.

Theme pots are Keeyla Meadows's specialty. "They're conversation starters," says this Albany, California, garden designer and artist. "They can really make a garden shine." One of her party pot collections - for a backyard fiesta party - is pictured at right. The fiesta pots are so colorful they need nothing else, except perhaps a mariachi band, to set the scene.

Any occasion is an excuse to revel with container gardens. Imagine pots filled with red, white, and blue flowers for a Fourth of July bash. Or pots painted with stripes or polka dots filled with candy-colored zinnias for a birthday party. Even the smallest gatherings lend themselves to themed pots.

Last-minute party planners can take advantage of the wide array of blooming plants available in nurseries this month for instant displays. Those with more time before the event can go for a cost-effective option: start with young plants and fill in with additional bloomers right before the party. Whichever route you choose, your party pots will help you celebrate the season.

PARTY POT PLANNER

Design your plantings ahead on paper, or wait until you're at the nursery, where you can see what's in bloom.

1. Decide on a theme. "Let your imagination run wild," advises Meadows. Even old shoes filled with plants would enhance a Walk on the Wild Side dinner.

2. Select a color scheme. Choose colors to suit the holiday or event. Then bend the rules. Instead of red, white, and blue flowers for a Fourth of July pot, you could vary the blue tones by mixing in purple, and add orange flowers beside red ones.

3. Set a timetable. The two-month plan: Use small plants and pot them two months before the date of the event. The week of the event, fill holes between them with blooming 4-inch or 1-gallon plants as needed. The two- to seven-day plan: Use 4-inch and 1-gallon flowering plants and pot them right before the event. Allow at least a couple of days for the plants to settle in.

4. Determine your party location. Will it be on the patio, deck, or back lawn? Then figure out how many pots will fit the site. Combine large and small pots in clusters around patios, on steps, and by doorways. Use odd numbers - clusters of three and five pots - for striking vignettes. Make sure that the scale of the containers is in keeping with the location.

5. Shop for plants, containers, and accessories. Go all out for a big event like a wedding. Buy more plants than you think you'll need. If you want the pots to last for a season, pack them with plants for the occasion, then remove some afterward to allow room for the remaining ones to grow. Use all kinds of plants - vines, bulbs, annuals, and perennials. Even colorful house plants work outdoors during the summer season.

If you plan to keep the pots long after the event, buy quality planters such as glazed containers or Italian terra-cotta. Pots for one-time use and giveaways (as party favors) can be made of anything that will hold soil. Try secondhand and antiques stores for unusual containers.

6. Plant the pots. Fill the pot partway with a good potting mix. Mix in a controlled-release fertilizer. Then plant, following tips in the box below.

ABOUT THOSE PAINTED POTS

Using a slightly moist rag, Meadows wiped Mexican terra-cotta pots with one to three layers of diluted acrylic paint (allowing it to dry between layers).

Planting and care guide

* Think of the pot as having a grid dividing it into three sections - back, center, and front.

* Plant the tallest plant in back, two medium-size plants in the center on either side of the tallest plant, and a cascading plant in front.

* Tuck intensely colored annuals and bulbs on either side of the cascaders. Fill in around plants with potting mix.

* Water after planting, and again often enough to keep the soil moist. Once plants fill in, small pots might need watering daily. If you start with young plants, feed them with 0-10-10 (follow label directions) beginning two weeks before the event.