1st Anniversary of Container Design
It’s my first anniversary creating containers at the nursery so I’m doing my favorite designs to date of 2026.
I have free rein over what I make, and a massive greenhouse and nursery from which to choose. It’s incredible. My only perimeters are a design must sell, a rather daunting task master.
I do both ‘Grab & Goes’, spec designs created for a customer I do not know, that are subsequently placed out on the floor for sale. And ‘custom containers’, also created for a customer I do not know, but have been enlisted by them to design and pot up something they will be thrilled with.
It is challenging to figure out what someone likes. I think about Tim Gunn on project runway all the time. There is always the cringy episode when a designer is paired with an unknown client and has to understand their needs and aesthetic, yet still make the final design clearly ‘theirs.’ I completely understand the assignment and the inherent challenge of blending aesthetics.
As for the Grab & Goes, I learned from Project Runway another important concept. The runway dress vs the ready to wear.
When I make a larger, spectacular design, it’s usually expensive and I consider it the runway garment. So I make 1-2 derivative containers, smaller and less expensive, that harken back to the original inspiration.
This idea has helped create guidelines for me in a job that has very few. Limitation is the designers best friend.
It’s a groovy little job I have.
See below for photos with descriptions of my favorite designs so far of 2026.
©Theresa Elliott, All Rights Reserved
With the spring came the idea of forcing bulbs. Hyacinth with dwarf acorus grass, and my favorite: rocks. In this case white rocks with red glass beads.
Sigh. A bulb with rocks and just the right amount of twigs.
Iris in glass beads making quite the statement. Three tete a tete daffodils in front for the inevitable fade of the ephemeral bloom of the iris, but the stems should stay and continue to provide interest.
And then there is twisted rush in a Margarita glass with rocks making a bold statement. The gal who bought it said, ‘I have a friend who is a gardener and he has everything!’ I replied ‘But he doesn’t have this, does he!?’ Sold! If you expand the photo you will see the purple crocus just starting to crack.
This was a request by a co-worker who needed a goth pot, in black preferably. She gave me enormous latitude. I got many comments by customers as they went by! Hellebore, heuchera, calocephylus, hyacinth, black rocks.
Ceramic “basket pot”, polemonium, uncia grass, azalea, lysmachia, black rocks, and daffodils that grew way, way too tall. Always read the tags, folks!
Dark green container with stuff all over the place! I just loved it. But bulbs are a risk. Their shelf-life, if you will. Is not long. Still the fritillaria was too much to resist and they are the ‘thriller’ in this container.
Close up of the fritillaria.
I used this vase like container many, many times the first part of the year. It’s a wonderful shape that lends well to dramatic silhouettes. Pieris, miniature rose, oxalis, pansy.
f I had to pick, this is in the top two favorites for the year. I hated these containers when I first saw them. And then something funny happened. I was minding my own business when I saw it in my minds eye with a dracena in it. Then I understood.
I made a design I knew would not be everyone’s cup of tea, and I called it the Particular Person Pot, meaning, it was going to take a particular person to buy it. And boy was it going to make their day.
It totally made mine creating it. Dracena, sedums.
The Particular Person Pot, in bloom! And this is how it sold. I saw it rolling by on a cart by a particular guy who was indeed very happy!
This is the refrigerator container. You know when you make dinner out of whatever is in the refer? That’s what this is. Whatever we had that needed to get out the door went into three or four of these containers.
What can I say? They were just too much to not do anything. Dwarf mondo grass in terracotta dinosaurs.
An example of the runway and the ready to wear. In this case two large shade containers and one small derivative. Mouse ears hosta, fern, heliotrope, and everybody gets black rocks no matter their pay grade.
Besides the vase containers, and the dinosaurs, I went all in on these contemporary yet sorta mid-century modern spheres. I didn’t hold back on the petunias, one in orange, black and ‘pistachio’ along with grass and nasturtiums as the spiller.
More groovy spheres. These are smaller, with lotus vine, coleus, and to die for red petunias. If that isn’t their name, it should be.
This is the second contender for favorite of the year. The water pot it sits in is brown on the outside and azure on the inside. How could I use it? Its meant for water?
I decided a little floaty would be cool. I got the smallest succulent I could find and planted it in a glazed ceramic container. There was a fair bit to figure out, and the end result was this display that sat on my bench. It got a lot of attention.
Once again the mid-century sphere in a very simple design. Fiber Optics grass with black rocks.
Large shade container based on a custom design. Sort of the opposite of how I work. The smaller idea came first and then I made the runway queen.
A customer was walking around with a cart that had several of these plants sitting next to each other. ‘Wow!’ I thought. ‘Let’s do that!’ I did ‘that’ but added the lysimachia Waikiki Sunset spiller, and changed out the begonia.
I don’t always want contrainers to sell quickly. This is a good example. I did two of these and they didn’t last a day. The center piece was a perfectly formed guara, pink whirling butterflies maybe, that will shoot up another foot on long graceful stems. Wish I could see it! Bacopa, alyssum and licorice plant act as spillers all the way around.
Love me a Korokio Cottoneaster. Here it is surrounded by alyssum, lysmachia, and a single red geranium, brought to me by my co-worker Matt who said ‘I saw this sitting on a go-back rack and thought, ‘Theresa needs this for her container.’ And he was right!
Large, semi-shade, vibrant design. I made two (in the event someone wants a container for both sides of an entrance) and decided to make its spin off. Next photo.
The smaller spin-off of the previous photo.
It’s just such a cute photo.
As is this.
I looked at this container for a long time before I figured out what would work well in it. Sometimes I google a color and ask what goes well with it. In this case it was the kinda gold pattern with a cream base. Finding the complimentary colors in plant form, however, is another matter.
My favorite part of this container is the Eucalyptus that arches just over the celosia in the back.
Custom design, once removed. The woman who brought it in was bringing it in for someone else. Ha! We had a great time sorting thought it all and this was the end result. One of the upshots of trying on someone else’s ideas is you just might make something you never would have done on your own...
Another custom design, and one of six containers. It was a big job, but I was especially happy with this shade container of which the customer had given me free rein. Bonus points because he liked it and did not want any modifications.
Part of what makes this a favorite is what you cannot smell. This begonia is of the trailing variety and has a fragrance similar to a lemon blossom. I paired it with a red coleus with strong pink overtones, and mulenbeccia (wire vine.)
Everyone was simply falling in the most charming way. Petunia, miniature rose, verbena.
Sometimes the design is no design. It’s good to rcognize when you cannot improve the situation.
You just never know. This was such a struggle because I kept trying to make it something it wasn’t. Then I realized it was a My Little Pony pot and went with it. Shortly after I put it out I came around the corner just in time to hear a woman gush ‘Oh. My God. Look. At. This!’
Ptilotus or pink mulla mulla is the star here. But why call it Ptilotus when you have the other option?
I wanted to do an all grass container but decided the thin reeds and blades needed a ground cover to show them off. Rush Blue Arrow in the back, black mondo grass flanked by variegated Japanese Forrest grass, ground cover with the nick name of Sea foam. This was also the runway design.
This is the same concept, grasses and ground cover, in the smaller ready to wear container. Cleopatra papyrus grass,dwarf achore grass, bugle weed.
It’s so Adams Family. Gazania in dark burgundy container. And rocks.
More mod. Caladium, leptinella gruveri, black rocks.
This is what thinking looks like. My work bench.