Okra ‘Jing Orange’ is a plant that deer tend to leave alone. It’s always a challenge to design a colorful pot arrangement when deer most likely will be waiting to partake of the tasty plants you have so painstakingly planted. Residents of many towns in Mercer County have come to the conclusion that trying to put flowering pots out on the patio, deck or by the front door is a waste of time and energy when deer might devour the plants within hours. You might as well get the dinner bell and ring it when you have arranged your pots and shout, “The buffet is open.” Last year, I had some success with several plants that have a fragrance and disagreeable taste to deer. That’s not to say if the deer are hungry enough that they won’t eat your plants. I have seen deer in Skillman eat barberry, a plant with tiny thorns—ouch! When designing arrangements for pots, one needs to think of the three elements of good pot design: thrillers, fillers and spillers. Thrillers add drama to the arrangement and are the focal point. They are the vertical design element and are typically the tallest plant material in the design. Fillers are of medium height and tend to be rounded or mound forming. These plants fill in the middle ground of the plant combination. They are essential for making the plants look full, and several fillers may be used. Fillers are generally placed in front of or around the thriller and can help soften the height of the thriller stem. Fillers should be planted midway between the edge of the pot and the thriller. Spillers are trailing plants that tumble over the edge of the container. Spillers are planted close to the edge of the container. If a container is going to be viewed from all sides, spillers should be placed on all sides. If a planter is going to be viewed only from one side, then spillers should be planted at the front of the container. A thriller plant used last year, not considered the typical ornamental plant for containers, was Okra ‘Jing Orange.’ The deer tended to leave it alone, and it was quite striking in the planter. Okra ‘Jing Orange’ is a strong growing plant that will reach 4-5 feet tall. It has pale yellow Hibiscus-like flowers, which are produced on red stems that give way to striking deep red-orange, edible pods. Three plants that were used as fillers were Dill ‘Fernleaf dill’, Basil ‘Cardinal’ and Pepper ‘Yellow Drop’. Fernleaf dill is a dwarf dill that reaches 18 inches tall and has feathery blue-green foliage. Basil ‘Cardinal’ is a stunningly beautiful basil disguised as Celosia. This basil will excite you with its large spiky flowers of cerise-red atop bright burgundy stems. Pepper ‘Yellow Drop’ provided nice filler, but it also tended to droop and trailed down from the side of the pot, performing the dual function of filler and spiller. ‘Yellow Drop’ has bright yellow, crinkled, cone-shaped fruits that are 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide that mature from green to yellow. My go-to spiller was Creeping Rosemary, or Rosmarinus ‘Prostratus’, which has evergreen needle-like leaves with attractive small blue flowers. It trailed over the container, achieving a curtain-like effect and softening the hard edge. Notice that the theme of the selection of the aforementioned plants was that they could be all consumed and had a smell or taste that deer do not like. Using thrillers, fillers and spillers is only one of many ways to combine plants. It helps to ensure that you get combinations with good height, texture and color and use plant combinations which are full in the center and spill over the edge. But that is not the only rule; there are many ways to combine plant material, and you should always feel free to experiment. “All gardening is landscape painting.” —Horace Walpole, On Modern Gardening (1780)
Craig Dupée is a garden-design consultant. He lives in Ewing with his wife and daughters. Send him your email questions at hort1014u@aol.com.
