Feels weird to write a Tips and Tricks Tuesday post today. Mondays off always throw me for a loop, not that I’m complaining about a three-day weekend, just sayin’ it doesn’t feel like Tuesday.

But anyway, it IS Tuesday and so thought I’d share a tip that I learned a few years back for planting beautiful flower pots. This is 100% not my idea, so I apologize if you’ve seen this a zillion times before, but I think it’s an awfully handy trick.  It’s called Thriller, Filler, Spiller and here’s how it works:

To create visual interest in a large pot (this works best in a container 12 inches across or larger), put one striking tall plant in the center (the thriller), add in several shorter, fuller plants (the filler), and then a few trailing plants around the edge (the spiller).

In this particular pot I went with one “Raspberry Rum” Alternanthera for the Thriller, three pink Petunias for the Filler and two “Goldi” Lysimachia for the Spiller. And don’t worry if your spiller doesn’t spill very much at first. Since “spiller” is practically synonymous with “ground cover”, it won’t take long before it’s gracefully cascading down the side of the pot.

So there you go, my best trick for planting beautiful flower containers. Now I just have to keep them alive. Anyone got a trick for that?!?

Happy Tuesday, everyone!