Tabletop Plant Ideas

Tabletop gardens

These tabletop gardens may be small, but their colorful flowers and foliage can have a big impact on your outdoor living area.

Grow a great tabletop plant

Tabletop containers need to be considered a little more when attaching to each other, as they rest on higher surfaces than a barrier to plants. Here are some simple tips to help you design a container that best fits your table.

Proportion is important

The first rule for tabletop planters is to use plants and containers that are not too tall to be seen. You do not want to block the view of others sitting at the table. Matching the height of the plants with the height of the container creates a happy ratio.

Do not forget the details

These are containers that you can look closely at, so plants with beautiful flowers and thin leaves really get a chance to shine. To make sure your tabletop planter looks beautiful from all angles, select two to four repetitive plants. That way you will have good vision wherever you sit.

Think about maintenance

Because the plants are so close, small defects are easy to spot, so choose low-maintenance varieties that require self-cleaning or a small deadhead. Keep a plan for watering: Use saucers or remove the container from the table before pouring water to prevent water staining.

Beautiful and portable tabletop blender

Some beautiful spring flowers are so small and sweet that they are easy to miss. The Scotch moss in this combo is commonly found crawling through rocks on the sidewalk or even as a lawn alternative. But from these points, it is impossible to notice the spots of small, white, early spring flowers. A tabletop container, raising the Scotch moss to eye level, is in a lush and vibrant setting. Scotch moss and forget-me-not need moist but well-drained soil; Water when the top inch of soil feels dry. Some small stones here and there make a great texture difference.

Faucet-me-not flowers are a favorite of pollinators in early spring, so you can get a visitor or two while sitting at your desk. This container needs partial sun in early spring, but as the days get warmer the heavy afternoon shade will help extend their lifespan.

Tabletop plant for a shady place

You may have seen all of these plants in a florist or grocery store display. But that does not mean they are houseplants. You can also grow them in a shady place outside. Rhizome Piconia blooms continuously all summer, and Kalanchoe blooms a second time after the first flush dies. The yellow flower of the zebra plant has icing on the cake of this striking plant, but pinch it when it starts to turn brown and you will not miss it - you will see the contrasting white in the glossy dark leaves. Pinch frequently to keep the polka dot plant compact and full of white-spotted leaves.

Plant list (number to plant)

A) Zebra plant Aphelandra squarrosa (1)

B) Kalanchoe Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (1)

C) Polka dot plant Hypoestes phyllostachya (1)

D) Rieger begonia Begonia x hiemalis (1)

Mix flowers and herbs

Brush your hand with the greens in this tablet blender and inhale. You will be rewarded with a gentle herbal scent from lemon thyme and tricolor sage. Do not be afraid to occasionally cut a stem or leaf into your kitchen. ‘Kent Beauty is not used for decorative oregano cooking, but its paper flowers can be easily dried for arrangements. Plants that tolerate this drought can be left in full sun and watered or the roots may rot.

A) Ornamental oregano Origanum rotundifolium ‘Kent Beauty’(1)

B) Cape daisy Osteospermum Acronis FlowerPower™ Purple Red(1)

C) Mexican heather Cuphea hyssopifolia (1)

D) Tricolor sage Salvia officinalis ‘Tricolor’ (1)

E) Sedum Sedum sieboldii (1)

F) Lemon thyme Thymus citriodorus (1)

G) Calibrachoa Calibrachoa Million Bells® Trailing Yellow (1)

The container is 12 in. square

Playful couple

There are only two plants in this terra-cotta bowl, but enough to stay the center of attention for several months for a tabletop planting. Planting under white vinca is perfect for setting up playful orbs that grow from global amaranth. Make sure your planting partners share the same growing needs. Both the global amaranth and vinca thrive in full sun and tolerate slight drying between irrigations.

Cut off the flower tip

Those sweet, rounded globular amaranth flowers form long-lasting cut flowers for bouquets, and produce the best-dried flower - cut a stem once the flowers are fully open and hang it upside down in a dark, dry place for three weeks.