Thrillers, Spillers, and Fillers

Thrillers, Spillers, and Fillers

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Thrillers, Spillers, and Fillers

Sometimes my garden overwhelms me. I look at my summer ravaged yard and think it’s going to take a lot of sweat to get this looking good again. So instead of buying a bunch of new flowers at once (and being even more overwhelmed), I’m improving my yard one pot at a time.

The current pot I’m focused on has a mostly dead million bells and a newly planted upright vinca. Since the million bells did not pull through, as I hoped, I will pull it out and build around the vinca.

Side note: The industry calls million bells a perennial, but I can’t get one to go more than a couple of seasons. I find it much easier to accept this fact, rather than fight it, cut them back, fertilize, and wait for them to not respond.

Since the vinca is the upright focal point or the Thriller, I will choose a trailing or Spiller plant and a Filler flower. The terms Thriller, Spiller, and Filler help me organize my pots and give them the balance they need. There can be some cross over between Thrillers and Fillers (vinca could be a Filler), but these terms are just a guide line.

So here’s what I chose: Pink verbena for the Spiller and white penta for the Filler.

Before

After

By Cara Mia Bohardt, Desert Gardener

What’s your favorite summer Thriller, Spiller or Filler?