Combinations: 8 hot picks for spring

Jennifer Polanz

Mixed upright combinations and hanging baskets are becoming more and more sophisticated as customers clamor for a variety of choices for patios, decks, porches and anywhere else they can fit or hang a pot.

Industry companies and designers are answering this need with more unique offerings featuring a greater focus on texture and structure, as well as enhanced functionality via more shade choices and increasing use of perennials to fill out pots. Read on for selections that are sure to delight any customer. Another trend we’re seeing is naming combos, so if customers loved it they can find it again next year. Just a few examples of this include Proven Winners’ combinations, like the one featured in its national advertising campaign—Velvet Skies—and Hort Couture’s new line of Cities of Fashion combinations, each named after a famous city.

Here’s just a sampling of the combos we received. To see the rest, visit www.greenprofit.com.

Night in Pompeii Mix from Syngenta Flowers (part of the Kwik Kombos program)—Sanguna Purple petunia, Lanai Bright Eye verbena and Techno Heat Dark Blue lobelia

Cypress Sensation Mix from Ball Horticultural Company—Euphorbia Breathless White, Cyperus Wild Spike, Helichrysum Licorice, Petunia Black Velvet and Verbena Aztec Magic Dark Pink

Fashionable Fuchsia from the HGTV HOME Plant Collection—Petunia Sweetunia Fuchsia Queen, Geranium Survivor Indigo Sky, Calibrachoa Aloha Milk and Honey, and Verbena Empress Flair Peach

Velvet Skies from Proven Winners—Blushing Princess alyssum lobularia, Supertunia Mini Silver petunia hybrid and Supertunia Royal Velvet petunia hybrid

Perennial Combination from Darwin Perennials—Harvest Burgundy heuchera, Silver Carpet stachys and Burgundy Glow ajuga

Washington (part of the Cities of Fashion line) from Hort Couture—Petunia Perfectunia Red, Petunia Panache Lemonade Stand, Lobelia Nautica Flow Blue

Giant Surfinia combination from Suntory—Surfinia Giant Purple, Surfinia Giant Blue and Surfinia White

Monochromatic Container from designer Christina Salwitz—Coleus Fishnet Stockings, Sedum Autumn Charm, Rose Flower Carpet White, Black potato vine, Mimulus Maximus Golden Yellow, Petunia Fanfare Yellow, Agastache Apricot Sunrise, Variegated Moore Grass Molinia Caerulea and Lonicera Baggeson’s Gold GP