Potscaping with prowess

Designer: Martin Stern, owner, Squire House Gardens, 3390 St. Croix Trail S., Afton, 651-436-8080, www.squirehousegardens.com.

The vision: "I'm very responsive to textures and forms," Stern said. "Flowers are not a major concern." The structure of the pots drove this design. Stern combined square and circular containers because he liked the juxtaposition, and four container heights for a "flowing, stepping-down" effect. The color palette is cool: gray green, silver, violet and white. And several plants in Stern's arrangement do double-duty -- they're edible as well as ornamental.

The ingredients: Five pots: two tall squares in a graphite hue, a round dark blue glazed pot and two small round sage green pots. Plants: Twisted Spiral juncus grass; African blue basil; Silver Falls dichondra; SupertuniaVista Silverberry petunia; curry plant; purple sage; Diamond Frost euphorbia; single-leaf parsley; Persian Medley pansy.

Mistakes to avoid: Using too-small pots, especially next to a large-scale house. "People are a little shy about using big pots," Stern said. "But even a tiny garden can carry a big container. It makes a big impact." And don't limit your plant choices to the same old species that appear in everyone else's pots. "Be adventurous," he said. "We use perennials, tropicals, shrubs, grasses -- anything."

Designer: Allison Slabbert, landscape designer, Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery, 9293 Pineview Lane N., Maple Grove

763-420-4400, www.lyndegreenhouse.com.

The vision: Foliage, not flowers, is the focal point. Slabbert used coleus to add pops of color, grasses for their flowing texture and curly willow for height. She also relies on the "thriller, filler, spiller" formula when designing container gardens. (A large, showy plant is the "thriller." Complementary plants provide the "filler," while "spiller" plants with a trailing growth habit soften the container edges.)

Mistakes to avoid: "Using too many different varieties of plants. It can make it look really busy," Slabbert said. (Five to nine is generally a good number of plant species to combine in any one pot; one pot in this arrangement has only one plant, a showy coleus.)

Designer: Ginny Krizan, garden center manager, Noble Landscape & Garden Center, 2456 125th Av. NE., Blaine, 763-862-7218, www.noblelandscaping.com.

The vision: An Italian-style trio of staggered pots with variations on a simple color scheme. Placing them at different heights or levels, as on steps, "pulls you up into the home," Krizan said. She practiced "pattern planting," choosing two "uniting plants" (asparagus fern and crimson geranium) that she used in all three pots, then combining them with different trailing plants. (Noble offers container "recipes" so gardeners can easily re-create the pots they see at the garden center.)

Ingredients: Three ironstone planters with a similar color theme (terra cotta), but with variations in shade and detailing. Don't be afraid to mix and match pots, Krizan said. "People think they have to stay within the same color, but maybe it's a band of color that ties [the pots] together, or a glaze with a mix of colors." Plants include asparagus fern; Caliente Fire geranium; Gulliver White scopia; Marguerite sweet potato vine; Black Currant heuchera.