When asked what advice she had for sprucing up your home exteriors, Karen E. Laine said her biggest design recommendation was flower pots. “Oh my gosh, you can make such an impact with flower pots,” Karen stated. “There are lots of places where you can get big pots, and you can paint them any color you want.”
More than that, she recommends strategically arranging the flowers you choose to plant inside. “There’s a rule — and I forget what the mnemonic is — but when you’re planting a flower pot, it’s nice to have something that drips over the edge, something that’s bushy, and something that gives you some height,” Karen advises. “That gives you lots of dimension in your flower pot.” And as for what flowers to choose in the first place, Karen emphatically recommends perennials. “I have perennials that should freeze and die over the winter in Indiana in flower pots. They don’t — they come back every year.”
Finally, if you’re struggling to find perennial flowers fit for your climate, Karen’s advice is to take time to read their tags at the garden center. “Read the tags,” she enthuses. “They’re going to tell you how much sun it wants, how much water it wants, how long it’s going to live, how tall it’s going to get, all those things. Read your tags; you’ll learn a lot.”
“Good Bones: Better Yard” is available to stream on discovery+.