Create Eye-Catching Indoor Container Gardens

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As an artist, Steve Asbell likes to discover new mediums—like houseplant combinations. At first he cultivated his creations on his shady Florida balcony, but before long he ran out of room outdoors and soon found himself filling up his interior with the well-designed live arrangements.

“Houseplants are already works of art on their own, with their infinite assortment of unusual colors, shapes, patterns, and textures, and that makes it especially fun to combine them,” says the author of the new book Plant by Numbers: 50 Houseplant Combinations To Decorate Your Space.

“Unlike static paintings and sculptures, arrangements of houseplants continue to grow over time and take on their own unique qualities," he says. "They are art that continues to create itself.”

Asbell had art in mind when he created the 50 arrangements in the book, along with recipes for replicating them. “My original goal when writing Plant by Numbers was to show readers how to artistically combine houseplants, but by the time the book was finished, my priority was to use the fun combinations to encourage self-proclaimed 'black thumbs' to give houseplants another shot,” says the illustrator, who also writes the blog The Rainforest Garden.

Take a look at the artfully combined mini gardens in the book, and you’ll most likely find yourself wanting to shed any self-proclaimed black thumb status and try your hand at creating your own live arrangement. Asbell shares his top tips for doing so.

Avoid planting one of everything. “Choose one large and dramatic plant to take center stage (such as a dracaena) and buy other plants in multiples,” says Asbell, whose book is chock full of design details. “It also helps to choose plants that will stand out against one another and the container.”

Container choice makes a big difference. “The fun part of choosing a container is finding one with a color, pattern and texture that complements your decor or the plants you'll end up using,” says Asbell. “Sleek and modern looking plants like Sansevieria or Aspidistra, for example, really seem to be at home in brushed metal or bright glazed ceramic pots, whereas savory herbs like rosemary and thyme look great in rustic terracotta, stone or earthenware containers.” (Any container must have at least one drainage hole, or you risk problems with root rot.)

Consider your color scheme. Choose houseplants with corresponding and complementary colors. Or, for a presentation that really pops, include plants that sit on opposite sides of the color wheel.

Contrast textures. Some houseplant leaves are thin and fragile while others are thick and coarse. Compelling container gardens feature a variety of textures.

Include plants of various sizes and growing habits. Choose from the broad palette of houseplants available so you include plants that creep, vine, clump, grow upright, and become dense and bushy.

Include decorative accessories. Enhance the theme of your container garden by decorating sparingly with accessories. The addition of a small stone frog or decorative rocks gives the garden an interesting focal point.

Click the gallery to see some of Steve Asbell's arrangements.

Julie Bawden-Davis is a garden writer and master gardener, who since 1985 has written for publications such as Organic Gardening, Wildflower, Better Homes and Gardens and The Los Angeles Times. She is the author of five books, including Fairy Gardening, The Strawberry Story, and Indoor Gardening the Organic Way, and is the founder of HealthyHouseplants.com.