Light: Will your planter be in the sun or shade half day or all day? Will it sit on concrete in full sun? Will a porch or shrubs protect the plants from harsh wind?

Color: Do you want the colors to blend by having three kinds of plants with red and pink blossoms, blue, purple and white or yellows and oranges? Do you want a large planter with a tree in the center and flowering plants around it? Would your spot be good for an assortment of succulents? What about a collection of shade loving foliage?

When Rose and Ed Meeks of Muskogee get their planters ready in the spring, they don't take any chances on success.

“I’m home bound, and I like to look out the windows and see it look perfect,” Rose said.

Ed said he uses fresh soil in their containers every year and he waters with diluted Miracle Grow every time he waters. They fill a 4-foot-long planter box just outside the window with wave petunias, red hibiscus and moss rose.

DESIGN

Designers suggest that gardeners follow the formula they call: Thrillers, Spillers and Fillers. A tall plant goes in the center of the pot, plants that dribble down the sides are planted around the outside, and fillers are tucked in between. You can use that method or make up something of your own.

Think outside the box a little this year and go beyond marigolds, pretty as they are.

Taller plants for full sun, up to 2-feet — Angelonia or summer snap dragons, Jewels of Opar (Limon), Pentas in pink, hot pink, red and white, Lantana, Castor bean, Silver Dollar Eucalyptus.

Taller plants for half sun — Shrimp plant, Variegated Tapioca, Spikes, Ixora.

Mid-size plants for shade — Hosta, Heuchera, Ferns

Mid-size (1.5 feet tall ) for full sun — Cuphea Ilavea or Flamenco Cha Cha

Fillers for part sun — Ageratum, Mexican heather, heat tolerant Lobelia

Fillers for full sun — Osteospermum (African Daisy), purslane, Bacopa, Diamond Frost Euphorbia, Evolvulus blue daze, scented geranium (Pelargonium), Monkey Flower