Easter Baskets Filled With Spring Flowers
This year, why not try an Easter basket that will last a bit longer than one filled with marshmallow bunnies and chocolate eggs? Whether you’re expecting guests for the holiday or looking for a spring project to get you outside, here are some ideas for filling Easter baskets, birdcages, teapots and other spring-friendly containers with fresh and potted flowers for the season.
Doorstep duo. Filled to the brim with drifts of purple blooms, these stone basket planters make a welcoming spring statement placed on both sides of the front door. On Easter morning, they would make a perfect spot for hiding eggs among the foliage. Top to bottom, the flowers include biennial dames rocket (Hesperis matronalis), bicolored nemesia and deep purple and ruby red violas. The combination thrives when given regular water in a spot with full sun.
Cottage charm. Replacing a winter wreath with a spring basket is another way to welcome the season. If your door sits in a shaded spot under an overhang, look for plants like trailing ivy, tuberous begonias and miniature fuchsias for a shade-loving arrangement. Try tucking in accents like a miniature bird’s nest secured with wire or an Easter bunny poking up out of the foliage.
Basket of snapdragons. To brighten up the mudroom or a coat rack in your entryway, hang a basket of fresh cut flowers, such as multicolored snapdragons, tulips, cheerful yellow daffodils, clear blue delphiniums or anything else that catches your eye.
To turn any basket into a vessel for cut flowers, sink a vase or a Mason jar at the bottom and surround it with scrunched up newspapers to keep the vase from tipping.
To turn any basket into a vessel for cut flowers, sink a vase or a Mason jar at the bottom and surround it with scrunched up newspapers to keep the vase from tipping.
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Spring sweetness. Invest in a few hanging planters to bring small-scale spring containers up to eye level near a garden seating area, or to suspend from a porch or over an outdoor dining table. Here, white petunias and variegated ivy make a sweet accent in a heart-shaped hanging metal planter.
See more hanging planters
See more hanging planters
Teatime. Perfect as a centerpiece for the Easter table or a spring brunch, a teapot filled with cut flowers or used as a planting vessel is sure to make guests smile. For this arrangement, the designer used ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia to form a steamlike cloud over a few succulent rosettes.
If you’re using a teapot as a planting vessel, water lightly since the container has no drainage holes.
If you’re using a teapot as a planting vessel, water lightly since the container has no drainage holes.
Miniature birdcage. To turn a decorative birdcage into a hanging planter, the designer of this arrangement potted up a small leafy plant. The stems are free to grow up through the cage in a pretty, free-form way.
To set up the plant for success, make sure the container has drainage holes before adding potting soil and your favorite spring plant.
To set up the plant for success, make sure the container has drainage holes before adding potting soil and your favorite spring plant.
Trio of baskets. If one entryway basket is charming, three are even more so. For this New England home, a rack of stacked planting baskets filled with white flowers forms a sweet entryway arrangement. For any planting baskets that sit right up against the side of the house, make sure to use a moisture barrier between the basket and the soil, and avoid overwatering.
Fresh entrance. Conversely, bring potted baskets inside to greet guests as they enter the home. This pair of baskets filled with potted white hydrangeas and a small lollipop-style olive tree makes a fresh statement for spring.
Treat potted flowers inside as long-lasting bouquets, rather than as houseplants, since they’ll need more sun long-term than most indoor environments offer. Enjoy the blooms and then bring the pots out into the garden or move them to areas where they’ll receive more sunshine.
Treat potted flowers inside as long-lasting bouquets, rather than as houseplants, since they’ll need more sun long-term than most indoor environments offer. Enjoy the blooms and then bring the pots out into the garden or move them to areas where they’ll receive more sunshine.
Easter centerpiece. For a fresh idea for a table centerpiece for Easter or a garden party, fill a wooden crate with a collection of bottles, vases and jars. Clip stems from the garden or break up a mixed florist’s bouquet to distribute flowers among the vases.
Transition to summer. For a potted basket that will last well into late summer, combine long-blooming perennials, foliage plants and ornamental grasses. Here, the designer used ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), maroon coral bells (Heuchera spp.) and a clump of wispy grass to make a dynamic vignette. The plants thrive in full sun with moderate water.
