Article: 04 – A Green Thumb: What to plant on your patio right now
04 – A Green Thumb: What to plant on your patio right now
The best patio doesn't end at the furniture. It extends into the living things around and between it — the container herbs, the climbing vine on the fence, the single potted lemon tree that doesn't do anything except smell extraordinary when you brush past it. Plants give a patio its reason for existing. They make the whole thing feel less like a room and more like a garden.
The good news: mid-March in East Tennessee is exactly the right moment to start. Last frost is close, the ground is waking, and our local nurseries are full of things worth trying.
Right Now in Containers
What to Plant This Week
Herbs are the patio plant that earns its keep most reliably. Rosemary, thyme, oregano, and mint all do well in containers in our climate and reward you every time you cook outside or brush a hand across them in passing. Keep them near the outdoor dining table. One guest will always reach over and pinch a sprig of something, and it becomes part of the evening.
For flowers, pansies are cold-hardy and will carry color on your porch through March with no trouble. As April arrives, move toward calibrachoa, bacopa, and lantana — all of which love East Tennessee's heat once it arrives and will bloom through October. Plant them in containers large enough that you won't be watering every day.
Plant This Weekend
The March container checklist
- Herbs: rosemary, thyme, oregano near the dining table
- Color now: pansies hold through March cold without complaint
- Color for summer: calibrachoa, lantana, bacopa in April
- Upsize containers — large pots need watering far less often
- Plant vertically: a climbing rose or jasmine creates enclosure
The Design Principle
Plants as Furniture
The container itself matters. Terracotta is honest and ages beautifully. A large stone urn at the corner of a seating group does the same work as a side table — it anchors the space and gives the eye somewhere to rest. Don't undersize your containers. Three large pots make a stronger statement than eight small ones and require far less maintenance.
And plant vertically where you can. A climbing rose on a trellis, a jasmine winding up a porch post, a tall ornamental grass in the back corner — height creates enclosure and enclosure makes a space feel like a destination. Your patio becomes a garden room. For truly special pieces — a hand-carved stone urn, a cast-iron pedestal, a sculptural water feature — we work with Elegant Earth, whose catalog is worth an afternoon.
For Special Pieces
Stone urns, cast pedestals, water features, sculptural statuary — pieces that make a garden room feel permanent. We work with Elegant Earth for clients who want something truly one-of-a-kind outdoors.
Explore Elegant Earth →On the Floor Now
Resource
The Braden's Outdoor Furniture Guide — Materials, care, what to buy for your climate — everything in one place.
Read the Guide →A good patio is furniture and plants in conversation — the chair positioned where the jasmine reaches, the herbs close enough to the table that someone will use them, the urn heavy enough to anchor a corner of the room you've made outdoors. It's not complicated. It just takes a weekend and a trip to the nursery.
Spring is here. Go plant something.
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