For many people in the U.S., the Fourth of July is an outdoor celebration filled with summer activities like cookouts, pool parties, and fireworks. Enhance the festive atmosphere with an Independence Day floral display that will impress your friends and family with its vibrant blooms. There are numerous choices for container companions to express your patriotism through flowers. From classic red geraniums to unique options like sweetpotato vine, you can find stunning red, white, and blue plants to create a cohesive and charming arrangement.
Don’t stress about achieving the perfect display. A delightful mix of plants in bright colors will always be a success. Additionally, there are few genuinely blue flowers, so consider using dark purple plants that appear almost blue alongside your white and red varieties. Another excellent idea is to plant red and white flowers in a bright blue pot, capturing the essence of the American flag. A container display adds a special touch to a porch, and you can complement it with a DIY patriotic doormat crafted from affordable materials.
Add style with tiny white verbena and blue lobelia
Trailing lobelia (Lobelia erinus) is a popular choice for blue flowers, available in lovely bluish-purple cultivars like ‘Sapphire’ and ‘Blue Moon’. To create the patriotic container garden of your dreams, start with this blue flower and mix in white verbena (Verbena urticifolia) and red petunias (Petunia x hybrida). The end result is perfectly star-spangled. Petunias and lobelias make a perfect garden duo due to their different growth habits, with clumping petunias and trailing lobelias complementing each other beautifully. Cool weather-loving lobelias will also benefit from the shade provided by other plants in the container.
Create a bold look with red geraniums
Celebrate freedom with bold, bright geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum) in your next floral showcase. Geraniums are excellent container flowers that add variety to a patio or deck with their tall blooms. This annual flower thrives in full sun but requires ample and consistent watering to keep the soil cool and moist. For a striking Fourth of July look, use red geraniums to draw attention with their long-lasting color. Opt for vibrant red cultivars like ‘Melody Red’ or ‘Sincerely Yours’, paired with blue lobelia and white euphorbia for a festive container.
Put together varying floral textures in red, white, and blue
When crafting an Independence Day flower display, consider incorporating flowers with various textures and sizes. Pair the large blooms of hardy chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum) with tiny white sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima). Add a sprinkle of long-blooming Dalmatian bellflower (Campanula portenschlagiana) for an attractive container for your celebrations. Bold red mums are low-maintenance flowers with height to contrast with mat-forming species like sweet alyssum and Dalmatian bellflower. Some of the best red mum cultivars include ‘Garnet’ with its bright crimson blooms and ‘Ruby Mound’ with large maroon red flowers.
Mix red and white petunias with lobelia and daisies
If you’re looking to plant red, white, and blue flowers, petunias come in numerous shades. Create a patriotic container with just petunias, using a deep red cultivar like ‘Supertunia Black Cherry’ alongside pure white and deep purple-blue varieties. Alternatively, mix it up by planting petunias with other flowers of similar height, like white shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum), red geraniums, and blue lobelia. Petunias thrive in full sun, which is also favored by shasta daisies and geraniums, ensuring the best blooms.
Bluish sweetpotato vine gives flair to petunias
To make your petunias stand out, plant a vibrantly-colored and bold sweetpotato vine (Ipomoea batatas) in the center of your container. Sweetpotato vine is a unique way to represent blue in your floral displays with edible plants, though ornamental selections are not particularly palatable. Some ornamental varieties feature purplish, heart-shaped leaves. The bold foliage is complemented by the delicate look of red and white petunias. Purple-leaved ornamental cultivars like ‘Sweet Caroline Bewitched After Midnight’ add a delightful deep blue to your pots.
Draw attention with tall and trailing patriotic flowers
Don’t settle for the ordinary when you can create extraordinary July Fourth displays with contrasting flower combinations. Flowers with varying heights and growth habits easily capture attention. Plant tall purpletop verbena (Verbena bonariensis) with shorter red wax begonias (Begonia) for a striking contrast. Tie everything together with clumps of white petunias and silvery sprays of licorice plant (Helichrysum petiolare). Both purpletop verbena and wax begonias are popular with butterflies, drought tolerant, and long-blooming companions. Together, these species create a unique red, white, and blue look with exceptional texture and variety.
Hang heat-tolerant red, white, and blue flowers in a basket
Ideal hanging basket flowers spill playfully over the edge of their pot. Million bells (Calibrachoa x hybrida) is a perfect choice for a hanging Independence Day display. In addition to being prolific flower producers, these hanging basket flowers thrive in the summer sun, ensuring they won’t fade in the July Fourth heat. Choose red varieties of million bells like ‘Callie Scarlet Red’ or ‘Superbells Red’, and pair them with red geraniums and blue lobelias for a full look. White calibrachoa cultivars give the effect of little stars on a flag.
Create a subtle July Fourth look with heuchera and greenery
You don’t need the loudest flowers to create stunning Fourth of July containers. With coral bells (Heuchera), you can design a more understated celebratory display. Coral bells come in many ornamental varieties, some with beautiful red leaves. Variations range from red to pink to burgundy, providing options for crafting the perfect container. Heuchera pairs well with other foliage like ferns and hostas for a fresh green creation. Mix in delicate white columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) and blue lobelia to complete your subtle Americana floral look.
