Your front porch is the first impression guests have of your home, and what better way to make it warm and welcoming than with a burst of floral elegance and color? In this post we’ll explore the best flowers for your front porch, how to maintain them and how to piece them together to give you the Pinterest worthy porch of your dreams.
First things first
Before you choose any flower for your porch, you need to know what the conditions are there. A front porch is a microclimate (learn more about that HERE). Because they can be more enclosed or shaded, surrounded by concrete or bricks, or even out in bright open sun, these things all factor into what flowers will do best for you.
- sun or shade: How much sun hits your front porch daily? If your porch is full sun all day, big leaf hydrangeas might not be the best plant for you.
- water: You’ll have to commit to watering your porch flowers unless you have a drip line set up (that can be tricky with all the hoses running everywhere). Everything in a pot needs water, even drought tolerant plants. Some will do better than others if you know you cannot commit to watering daily so keep that in mind. (Drainage is also key).
- fertilizer: The more you can commit to fertilizing, the more blooms you will have. Look for fertilizers that have more phosphorus than nitrogen or potassium. If it’s a liquid fertilizer, weekly can encourage bigger and more flowers.
- (15-30-50). The first number is nitrogen, the second phosphorus, and the third is potassium. Nitrogen is good for leaves and greenery and phosphorus is good for more blooms.
- wind: If you get a lot of wind on your porch, make sure you have plants that can withstand those forces.
Pots and Containers
Pots and containers are ideal for front porch flowers. There are so many options here but the most important thing is drainage. Your vessel must have a hole at the bottom for the water to drain out of. Plants and flowers need water but they also don’t want their roots to drown. Some of my favorite flowers for post on the front porch are:
Spring Flowers: Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinth, Crocus, Lily of the Valley, Pansies
Late Spring/Early Summer Flowers: Big Leaf Hydrangeas (the blue/pink ones), Begonias, Ranunculus, Snapdragons, Lantana, Alyssum…
Summer Flowers: Petunias, Dahlias, Zinnias, Geraniums,
So many options right! These ideas have definitely inspired me to get some more pots and add them to my front porch. See my Pinterest board HERE for more ideas.
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