Water brings light down from the sky and reflects it back to us. It heightens plants textures and enhances their forms. Best of all, it opens up a new world of plants for us to grow. But, who wants to excavate for a pond or run electricity for a pump and filter? Add a water feature to your garden usually takes time and money with a lot of effort.

The solution is a water container. Find a planter, pot, kettle, or any object that can hold water and fill it up. It's that easy! You have just created an environment that will do all the wonderful things water does for a garden. Once you have set up your container, all that is left is the fun part: choosing the plants. But before you rush off to the nursery, lets make a few suggestions. Poly resin containers come from the mfg without holes so they can easily be used for this type of planting. The big difference between plastic pot and poly resin is that the poly resin have a UV protectant that guarantees the colors will never fade. They are also commercial grade so they will never chip, crack, warp, or break. They are basically indestructible and with the new finishes they offer, you can't tell that they aren't clay or ceramic. We also like using the concrete wok pots because they can be made without a drain hole. You have a choice of 16 colors with one that looks just like terra-cotta. Long lasting, super durable, and stunning in appearance! If your perfect container has a hole in the bottom, put tape across the bottom of the hole, then pug the hole from the inside with plumbers putty. A terra-cotta container will need to have a waterproof sealant applied to it.

As with any container combination, water containers need a mixture of upright, bushy, and creeping plants to look balanced. Below is a list of some of the best plants for this type of gardening but by all means don't limit youself to just this group. There is a wide palette of water plants for you to explore.

A. Water clover - covers the feet of taller plants. Full sun to full shade.
B. Crushed Ice Arrowhead - makes a splash. Full sun to light shade.
C. Dwarf parrot feather - carpets the water surface. Full sun to full shade.
D. Yellow monkey flower - blooms all summer. Partial sun to full shade.
E. Dwarf umbrella grass - adds a graceful touch to a container. Partial sun to full shade.