15 Ways to Decorate Your Front Porch with Plants

Tip: For instant charm, add hanging baskets.

One of the quickest ways to spruce up the look of your front porch from the street is to add hanging baskets. They’re easy to find at any garden center in the spring and summer. Choose those which contain plants that will grow in the amount of sunlight your porch receives. If you are hanging two baskets and the lighting is the same in both places, you can use matching ones. But if one side of your porch sees significantly more sun or shade than the other, you’ll need to choose different baskets for each side or only hang one.

Prefer to pot up your own hanging baskets? Use our Container Garden Recipe Guide to find a combination that fits your look and light conditions.

Tip: If neutrals are your design preference, stick with white, silver, chartreuse and deep purple plants.

Many modern homes use neutral colors as a backdrop both inside and out. To keep a consistent look, choose plants in “horticulturally neutral” shades—white, silver, chartreuse, green and deep purple. These colors create a neutral palette with which any other color will coordinate. If too many neutrals seems boring, swap out one of the neutrals for a bold color like red, orange or cobalt blue.

Find inspiration for gardening with neutral colors in this guide.

Tip: Ferns are an easy, elegant choice for shaded porches.

Flowers take a lot of energy from the sun to form, so many shade plants are grown for their beautiful foliage instead. If your front porch is in partial shade to full shade, ferns are some of the easiest and most well-suited choices for your porch pots. Tropical ferns and perennial ferns both grow well in this situation. They don’t just survive—they thrive without direct sunlight, so there’s no sacrificing performance because there is no sun. Plus, ferns don’t shed much if properly cared for, so you won’t be tracking plant debris into your house.

Explore our selection of ferns.

Tip: Go bold to make a statement.

This home would have been perfectly lovely without the red accents around the windows and on the front porch, but this homeowner went bold and put their own stamp on the place. Going bold with color—whether it’s with paint, patio furniture or flowers—can earn some major style points. Maybe it’s time to take another look at your front entrance to see where you could add a bold pop of color.

Learn more about incorporating the color red into your garden.

Tip: Choose your favorite color, then use it everywhere.

If there is a color that makes your heart sing each time you see it, sprinkle it liberally throughout your garden and up onto your front porch. The sunshine yellow containers on this porch are a joyful pick me up for this homeowner each time she leaves the house. An easy way to add a bright splash of color is to spray paint inexpensive plastic or metal pots. Change it up every year or use different colored flowers for every season if you’d like. Playing with color is fun!

Use the Colors button in our Plant Search to sort through our plants by color.

Tip: If you love symmetry, plant matching flower pots at your door.

Some people crave symmetry, while others prefer a more artistic look. If you’re the former, find two matching planters to flank your front door and plant them up with matching flowers. The slick look of the white ceramic urns pictured here lend a clean, modern style that matches this home’s architecture. Like we mentioned in the hanging basket example above, if the lighting is the same on both sides of your door, the plants should all grow and bloom at the same rate.

Explore some new plants to fill your porch pots this season.

Tip: Use self-watering AquaPots^® to save resources.

Water is one of our most precious commodities, even if you don’t live in an area where there are watering restrictions. You can make a difference by committing to use less water to grow your garden without sacrificing what you want to grow. Self-watering AquaPots use just 25% of the amount of water compared to the same pots on drip irrigation, and both systems waste exponentially less water than watering your standard pots with a hose. In this photo of a California porch, ceramic AquaPots not only look stylish but also save the homeowner’s time and money spent on water.

Learn more about AquaPots^® self-watering planters.

Tip: Use a matching set of planters for a professionally designed look at your doorstep.

For a front porch that looks like it’s been professionally styled, use a matching set of quality planters. If you shop early in spring, your local garden center will have just received their shipment of pots for the season. You’re more likely to find a matching set then, so make a plan to shop early. Do some scouting now to see which stores have the best pottery selection so you’ll be ready. If you can’t find a matching set, do your best to coordinate the pot colors so they make a cohesive grouping.

Find a retail garden center near you.

Tip: Use evergreens in porch pots for winter interest and beyond.

If you plan to leave your porch pots out year round, consider making the centerpiece an evergreen shrub like the Sting^™ arborvitae you see here. North Pole^® arborvitae, Pinpoint^® false cypress and Sky Box^® Japanese holly would work great for this purpose, too. Choose a variety that is at least two zones hardier than your zone to ensure overwintering success. Then, underplant it with colorful flowers and foliage plants to fill the gap around the base. If the shrub outgrows the pot in a few years, transplant it into your landscape.

See this idea for designing one pot with four seasons of interest.

Tip: Paint your front door a bright new color and coordinate your plants to complement it.

Wouldn’t a blue door be fun if you lived near the seaside? Painting your front door is the quickest, simplest way to change up the look of your entrance. Once you’ve done it, you may want to try a new color every few years. It’s just paint—go ahead! This homeowner coordinated the plantings in her porch pots and window boxes with her new door color by using complementary chartreuse, purple and white plants.

Explore our collection of blue plants.

Tip: Feeling overwhelmed with choices? One simple, gorgeous pot of flowers or foliage is all you need.

Sometimes simple is best. If you’ve gotten this far and are overwhelmed with all the possibilities of how you could decorate your front porch, stop and take a deep breath. Look how elegant this single pot of Double Delight^® Blush Rose begonias is. It blooms non-stop all season and those gorgeous blossoms are even fragrant. Is there one single plant that stands out in your mind that has grown beautifully through the years on your front porch? Maybe this is the year keep it simple and just grow what you know works.

Get a closer look at this gorgeous begonia.

Tip: Coordinate your porch pots with your window boxes.

This south-facing home got a beautiful makeover when the homeowners added window boxes on each side of the front door. Now, they can enjoy the view of their flowers from inside while raising their home’s curb appeal. The same plants were used in both window boxes as well as the two porch pots for continuity across the home’s front landscape. If one side of your home is in the sun and the other is in the shade, you can achieve this goal by using plants with similar colors and shapes on both sides.

Tap here to see the plant list for these containers.

Tip: Lead visitors to your front door with a border of inviting flowers.

There’s no question how visitors are invited to approach this beautiful home—just follow the trail of Supertunias! Here, a border of Supertunia Vista^® Bubblegum^® petunias leads the way to the front door. Pots of mixed colors of Supertunias and Angelface^® Angelonia are set in the beds to provide an additional pop of color. If pink isn’t your favorite, choose any annual flowers you like in your preferred shade. Be sure to keep them fed and watered throughout the season to maximize their flower power.

Explore our collection of Supertunia^® petunias.  

Tip: Draw pollinators up to the seating area on your porch to enjoy them up close.

These homeowners are treated to a parade of pollinators when they have a moment to relax at the table on the front porch. Suncredible^® Yellow sunflowers, purple coneflowers, blanket flowers, Mojave^® purslane, catmint and more bring in the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Notice how plants with similar colors are used in the landscape and porch pots, and those colors are repeated along the length of the border. Is there a spot where could you plant some flowers that attract pollinators near your seating area?

Explore Proven Winners plants which attract pollinating bees and butterflies.

Tip: Go all-in with color! Go bold with flowers and paint to maximize your home’s curb appeal.

Are you ready to make a big change to your home’s appearance? A new paint color can completely transform the look of a home and bring it up to date. Adding garden structures like the pergola you see here over the front porch can also have a big impact.

This home combines many of the tips you’ve seen above—it incorporates hanging baskets, going bold with color, coordinating the window box flowers with those in the hanging baskets, using evergreens in the porch pots, painting the door a fun color, and filling the front landscape with inviting flowers. It’s the total package and exudes curb appeal.

Find more tips for enhancing your home’s curb appeal with flowers.