This year, we’re inviting readers to put their design skills—and native plant knowledge—to the test. Create a stunning container planting that supports pollinators, adds ecological value, and proves that native plants can thrive beautifully in pots. Submit your entry for a chance to be featured in Fine Gardening and inspire gardeners everywhere to plant with purpose.
CONTAINER CHALLENGE PRIZES
Please see details below for the rules
Grand Prize – Valued between $550-$850 (depending on the AquaPots Lites chosen)
Runner-Up Prizes (3 total including Crowd Favorite Award)
- $250 e-gift certificate to shop at provenwinners.com for plants, AquaPots Lites, and more
PLUS a Fine Gardening All Access Membership
Submission Guidelines:
Entries must feature an original container garden design. Each design is required to include at least one North American native plant (native cultivars acceptable). Submissions should clearly identify the native plant used and demonstrate how it contributes to the overall design. Containers may be any size or style, but designs should be suitable for growing in containers for an entire season. Photos and a brief plant list are required with each entry.
About the Sponsor:
Proven Winners® takes the guesswork out of gorgeous gardens. Our rigorously tested plants bloom bigger, grow stronger, and thrive easier than ordinary varieties. From revolutionary Supertunias to breakthrough hydrangeas, we deliver plants that perform beautifully for both seasoned gardeners and beginners alike. Our plants’ proven performance makes them the brand gardeners trust to plant with confidence.
More information and inspiration
Container Designers Featuring Native Plants
Native Plants in Containers from Mt. Cuba
Best Native Plants for Your Region
Inspiration for Natives in Container Designs
Incorporating native plants into container designs is a simple yet meaningful way to extend ecological benefits beyond traditional garden beds. Even a single native species can provide nectar, pollen, foliage, or fruit that supports local pollinators, birds, and beneficial insects that ornamental exotics often cannot sustain. In containers—whether on a patio, balcony, or entryway—native plants help bridge the gap between decorative gardening and habitat gardening, transforming small spaces into functional pieces of the larger ecosystem.
Designs Where Natives Are the Star
Tiger Eyes™ sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’) is a golden, cutleaf cultivar of staghorn sumac, a species native to eastern and central North America. Because it is derived from a native tree, it retains much of the ecological value of the straight species. Staghorn sumac supports numerous native moth and butterfly larvae, provides nectar and pollen for pollinators, and produces dense clusters of red fruit that persist into winter, feeding birds when other resources are scarce. In a container design dominated by ornamental exotics, Tiger Eyes™ serves as the ecological anchor—bringing native plant benefits such as habitat support and seasonal wildlife food while still delivering striking chartreuse foliage and brilliant fall color.
‘Ice Ballet’ swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata ‘Ice Ballet’) is a white-flowering cultivar of a species native to much of the eastern and central United States, where it naturally grows in moist meadows, stream banks, and low areas. As a selection of this North American native, it maintains the ecological strengths that make swamp milkweed such a valuable garden plant. Its nectar-rich blooms attract a wide range of pollinators, including native bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, and like all milkweeds, it serves as a host plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars. By incorporating ‘Ice Ballet’ into a design, gardeners gain both luminous midsummer flowers and meaningful habitat support rooted in regional ecosystems.
‘Ruby Falls’ redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’) is a weeping, purple-leaved cultivar of eastern redbud, a small understory tree native to much of the eastern and central United States, from the Great Lakes south to Texas and Florida. In early spring, its rosy-pink flowers emerge along bare branches, providing an important nectar source for native bees and other early pollinators when few other plants are in bloom. The heart-shaped foliage serves as host plant material for several moth and butterfly species, and its seedpods offer minor wildlife value later in the season. Eastern redbud brings both ornamental appeal and genuine habitat support to garden beds and large containers alike, enhancing mixed plantings with a strong native foundation.
Fine Gardening Recommended Products
Buffalo-Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Buffalo-Style Gardens is a one-of-a-kind, offbeat garden design book that showcases the wildly inventive gardens and gardeners of Buffalo – and offers readers “the best of the best” ideas to use in their own small-space gardens.
SHOWA Atlas 370B Nitrile Palm Coating Gloves, Black, Medium (Pack of 12 Pairs)
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Lightweight and close-fitting for excellent dexterity. Machine washable. Breathable back of hand to reduce perspiration. Designed for easy movement and continuous wear. Ideal for aerospace, assembly, automotive, construction, final fix, gardening, manufacturing, operating machinery, packaging, precision handling, tiling, warehousing.
Plant Covers Freeze Protection 10 ft x 30 ft Floating Row Cover 0.9oz/yd²
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Lightweight and Breathable MATERIAL Good for protecting Plant: the plant frost cover material is 0.74 oz/sq non-woven polypropylene fabric, which is lightweight, breathable, and durable. The plant blanket frost protection allows sunlight reach the plants, perfect for protecting plants from the damage of freeze or frost. Wide Application In your Garden Work. The plant row cover not only can work as a barrier against frost, but also can be a great tool for germination and good for rapid seedling growth. By using the fabric plant covers over your plant, you can start the plant earlier in the spring and extending the growing season of your plants. How to Use the Plant Covers: you can cover the plant covers for freeze over your the plants loosely directly and then secure the plant frost blanket with soil, stones or staples. You can also support the floating row covers with a hoop, make enough room for plants to breath and grow. You could also cut the plant covers into different sizes for different purposes.
