Summer Combo Pots

I've had two small spruce trees on either side of my porch steps for about a year and a half, since Christmas 2010. I've planted annuals around around the trees at different times of the year and they've been super easy to care for.  Until now.

What's up with this ugliness?  I knew the pansies and violas were on their way out (they don't last long in the heat around here) but I have no idea what happened to the little tree.  You know it's time to clean up your porch if you're embarrassed when the UPS man rings the doorbell.  Since the porch gets the bright sun all day, I opted for combo pots featuring sun-loving lantana, a tall grass appropriately named "spikes," and sweet potato vine.  I guarantee you, sweet potato vine cannot be killed. 

Here's a great trick I learned a few years ago.  Put styrofoam in the bottom of your pots, not only to save on expensive potting soil but to make your pots lighter if you need to move them around.  Brilliant!

I filled the rest of the pot with some Miracle Grow potting soil that I bought on sale at our local True Value and then added my plants, making sure to keep the sweet potato vine on the outside of the pot where it will dangle off of my top step.

The arrangements look a little dinky, especially when compared to the tall spruces, but the sweet potato vine will grow rapidly and the lantana will bloom profusely in the heat.  If the sweet potato vine threatens to take over, simply pinch off a few leaves.  I love the contrast of the bright, yellow-green vine against the darker green leaves of the lantana. 

What are you planting this summer?  Do you have any "go to" plantings that thrive in the heat?