Planting a Living Welcome: Container Gardens for the Renaissance Building in Milwaukee

Oh my goodness, friends — I have been absolutely bursting to share this one with you.

There is nothing — and I mean nothing — quite like arriving at a job with a gorgeous, empty container and leaving it overflowing with the most incredible mix of color, texture, and sheer living wow-ness. That is exactly what happened when I had the extraordinary privilege of designing and planting the outdoor container gardens for the Renaissance Building at 309 N. Water Street in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward — one of the most breathtakingly beautiful historic buildings in this entire city.

If you’ve strolled the Riverwalk lately and stopped dead in your tracks at those magnificent large rectangular planters flanking the entrance — yes, those are mine. And I am SO excited to tell you how they came to life. But first, take a look at these beauties — come visit the Renaissance Building and see them in person!

Starting at the Source: Hartman's Towne & Country Greenhouse

Every truly spectacular container garden begins long before the first trowel hits the soil. It begins with finding the absolute best plants — and for that, I will always, always, always start at Hartman’s Towne & Country Greenhouse in Manitowoc.

Family owned and operated since 1986, Hartman’s Towne & Country Greenhouse grows everything themselves, right there in their own greenhouses on over an acre of the most gorgeous flowers and plants in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Their staff has the kind of deep, encyclopedic knowledge of our lakeshore climate that a big-box garden center simply cannot touch. When I walk through Hartman’s in late spring, I am not just shopping — I am scouting. I am hunting for plants that will create jaw-dropping drama, hold up beautifully through a Wisconsin summer, and look completely intentional together. The wow-ness has to be there from the very beginning.

The Herald Times Reporter has voted Hartman’s the Best Garden Center of Manitowoc County for over a decade — and having worked with them for years, I can tell you that reputation is the most well-deserved thing in the world.

For the Renaissance Building planters, I came home with the most wonderful, perfectly curated mix:

• Red geraniums — the most reliable, boldest, most classically beautiful workhorse in the container garden world. These anchor the lower layers and carry glorious color all season long without asking much of you in return. I am never, ever tired of a great red geranium.
• Mandevilla vine — that showstopping climbing beauty with the most spectacular trumpet-shaped red blooms reaching upward along a trellis. It brings vertical drama and a slightly tropical elegance that feels positively luxurious against the building’s historic cream-city brick and dark painted wood. The wow-ness of mandevilla never gets old for me.
• Cordyline — those dramatic, sword-like burgundy spikes shooting toward the sky like they own the place. This is what container designers call the “thriller,” and honestly, thriller doesn’t even begin to cover it. It creates instant height, movement, and the most incredible architectural sophistication.
• Coleus — the most gorgeous burgundy and gold-edged variety tucked at the center. Coleus is one of my absolute greatest loves in all of container gardening. It gives you the richness and color of a flower without the fuss, and it plays so beautifully off everything around it that I sometimes just stand and stare.
• Sweet potato vine in chartreuse — the irresistible “spiller,” cascading over the front edge of the container in the most electric lime-yellow green you have ever seen. Against that moody dark planter, it is absolutely electric. Jaw-dropping. I cannot get enough of this plant.
• Cosmos — those gorgeous, airy, daisy-like blooms in the most delicate white, dancing on slender stems throughout the arrangement like little sparks of pure joy. In a planting this rich and bold, cosmos is the breathing room, the grace note, the thing that makes everything around it look even more spectacular than it already is. The wow-ness of cosmos is so completely underestimated and I am absolutely here for it.
• Iboza — one of my most treasured and unexpected additions, this gorgeous South African herb brings the most beautiful, soft, rounded foliage and the most wonderful textural interest to any container planting. The silvery-green leaves create the most extraordinary contrast against the deep reds and burgundies of the geraniums and cordyline, and the whole plant has a wild, aromatic quality that makes you want to lean in and breathe it all in. Iboza is my secret weapon and I am so delighted to share it with you.

The Planting Process

These are substantial, architecturally significant rectangular containers — the kind that make the most incredible statement in front of a landmark building. Before a single plant goes in, preparation is everything. This is where the magic actually starts, and it is so worth doing right.

Step 1: Drainage First - Always

Beautiful containers fail when water has nowhere to go, so I ensure the drainage layer is completely sound before anything else. This is the step most people skip and the reason most containers disappoint. Do not skip it. Ever.

Step 2: The Right Soil Mix

I work with a high-quality potting mix — never garden soil, which compacts and suffocates roots in a container — blended with slow-release fertilizer granules mixed throughout. In a container this exposed and this prominent, you want nutrients working consistently and magnificently all season long without you having to remember to feed every two weeks.

Step 3: The Thriller Goes In First

Then comes the most thrilling, most satisfying part of the entire process: the design placement. I work from the back and center outward, always. The cordyline and mandevilla trellis go in first because they are the architecture of the arrangement — the bones, the backbone, the wow factor that everything else builds around.

Step 4: Build the Layers

The geraniums come next, massed toward the front corners for glorious weight and color. The coleus tucks into the center, creating the most jewel-toned focal point at eye level that just stops people in their tracks. Finally, the sweet potato vine goes along the front edge with room to trail its brilliant self over the side, and the cosmos is threaded through every gap — those airy, dancing blooms weaving through the arrangement as the most perfect finishing touch that makes the whole thing absolutely breathe.

Step 5: Water Deep and Stand Back

Once planted, I water deeply until water runs freely from the drainage holes, press the soil firmly around each root ball, and make final adjustments to angles and positioning. A freshly planted container should look almost gloriously overfull on day one — within two weeks, once everything settles and begins to grow and reach toward each other, it becomes the most spectacular thing you have ever seen outside your front door. That transformation is everything to me.

"A container planting should look slightly overfull on day one. Within two weeks, once everything settles and begins to grow together, it will look exactly right — and the wow-ness will be absolutely undeniable."

Why This Building Deserved the Very Best

The Renaissance Building is an absolute gem of Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. Originally constructed in 1896 and listed on both the National and State Registers of Historical Places, it was renamed the Renaissance Building in 2003. The building’s exposed timber beams, original cream city brick, and position on the Milwaukee Riverwalk make it one of the most extraordinary, most character-rich addresses in this entire city. A building with that kind of history and that kind of beauty deserves an entrance that rises to meet it.

And here is what I believe with my whole heart: outdoor container gardens do something that a sign or a fresh coat of paint simply cannot. They signal that someone cares. They announce that the people inside this building pay exquisite attention to beauty, to detail, to the experience of arriving. For businesses, professional offices, and event venues, that first impression is worth every single dollar invested — and then some.

The Design Philosophy:  Invest in the entrance. Whether it is a single magnificent planter or a full seasonal installation, the first thing your clients and guests see tells them everything about how you do business. Make it spectacular.

The Thriller • Filler • Spiller Formula

Every great container planting — whether it is a window box or a massive commercial installation like these — is built on the same three-part formula that I have used for thirty years:

• Thriller — the tall, dramatic element that creates height and commands attention from across the street. In these planters: the cordyline and mandevilla trellis.
• Filler — the lush, colorful plants that create the body and soul of the arrangement. In these planters: the red geraniums and the coleus.
• Spiller — the cascading element that trails over the edge and gives the whole composition its sense of generous abundance. In these planters: the sweet potato vine and cosmos.

When you have all three working together in the right proportions, the result is a container planting that looks like it grew there naturally — effortlessly, magnificently, with complete wow-ness. That is always the goal.

Let's Create Something Beautiful Together

Container garden design and installation is one of the greatest joys of my work — it combines the design sensibility of floral artistry with the deeply satisfying magic of something that grows and evolves and gets more wonderful as the season unfolds.

If you manage a commercial property, a restaurant entrance, a hotel lobby courtyard, or an event venue in the Milwaukee or Manitowoc area and you have been dreaming about elevating your outdoor spaces to something truly spectacular — I would love to hear about your vision. Whether it’s a single magnificent planter for a front entrance or a full commercial property seasonal transformation, let’s talk.

And the next time you find yourself in Manitowoc — please, please stop by Hartman’s Towne & Country Greenhouse at 2021 Nagle Avenue. Tell them Diana sent you. You will not be disappointed. You will leave with a cart full of the most wonderful things and zero regrets.