Container Gardening 101

I'm a perennial gardener more than anything; I rarely buy annuals, except for container gardening. But this is a great time of year to buy annuals; most nurseries are running specials (2 for 1 etc) before the real heat comes and it's too hot to plant. I put together a container today including  zonal geraniums 'Tango Orange' (isn't that a great color?) and Nieremburgia 'Mont Blanc' among others.

I use a good, organic potting mix and fill the container to approx. half full:

Then I place the pots in the container, moving them around until I find the most pleasing effect:

The last step is to remove the pots, placing each plant back in the container and back-fill with more potting mix until all the spaces between the plants are filled. It can get kinda tight in there; it's important to not leave any air pockets where the roots can dry out.

Here's the finished container; now it just needs a good watering!