Maximum impact

Container designer Mark Bartos likes to create maximum impact with a minimum number of plants. "Because this container was so narrow, everythying in it had to be [visually] strong," he says.

The galvanaized metal container, 16 inches wide by 28 inches tall, is from Ikea (about $18). Bartos raised it on a stack of concrete pavers.

The plants: Adenanthos sericea, Sedum morganianum, rattail cactus (Aporocactus flagelliformis).