Grow Colors For Your Team – Super Bowl Themed Garden Ideas

If you're a dedicated football fan, you may find planting team colors in the garden is a great way to show support for your favorite high school, college, or NFL team. Plus, you can use the flowers and foliage you grow for game day corsages and tailgating centerpieces. Planting a football garden can even encourage non-gardening spouses to take an interest in gardening projects. It can even be fun for the Super Bowl too.

Tips for Planting a Football Garden

Before you can grow colors for your team, you'll need to find plants that produce the correct color of flowers or foliage. Ideally, these flowering plants will bloom in late summer and early fall to coincide with football season. Here are examples of garden plants to represent your team's colors:

• Black: Yes, there are dark foliage or nearly black flowers that can include varieties of hollyhock, petunia, bugleweed, and hibiscus.
• Blue: Delphinium plants are popular blue flowers as are many types of salvia, morning glory, and even chrysanthemum.
• Brown: No, brown flowers aren’t dead flowers. A number of plants and flowers are available in a brown color like cattails, Chocolate cosmos, and the spider chrysanthemum “Brown Painted Anastasia.” You can also choose plants with brown, chocolaty names.
• Burgundy: You’ll find many burgundy colored plants like 'Cranberry Crush' hibiscus, burgundy shamrock, or 'Firecracker' sedum.
• Gold: Goldenrod, sunflower, black-eyed Susan, and many marigold varieties offer gold blooms for the garden.
• Green: Yes, there are green flowers too! Zinnia comes in a green color as does chrysanthemum. Bells of Ireland is also another choice.
• Orange: Chrysanthemum and celosia are some orange colored flowers that will brighten up the garden.
• Purple: You’ll find purple flowers like aster and salvia are common but don’t overlook purple pansies and the stunning Ebb Tide rose.
• Red: Far too many red flowers are out there to name but look for varieties of verbena, cosmos, salvia, or dahlia to support your team.
• Silver: Gray or silver plants can offer unique interest. Try growing dusty miller, silver mound, dianthus, or lavender (foliage).
• White: Another color that can be found in many plants, white flowers like shasta daisy, zinnia, and cleome can take center stage in a football themed garden.
• Yellow: Good choices for yellow flowers in your garden might include yarrow, marigold, or zinnia plants.

When planting a football garden, consider adding football-related design elements in addition to the plants. Ideas include stepping stones with the team logo, a football player cutout, an old helmet or football, a team flag, or mini goal posts for vines to climb. Try planting the garden in the shape of a football or spell out the team's name or initials.

Gardening for Super Bowl Sunday

The big day in NFL football is, of course, Super Bowl Sunday. If you're celebrating with a party, here's some Super Bowl-themed garden ideas for making centerpieces and game-day décor:

• Terra cotta football planter: The brown color of terra cotta is perfect for representing a football. Use white duct tape or paint to make the laces and stripes. Plant flowers in team colors. Use the planters for table centerpieces or as a hostess gift.
• Pigskin planter: Use an old football as a planter for your team colored flowers. Place the planter on a piece of green indoor-outdoor carpeting. You can use white duct tape or paint to make the carpet look like a football field.
• Flower-power football: Carve a football shape from a floral foam block. Insert team colors into the block. Reserve the lighter color for the stripes and laces. Place your creative design on a kicking tee.
• Team vase: Check your local scrapbook supply shop for NFL team paper or the local hardware store for team duct tape. Cover mason jars with the paper or tape. Hot glue a team-colored ribbon and add fresh flowers in team colors.