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Who says gardens have to be planted in the ground? Anyone living in a house, condominium or an apartment, and any homeowner with a porch, balcony, sundeck or small yard can literally take their garden to new heights by bring the garden up, off the ground. Flower boxes and window boxes are the perfect containers to plant colorful flowers, herbs, vegetables and succulents in places that might otherwise not be green. A window box is a great way to add detail and color to your home’s exterior, camouflage off-center or old windows, and beautify a bland or uninteresting facade. Most bedding plants and a variety of herbs will grow great in planter boxes that can be made from a variety of materials including clay, ceramic, stone, wire, metal, plastic and scrap or recycled wood. Ordinary garden or household items such as metal watering cans, painted boxes, baskets, buckets, antique canisters, groupings of clay pots or rusty tin cans – any container that holds dirt – can be made into attractive flower boxes that will brighten any widow. These pretty boxes don’t even have to hang on windows or grace the ledges of your windows. They can be placed on shelves, porch or patio railings, decorative garden chairs, tables, benches and just about any flat surface around the home or garden. Take a look around your home or yard and see where you might fit one in. Easy maintenance In their book, “Window Boxes, Indoors & Out” (Storey Publishing, 2003), gardeners and authors James Cramer and Dean Johnson point out that window boxes, like other container gardens, are easy to care for and maintain. “When we’ve had our fill of double-digging, transplanting, weeding, and dragging the hose around, we turn to our window boxes and relax,” the authors write in the book’s introduction. Window boxes also make great mini-gardens for people living in homes with small yards, apartments or condos. Boxes for all seasons In their book, authors Cramer and Johnson suggest a variety of plants and styles for every season. Consider, of course, how much sun you window box gets during the day. For spring, tulips, pansies, violas, alyssum and miniature roses are good choices, and you can place colored Easter eggs or a little ceramic bunny in the planter for decoration. Other plants for pretty spring window boxes include impatiens, geraniums, begonias and verbena. Or, plant herbs like mint and chives. In summer, plant geraniums, succulents, impatiens, daisies and petunias. Cacti and succulents are great for summer window boxes since they can take full sun with little care or water and many succulents trail as they grow. Be sure to water and feed the boxes more often in summer. In warmer inland climates, window boxes can dry out in a day. For fall window boxes, Cramer and Johnson suggest plants with flowers or foliage in the golden, red, orange and brown hues of autumn. Pansies, red or orange geraniums, orange nasturtiums, coleus in various dark shades, golden mums, marigolds and flowering cabbages are among their recommendations. You can also dress up the shelf or area around the window box by laying out gourds, mini pumpkins and dried ears of corn. In the winter, make a seasonal window box by filling it with green pine branches and several large pinecones. For extra sparkle in the window, spray paint some pinecones metallic gold or silver. A pretty flowering Christmas box can also be planted with red and white cyclamen, or red berries and holly surrounded by trailing ivy. Plants that work Choose plants of various heights, colors and textures. Remember that white is a color. A grouping of plants should have a dominant color scheme, but be careful with plant choices since too many different plants will overwhelm the eye, advise Cramer and Johnson. For a really pretty planter or window box, include plants that trail downward. Some plants that work well in a window box are black mondo grass, boxwood, caladium, coleus dwarf sunflower, ivy with solid green or variegated leaves, fan flower, gazania, geraniums, golden creeping jenny, heather, heliotrope, impatiens, marigolds, million bells, ornamental kale, petunias, sedum, snapdragon, sweet alyssum, trailing lobelia, verbena and vincas. Amy Bentley is the Managing Editor of Southern California Home & Outdoor Magazine. Take time to smell the flower boxes Fill window boxes with herbs and plants that smell good as well as look good, with these ideas from authors/gardeners James Cramer and Dean Johnson. Non-fragrant flowers and other plants can be mixed in too for visual appeal: • For a lemony box, plant sweet basil, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon thyme and dill. • For an old-fashioned Victorian scent box, plant lavender, white petunias, sweet peas and jasmine. • For a mint julep box, plant peppermint, spearmint and pineapple mint. • For a bakery window box, plant scented geraniums, chocolate cosmos, chocolate mint and rosemary. |
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