How to Plant a Seasonal Window Box

Terra-cotta makes an excellent window box material

Window box full of plants provides a mini garden right outside your window and if you include some scented flowers, wafts of fragrance will fill the room as well. Foliage plants can add a mixture of shapes and colors to provide an attractive display throughout the year. Window boxes need not be limited to your windowsill. They can be mounted on railings and balconies, positioned at the side of your patio, or perhaps raised on a wall in your garden.

Things You'll Need

• Window box
• Seasonial plants
• Soil

Instructions

1. Choose a window box carefully and buy the best you can, since the more expensive terra-cotta and treated wooden ones last longer and look more attractive when planted. Plastic window boxes provide an inexpensive alternative and come in a range of colors, but they have a tendency to bow outward in the center when full of soil. A planted window box, complete with moist soil mix, is very heavy so make sure it is well secured.

2. Select framework plants. Because window boxes often benefit from the shelter of a wall, you can choose slightly more tender plants than you could for open ground. This gives you a wider range from which to select. Choose one or two evergreen foliage plants to provide a permanent framework, and then add flowering plants for different times of year, or plant bulbs to keep the window box looking interesting without too much work.

3. Plant for spring. This subtle arrangement of long lasting hellebores and striped, low-growing tulips makes an attractive spring display, offset by the weathered terracotta window box. Both plants thrive in semi-shade and since they are fairly compact, should not be wind damaged. In cold areas, replace this hellebore hybrid with a hardier one.

4. Plant for summer. Summer window boxes are the easiest to fill, since the choice of readily available plants at reasonable prices is unrivaled. Try restricting the color range to produce a subtle effect. Here gold, silver, and green make a bright, warm arrangement for a sunny spot.

5. Plant for fall. You can achieve beautiful autumn color by planting late-flowering heathers and a backdrop of Lawson cypress. Add in some trailing variegated English ivies in a contrasting whitewashed window box. Use lime-free soil mix for fall planting.

6. Plant for winter. The warm colors of the skimmia and winter cherry fruits make a cheerful winter display for sun or semi-shade. Feed and water to prolong the display. The senecio will last well through mild winters but is damaged by severe frost. In mild areas, all the plants may last until early the following summer.