Summer Window Boxes ~ combine annuals, houseplants and perennials for a lush look!
To create window boxes that will look great all summer, consider a combination of annuals, houseplants and perennials.
Keep in mind the sun exposure of your window boxes when choosing plants. Our window boxes get lots of indirect light but only a few hours of direct sun in the morning. Because of this, I chose the following plant mixture: Perennials ~ Coral Bells (Heuchera) and Fern; Houseplants ~ Spider Plant babies and Swedish Ivy; and Annuals ~ Sweet Potato Vine (2 shades), Fuchsia “Firecracker”, bedding Begonias, Coleus and Euphorbia “Diamond Frost.” An added bonus is that Coleus, Heuchera and Fuschsia flowers attract hummingbirds!
By using some of your own houseplants (Spider Plants & Swedish Ivy in my case), you save money. Plus, the perennials can be planted in a flowerbed when you change out your plantings for fall! Win, Win!
Create a plan by placing the plant pots and plugs in different configurations in your window box until you come up with an arrangement you prefer.
Now, put your plants aside in a wheelbarrow or on the ground in the same order so you can follow your plan. Remember to plant thickly but allow for the plants to grow as they will fill out over the summer. See the pictures at the end of this post to see how my window box plants grew into lush lovelies!
Create a plan by placing pots & plugs in the window box.
Set your plugs and pots in place until you have an arrangement you like.
Using your plan, start in the middle of the window box and work your way out so you don’t get in your own way! Have some extra potting soil ready in case you need to add it.
Start planting your window box in the middle!
After planting everything and tamping the soil down gently, sprinkle granular Osmocote around the base of each plant. This will fertilize them for the whole season ~ one and done!
Then I tuck pine needles in and around the plantings to keep muddy rain splashes to a minimum and provide some pretty mulch. You can also use dried moss for this purpose.
Newly planted window box with pine needle mulch.
Granular Osmocote is perfect for container and window box plantings!
Be sure to water your window boxes as you would any other container plant. Rainfall alone will not give them sufficient moisture to grow and thrive.
Summer Window Box featuring Heuchera & Fuschia after one month’s growth!
Here’s the window box featuring the fern after it has been growing for one month. This area of the house gets lots of light during the day but only direct sun in the morning for a few hours. And the hummingbirds have found it!
Summer Fern Window box after growing one month.
In the fall, I’ll repot and bring the houseplants inside, take cuttings of the begonias, coleus and sweet potato vines and plant the fern and heuchera in the garden.
That way, most of the plants will have done double duty all season and some will provide starts for next summer’s window boxes, too.
A little frugal gardening from Our Fairfield Home and Garden!