flowers for my window box

17 years ago

Wanted to hear from someone who has experience with window boxes. I am curious to see what plants or flowers they have used successfully in their window boxes.

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Comments (3)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
17 years ago
Sun or shade?

Al
aromaticwings
17 years ago
I would also like to know this... For me It would be best for sun loving plants as my flower boxes will be facing west.. and will get the Texas afternoon heat.
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Virtually any plants that grow an appropriate size and enjoy the sun conditions you describe can grow in a window box. However, you must take care to provide some extra things. Basically, a window box is a pot. So, like a pot, you must provide DRAINAGE; all nourishment: I add Osmocote to a high quality potting MIX (not soil) at planting; liquid fertilizer twice a month; and most of the water: daily in the hot summer months, less in spring and fall, depending on your weather. It's a good idea to think about the design before you shop and plant. You want something tall (12-18 inches) and showy: zinnias, marigolds, geraniums, miniature boxwoods, bulbs, come to mind immediately. Then you want something that is soft (filler): Euphorbia diamond frost, diascia, Lobelia, carex, for example, and then you want something that will spill over the sides: boston ivy, petunias, scaevola, lantana, sweet potato vine, calibrochoa. Look at magazines, keep your eyes open at parks, theme parks, and office complexes, anywhere there are good looking pots. You can get lots of great ideas that way.
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Short flower varieties to attract hummingbirds - Portland, Oregon
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How short? Salvia coccinea is a hummingbird favorite and might be a good choice if your window boxes are on the sunny side of your house. It will grow over a foot tall but it's somewhat airy so it might be nice to have those sticking up where you can see them from inside the house. There's a named cultivar of it called 'Lady in Red' that's very nice. Then you could plant something like annual red verbena in the front part of the window box so you will have something hanging down over the edges. Those both like sun. Fuchsia, like someone already suggested is a good choice if it's on a shadier side of your house. Hummingbirds like lots of flowers that aren't red but when you're first getting started, the bright red flowers will get their attention and help attract them to your yard.
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Window box flowers
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Comments (4)
I live in Webster,Chase pitkin on Holt Rd has some nice mums. I never buy them but these are so pretty. They also had some nice sun annuals. If you know Grossmans they might have some nice plants. RTE 250 in Penfield. Check out their website, www.grossmans.com for coupons and sales. Lots of places get in new annuals all the time. For fall people like mums,cabbages and more pansies. Check around . Trolley Bed in Victor and Bristols are other options. Check in almost where they sell plants and you'll find something. Id ask about mums and this heat though.
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When its time to pull the summer flowers in the fall, I plant pansies, cabbage, kale and faux pumpkins. After Thanksgiving, its time for the greens such as boxwood, cedar, fir branches etc. with giant sugar pine cones. That's what is in my window boxes now. Once it warms up and thaws in spring I pull the greens, clean out the window boxes and add summer flowers such as geraniums or super petunias. Fall Winter Summer
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jenny_in_se_pa
17 years ago
aromaticwings - you want to look for drought-tolerant plants like portulaca, petunias, vinca, marigolds, etc.

People can come up with a million different combinations for all types of growing conditions. So it's one of those things where walking into a nursery and checking out what they have and mixing and matching based on the amount of sun the plants can take, as well as looking at foliage type and plant heights, can sometimes yield a unique combination that really works out well. It's experimenting!

There are many sites out there that show combos but one of the Farmer's almanac sites has a nice simple list of popular plants grouped by exposure and type of habit that is helpful!

In the past, I usually planted for spring (eg., pansies, snapdragons,etc) and then summer (where the summer plants could go through to frost - eg., petunias, wax begonias, sweet potato vine, etc). But this year I'm trying some Salvia coccinea "Hummingbird Red" and "Lady in Red" to give my hummers something to buzz around. I surrounded them with some white alyssum for fragrance (although I know they tend to go a bit dormant when it gets hot but are wonderful in spring/fall or cool days in summer).

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flowers for my window box

Comments (3)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

aromaticwings

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jenny_in_se_pa

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