Bright and Cheerful Winter Window Boxes

This is not a subtle color palate, that's for sure. Bright and cheerful was the plan, and if this isn't cheerful, I don't know what is. Cyclamen are always the star of my winter window boxes, and everything else is planned around them. They bloom with a solid display of color until March when I redo the boxes. Some years I have done a red and white color theme for Christmas window boxes. This year I chose bright pink and deep magenta cyclamen. 

I just love how window boxes bring the garden into the house. Sitting at our little telephone desk, the flowers are so close you can really appreciate all of the details. Right outside our kitchen window, the flowers make doing dishes much more enjoyable!

When planting the window boxes, I follow the "Thriller, Filler, Spiller" idea. Choose something with some height and impact as the triller. Shorter plants are the filler, and the trailing plants are the spiller. The cyclamen are the "thriller" in the box, along with the dark pink stock which will grow taller. Yellow pansies and mixed linaria are fillers. 

Linaria

Stock and pansy

Linaria

Snapdragons in shades of yellow and magenta are also fillers.

The spillers are white sweet alyssum for the scent, and lobelia. 

 Cheerful, they are!

Spring Window Boxes - Plenty of Pink!

My favorite garden chore is replanting our window boxes.  

It's instant gratification, an uplifting change, like a fresh manicure. Mine are replanted twice a year; spring and fall. Last year I planted the boxes featuring red cyclamen, making quick Christmas window boxes. Click here for some tips on planting window boxes from one of my first posts.

The cyclamen continued to bloom until they were pulled to make way for these pinks that I love. 

This year we have Neon Rose petunia, impatients (Blue Pearl, Super Elfin Lilac, and Super Elfin Pink), white alyssum, and wire vine. Meuhlenbeckia axillaris is called wire vine because the stems look like wire. This is my first experience growing it and I'm loving how delicate it is. I hope it doesn't take over.

The plants are from six packs, so they are small and really packed in there. In a few weeks they should be lush. 

One of the best things about window boxes is that they bring the garden into the home, and the flowers to eye level. 

Doing dishes is a chore. Pink flowers make it better. 

Quick Window Boxes for Christmas

'Tis the season to be super busy. My window boxes were empty, waiting for me to take the time to bring them to life once again. The problem is time, and I had almost given up on filling them with fall/winter plants. There are 7 boxes in front of our home and having them looking pretty immediately transforms the house. If they are empty, the house has a sad look. When I found these red cyclamen for half price, that motivated me to take the time and make some quick Christmas window boxes. Boy, am I glad I did!

Planting the window boxes is one of my favorite garden projects. Usually the project takes most of a day because I remove the soil, scrub them clean, add new potting soil and amendment, and fill them with lots of plants. This year I took some short cuts. The soil was soaking from recent rains and the boxes were very heavy, so I left them on the brackets and left the old soil. I added some amendment, this is my favorite for transplanting. 

I rarely lose a plant and have very little transplant shock if I add this when transplanting. After sprinkling some on top, I dug it in and loosened the soil to aerate it. Then I planted red cyclamen, white stock, and white pansies.

Typically I plant many more small plants in one window box. For these quick planters I just stuck in some small branches cut from the bottom of our Christmas tree. 

They filled the gaps nicely, were available and less expensive than another flat of flowers. Once they dry out, I will pull them and decide if the plants have filled in enough. If not I can easily add plants. 

This little angel has been in my garden for twenty years, watching over the window boxes. 

Angelonia - A Favorite for Windowboxes

Angelonia augustifolia 

Angelonia, these pretty little flowers are reminiscent of snap dragons, but more dainty. Their buds are delicate orbs held high above the plant which grows 10 to 18 inches tall. The leaves are long and pointed.

Angelonia is also known as summer snapdragon. Like snapdragons, they have many little flowers on each stalk. They are shades of purple, pink and white with contracting colors at their throats.

Looking closely at the flowers I am reminded of someone laughing loud enough to loose their bottom denture. Maybe I should have kept that thought to myself...

One of the things I love about this plant is that it tolerates the heat, and here in the Los Angeles area, things can really heat up in the summer. Mine are planted in my window boxes which have been known to dry out more often than they should. This does not phase the angelonia, although it does prefer moist, well-drained soil.

They are perennials often treated as annuals. The only pest mine have is spider mites. Oh, those dreaded little critters get on everything. So I try to spray them off with water weekly and give them a spritz with soapy water to keep the mites controlled.

They bloom for a long period, all summer producing their laughing flowers for my enjoyment.

My Favorite Day in the Garden - Window Box Day!

It's a little silly how excited I get on the day I replant my window boxes. Somehow it feels magical. Without question, it is my favorite garden task. Twice a year I get to enjoy the ritual and by the end of the day my home is transformed by tiny flowers. It just seems to sparkle when I'm done.

Oh, how I love going to nurseries. What better way to start your day than shopping for delicate flowers? The thing about window boxes which makes them so special is that the flowers are brought up closer to eye level, so the flowers' unique facets are appreciated. For this reason, I choose plants with varying shapes and details. This spring we have impatients, angelonia, fuschia, sweet alyssum, vinca, and lobelia. Clearly I am partial to pinks and purples. Most of the plants are in 6 packs which are less expensive.

Here is my little secret to keeping my redwood window boxes from rotting away after a couple of years: I line mine with plastic. It's also a simple and effective way to help to retain the moisture in the soil. Here in Southern California things dry out so quickly. You can buy the plastic drop cloths in the paint section of your hardware store. Cut it big enough so that when the sheet is pushed down by the soil, it will be a little shorter than the edge of the box so it won't show. Then poke holes in the plastic where the drill holes are so the water will drain.

Fill it with dirt and fold the corners so the plastic doesn't show.

I use fresh potting soil and a start-up fertilizer in my window boxes each time I change the plants. Ask your nurseryman what is recommended as a fertilizer, read the directions for how much to use. I generally use a couple of tablespoons per box. Mix it in well before planting the plants. Do not use too much fertilizer as the plants will not do well.

And now the real fun begins! I like to arrange the plants by laying them in the box before I actually dig the holes and tuck in the little guys. This allows me to rearrange them if needed without disturbing them so much. Be sure to loosen the roots a little if they are root bound like this one.

Root bound plant 

Same plant after its roots were gently loosened

Take care not to bury the plant too deep or too shallow. The soil should end up being level with the soil the plant came in (see the right side of this pic).

Press the soil down and make sure to fill in any holes and areas between the plants with soil. Plants do not like to have their roots grow into an air pocket.

Now at this point I'm hearing my mother's voice in my head. She's telling me that I have to wash the windows before I put the flower boxes on the brackets. She's right. Don't want dirty windows to hamper my view of the little lovelies. This is not my favorite part of my favorite day in the garden. But my windows must be washed at least twice a year, right?

Always give your transplants a good soaking as soon as possible to lessen the shock.  I water mine daily for a couple of days then decrease to watering as needed. (Mine are hand watered, not on a timer.)

Hint: Place the window box on the supports before you water the plants so it's not as heavy.

And now that the windows are clean I can enjoy the view. Wonderful how window boxes bring the garden into the house. Washing dishes is much more enjoyable with the company of fuschia!

My house is transformed!