Flowerbox Ideas

Spring

• Stuff your window boxes full of luscious spring bulbs for an early start to flower box gardening. Be sure to prep your soil properly with peat and fertilizer. The flower boxes also require more water than a traditional garden space. Crocuses, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and irises all do well within the flower boxes. Add a fern or ivy plant between each bulb to create some length to the flower box. Whether you choose to plant one bulb repeatedly or mix it up and plant a few of each bulb, spring bulbs will provide a blast of color to your windowsill.

Summer

• As the weather warms and the bulbs finish blooming, replace the bulbs with summer flowers. Look to plants like geraniums, lobelia, lilies, black-eyed Susans, daisies and other summer sensations. Combine summer blooms with vines and other greenery to add height, depth and drama to your planters. Flower boxes allow you to experiment each year and season with something different. Try planting only greenery, a monochromatic scheme of all white blooms or a miasma of high color blooms. One idea is to plant wave petunias in front of summer grasses.

Autumn

• Look to the last of the year's flowers, such as chrysanthemums in rust and gold colors. Begin adding branches for height and ornamental grasses in front of the branches, slightly lower. Once the mums die out, introduce a selection of pumpkins and squash. Ears of corn are another festive autumnal touch used to dress up your window box. Another idea is to grow Chinese lanterns elsewhere in your garden during the summer and transplant them to your flower boxes as the season begins to turn. The bright orange lanterns will provide visual interest which you can build upon with gourds and other plants.

Winter

• For a winterized take on your flower box, plant items according to the severity of your weather. For plants that can withstand the throes of any weather, look to grasses and evergreens. Add pops of color with holly berries and other bright berries. For holiday sparkle, consider adding a row of branches and string them with twinkling white lights to brighten those long winter evenings. Another idea is to add a bird feeder to attract birds to your windowsill for the duration of the season.