3 Window Box Ideas

There is nothing that lifts the spirits more than planting up window boxes – it’s like creating a miniature garden in an instant without even breaking into a sweat or breaking the bank. Our choice of plants for three window boxes are available in nurseries from spring to early summer, as are some great window boxes.

How to plant up a window box

• Use commercial potting soil. If weight is a worry when large window boxes are planted up, the potting soil can be bulked up with lightweight materials such as perlite, palm peat or vermiculite.
• Enrich your potting medium with bonemeal for strong root development, and Atlantic’s Fruit and Flower slow-release fertiliser to sustain growing plants and to keep them in bloom. To prevent the soil in such densely planted containers from drying out too fast, add Hydrocache water-retaining gel according to the instructions on the packet when preparing your soil mix.
• First place a lining of water-permeable fabric, like an old piece of shade cloth, over the drainage holes in the window box to prevent the soil from washing out. Then add a layer of potting soil.
• Arrange the plants, still in their nursery containers, until you are satisfied with a composition that pleases your eye. Turn them out of their nursery containers, loosen the roots gently and put them in place, while filling up around them with more potting medium.
• Fill up the window box to about 2cm below the rim of the box to allow room for watering.

Window Box One – Cheery Yellows

Calibrachoa ‘Conga Deep Yellow’: deep golden-yellow petunia-like flowers, which makes it a classic spiller in any type of container. Self-cleaning, which means no deadheading is needed to keep it in bloom.

Bacopa ‘Megacopa White’ – creeping habit with large white flowers. Does well in light shade and full sun, with good heat resistance, and is seldom not in flower.

Anthericum saundersiae variegata ‘Starlight’ – grassy leaves striped in white, producing tall white flower stems and small starry flowers. Upright growth habit.

Argyranthemum ‘Madeira Crested Yellow’ – a compact and rounded daisy bush from the popular ‘Madeira’ range, with semi-double vibrant yellow flowers.

Window Box Two – Dainty pinks and white

Carnation ‘Kahori’ – a compact perennial with grey-green foliage smothered in frilly bright pink flowers with a rich, sweet fragrance. Long-flowering, heat and cold tolerant, and perfect for a window box garden.

Chrysanthemum paludosum ‘Pure White’ – this annual produces masses of white flowers with yellow centres. Always a good choice as a filler plant in containers or the garden.

Gypsophila muralis ‘Gypsy Deep Rose’ – fluffy mounds of semi-double pink flowers, good for bulging up and spilling out of window boxes. Willing in full sun and semi-shade, and available in white, pink and deep rose.

Window Box Three – Silver succulents with blue

Kalanchoe pumila – a cute and tough succulent groundcover with powdery grey leaves that have a lilac tint. Clusters of lilac to pinkish purple flowers appear in late winter and stay until summer.

Statice perezii ‘Atlantis’ – an evergreen perennial that forms a rosette of large, leathery leaves. The flowers are clusters of bi-colour blooms that are supported on stems ranging from 15 – 60cm tall. These bi-coloured flowers range between purple, blue and white, and have a papery feel to the touch.

Senecio candicans ‘Angel Wings’ – an eye-catching perennial with a rounded, evergreen growth habit with large, heart-shaped, silvery white leaves with slight indentations on their margins. Short, dense hairs on the surfaces of the leaves feel velvety to the touch.