How to Plant a Cottage-Style Window Box

What brings to mind the cozy look of a cottage more than a window box?  At least that's what I thought when we first moved into our small cottage-esque starter home so many years ago.  While our house is not quaint or very special on its own, adding a large custom built window box made it feel more like the cottage inspired home and garden we were looking for.
  

My love of the cottage look is in the small collection of flower beds surrounding our home.  I define cottage-style as a loose, informal grouping of classic annual flowers reminiscent of times gone by.  I don't stick with any strict rules that they have to be cottage flowers, but it's more of an unconstrained, informal type planting.  No orderly plantings here, but only what feels like you would find in a field of wildflowers.  So here is some loose guidelines for you to plant your own amazing cottage style window box.


1. Start with a great loose soil that is has potting soil and a mix of perilite, vermiculite or other soil lightener. 
Great soil is always key when container planting.  You want something that has good drainage, is light yet is able to retain enough moisture that you don't have to water constantly.  I have to admit I reuse my soil year after year and freshen it up with every new planting.  I've yet to have any problems with soil disease (thankfully) and it has saved me lots of $$$.  You can decide if you want to do this...the flowers I plant are very hardy and as you can see, it doesn't affect their growth. 
 

 2. Choose plants that are tall, medium and spreading.
Here I have Tall Ageratum in the back, Black and Blue Salvia in the middle section alone.  I also have Zinnia "White Profusion" on the ends with begonias tucked in here and there for a shot of bright color.
This is basic when planting a one sided container.  Tall growers in the back and medium or spreading plants in the front depending on the growing space in your box.  It's important to use "untidy" flowers in order to get that free form cottage look.  Really read your flower labels and check out other planters in the garden center to get ideas from what they've created.  Don't be afraid to ask them what plants they used when you find something you like.
  

3. Try to use some unusual or uncommon flowers in your box and fill in with less expensive flowers.
The salvias are a bit pricey, but I find I only need two of them to fill out the box.  They grow quickly and I don't have to wait long for the box itself to become lush with flowers.  I like to buy flats of other easy to grow and common flowers to use in the box and my other containers.
I also like to "overplant" my flowers in order to get them to fill in quickly.  I can do this when the flowers aren't overly expensive.  Impatiens and begonias are flower varieties that fill out quickly and are great for shade.   

4. Look for butterfly and hummingbird flower varieties.
The salvia I use every year because they attract hummingbirds like crazy.  I would much rather plant flowers to attract them than use feeders as I don't want to keep up the feeders.  I know it sounds lazy, but what can I say...I'm being honest!
These salvia get quite tall and the first year I planted them I was embarrassed by their height.  However, once the hummingbirds came, I was all about these beauties.  By planting such tall flowers, I have a great view of them AND the wildlife from inside the house. The ageratum and zinnia attract lots of butterflies too.

5. Be sure to use a long term fertilizer followed by a liquid fertilizer. 
This is essential for a beautiful window box.  Fertilize ( I use an organic one) and water daily once summer's heat hits. My early flower box plantings were less than impressive until I talked to a friend who had a beautiful box.  I asked her the secret and she said to fertilize it.  Simple enough but so important to get that lush growth and amazing blooms that make your garden really stand out.

That's it.  Nothing too complicated but so wonderful to look at.  My favorite thing to plant every year is our double window flower box.  I always like to imagine what it will look like year after year as I tend to experiment with flower choices (except the salvia).  

Hope this inspires you to be creative this year with your plantings.  Have fun!  

What's your favorite cottage -style flower?

For more on flower plantings, check out my post...Container Plant How-To's

Blessings!

Simple Lives Thursday

 

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Making Chive Blossom Vinegar...

Chives are some of the easiest herbs to grow.  I have a large pot of them next to my side door and also a large planting alongside the front of our house.  They come back year after year, AND even if you never use them, the flowers they put off are worth the growing.  But, did you know you can use these beautiful globes of onion-y goodness to make a super simple salad staple?

Remember those fancy herb vinegars which were so popular some years ago?  Well, they really are so easy to make and great to use as well.  I love to make my own salad dressings and by using an herbal vinegar, I get instant flavor for my dressings. I also use these as a marinade for chicken.  Plus, these make great gift giveaways as well...just remember to include a recipe!

Here's all you need...vinegar, preferably white wine or I'm using rice vinegar here.  Wine vinegar is not harsh like plain white vinegar and makes a far superior vinegar.  If you use white wine (as opposed to red wine) vinegar, you'll end up with a beautiful shade of pink. I actually used 2 and a half bottles of this size bottle of vinegar, it will vary depending on the size of your container. So worth it.  Save the red wine vinegar for basil, oregano and thyme. 

You'll also need a clean,dry and empty jar with a plastic, non-corrosive lid. The jar needs to be super dry or it can cause the vinegar to become cloudy if water is present.  If you only have a metal lid, make sure to place plastic wrap between the jar and lid.  You'll also need some kind of funnel as well.

Go to your chive flowers and pick the best ones; bees not included...

Wash your blossoms by a gentle rinse while still on the plant in early morning, then let sun dry.

Get your clean jar ready.  

 

Make sure all the blossoms are covered with vinegar

 

  Set in a sunny place for around three weeks.  

When you are satisfied with your vinegar, strain using a small mesh strainer or try a coffee filter and insert over a large pyrex glass measuring cup.  Find a clean dry and pretty jar you like and add a few fresh chive flowers to it before adding your vinegar.  Pour in vinegar with a funnel and you have yourself a delicious herbal vinegar! This vinegar should last for at least a year and doesn't need to be refrigerated (unless you make it into a dressing.)  Check out a basic vinaigrette recipe below...

¾ cup salad oil (preferably extra virgin olive oil)
¼ cup white wine vinegar
Kosher salt and ground white pepper (or freshly ground black pepper), to taste
Opt: Add about a 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard and 1/2-1  tsp of sugar to dressing and mix well.  The mustard helps to emulsify the dressing.


Blessings!

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Great Expectations...

It's a daffodil extravaganza...in March!  Pretty unbelievable for Lake Erie shore dwellers, actually pretty record setting for Lake Erie shore dwellers!!  But here they are and they couldn't be prettier.  So with all of that, I'm enjoying their first bloom and hoping this warm weather levels off a bit so they will stay around for more than two days like the crocus did.

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Now, I know just about everyone has a few daffodils and that they seem very, how should I say it, commonplace?  However, my daffodils have a history, and that makes them beautiful AND interesting.  


 I did buy a few bulbs years ago and dutifully planted them and that was it.  Mainly because they were a bit too expensive for my budget and you needed quite a few of them to look decent as a planting.  So that ended my spring bulb collection.  Or so it seemed...

Years past and we ended up meeting a gardening friend of a friend named Burt.  Now, Burt was in his seventies and had gardens, I mean gardens, all over his multi-acre lot.  Peony gardens, rare bulb gardens, a couple of hosta gardens, irisis, daylilies and the list goes on.  This is not even mentioning his football field sized garden.  (He would garden only in quarter of it a year, but still, that's huge!)  He offered for us to put a few rows of vegetables in his football field garden and we thankfully agreed.  

It was so much fun to grow summer squash, winter squash and other fun things we were not able to grow in our own small home garden.  And while we were there, Burt would show us all around his flower beds.  It always was beautiful and I certainly learned a lot from him for sure!  I grew only certain varieties and kinds of plants and flowers, I think Burt grew at least one of each.  Perhaps two, making his property a virtual ark of every kind of living green herb.  

One fine Spring day, my husband casually told me that Burt had some bulbs for me for my garden.  I'm sure I absent-mindedly said, "Great!"   After all, Bert had given me a few plants before and I managed to find spots for the few of them.  However, I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw my husband bringing in bags...yes, I'm saying BAGS of bulbs.  I was quiet with amazement and consternation.  BAGS?  Who gives BAGS of bulbs away??  Well, I should have known.  Burt was thinning out the bulbs from his VAST daffodil collections and each newspaper wrapped set contained bulbs from all over the world (which means Holland mostly.)  I think I must have stared at those bags for quite awhile until I numbly went about trying to find places to squeeze them in.  It wasn't fun and I was a bit grouchy.  I mean, I hated to plant bulbs!  But, I managed to somehow plant them all and then I quickly forgot all about them.  Imagine my happiness the next spring when I went outside to find these beautiful flowers blooming?  So many different varieties and different bloom times.  Pure happiness.   

A cup of allergy tea to offset spring's pollen bounty!

The lesson in all of this?  Well, perhaps it was the point that sometimes we hate to go about the pain of investing in something.  It's hard work, tiring and there is no visible sign that it's going to pay off.  Then just when you forget about it, you reap a harvest of blessing.  Just like that...simple faith that what is unseen is going to become something very beautiful.


Thanks Burt, you taught me a valuable lesson again...AND I love these daffodils!!