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

 

Linked to these amazing blog parties... Empty Your Archive
Waste Not Want Not Wednesday Seasonal Celebration Wednesdays
Wildcrafting Wednesdays Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways
Simple Lives Thursday Homestead Barn Hop
Farmgirl Friday 

Container Plant How-to's

 

Whenever I'm looking for a burst of color in a sea of gray pavement, nothing does the trick of filling out a space like container plants.  They are colorful and mobile and bring life to an otherwise boring spot in the yard.

I've been growing flowers in pots for years now and learn something new every year.  I've really settled on flowers that I love and always look in gardening catalogs for new inspiration with different color and plant combinations.  

If you're considering making your own flower containers this year, it's good to know some basic information in order to have the best flower display all summer long.

 1. Know your location.

 Is your spot shady?  Full sun?  Windy? Sheltered?  These are all important things to know when considering what plants to choose for your containers.  Place an empty pot in the spot you're looking to plant and get a general idea of the sun/shade conditions.  I tend to go with plants that can tolerate sun/part shade as I have mostly an eastern exposure with some later afternoon sun.  
Is the spot near a easy water source?  Locating pots far away from easy watering is an invitation to dead plants.  My pots are always located close to an outside rain barrel or indoor water source.  
Is the spot in a hot,  non sheltered location? You may also want to consider using a self-watering planter and plants that are good with hot sun for 6-8 hours.  This will limit your flower choices but it's so important to plant to your location for the best results.

2. Make sure to pick great soil and use the best pots. 

I like to make my own potting mix blend.  I generally use a bag of great basic potting soil, a bag or two of vermiculite or perlite, and a bag of peat moss.  I don't like watering plants twice a day so I tend to use half soil and half of a soil lightener to get a great mix.  I try to use a bit less soil in the hanging plants so they aren't so heavy but enough soil so one watering will be good for them.  
I like plastic pots the best.  I do have a terra cotta pot I use, but I have to keep it in standing water as it dries out way too fast.  Plastic is light, moisture retentive, easy to store and reusable year after year.  Porcelain is nice too, but is heavy and can't be kept out all winter as it will crack.   

3. Pick the flowers and plants that will work best for your containers.

You will want to choose the best flowers for your sun/shade location and ones that will give you continuous color all season long.   I have gone back and forth with flower choices over the years to figure out what works best for us.  I like pinks, blues and purples the most, but have found my tastes have evolved as I discovered certain flowers just didn't handle the long bloom season.  Like the "Wave" series of petunias would be beautiful for a month or so but would really burn out by mid-summer.  I would have to pinch them way back and wait for them to rebloom.  It didn't work for me because I want color all the time...all season.  The flowers in the photo above are excellent in containers giving me great color all season, holding their color, not needing deadheading, can handle dry conditions and are generally hardy.  Some are old fashioned, like begonias and coleus, but they are beautiful and last a long time.  Don't forget to add non-flowering plants like coleus, caladium bulbs and even herbs to your collection.
You may want to plant the same kind of flowers all in one pot when placing the pots in a large display.  Some plants are more vigorous and will overtake another plant.  Try to find out what the flowers growing habits are before putting them together.  I solved this problem by planting the same flower varieties in the same pot and then placing the pots all together.  It also helped me to see what plants were more aggressive.  Always check the growth size of your plants as well.  Taller plants will always overtake the shorter varieties.

4. "Overplant" your flowers and fertilize with a long 
 season fertilizer as well as weekly feedings.

You will want to plant as many flowers in a pot in order to get the pot to be lush and overflowing.  This is the one time you can ignore the little tags as to flower spacing and "crowd" your container with flowers. I figured this out after buying different hanging flowers pots.  After the growing season, I noticed they overfilled their containers with plants.  By doing this, your pots will fill out quickly with foliage and eventually blooms instead of waiting the whole growing season for this look, you can achieve it much faster by overplanting.
Fertilize, fertilize and fertilize!!  I use an organic 2 month granular fertilizer as well as an organic weekly or monthly one.  This will keep all the blooms nice and healthy and solves the problem of the overplanted container.  As long as you water and fertilizer consistently, you're sure to have beautiful blooms.

This is the basic information that I have discovered along the way and I continue to learn more as I experiment with different flowers and plant combinations.  Planting your own containers is a great way to express your own creativity and to create your own floral space.  

What are some of your favorite flower combinations?  Blessings!


 
Linked to these amazing blog parties...Waste Not, Want Not Wednesdays
Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Wildcrafting Wednesday
Farmgirl Friday Homestead Barn Hop
Tuesdays with a Twist Empty Your Archives
Seasonal Celebration Wednesdays Simple Lives Thursday

Out of the Archives: Butterfly Beauty

 

 I know I am jumping the gun by posting pictures of this butterfly, but I couldn't hold back the spring fever it brought on while I was clearing out the camera from last year. I found these two pictures that I took in August.  And being as our weather here still contains the word "snow," I thought this little butterfly was a great picture of what is to come in a very short while...

The butterfly is only a 1/2 inch long and is called "Peck's Butterfly."  It's actually a skipper type of butterfly because of the way it flies in short skipping motions.  It was hard getting a picture of this kind because they are constantly in motion and extremely fast moving.  It's busily working on a white "Zinnia Profusion," a short and spreading zinnia hybrid that did awesomely well in containers as well as attracting lots of these little guys.

As my camera is only a simple point and shoot, I was pretty happy to get these photos.  And feel a little more assured that Spring is coming soon..!

Linked to these amazing blog parties: Weekly Top Shot
Homestead Barn Hop
Hello Mondays The Backyard Farming Connection Hop
Seasonal Celebration Wednesday Wildcrafting Wednesday
Simple Lives Thursday