Window boxes

Flower & Garden Magazine, May-June, 1997 by Linda Yang

They do not rank among the world's greatest landscapes, but window boxes do bring color to barren streets, spirit to lifeless buildings and pleasure to those who tend them.

All this in fewer than 30 inches -- and they're not even a modern invention. Back in first century Rome, Pliny the Elder wrote of villas with blossom-filled windowsills where "every day the eyes might feast on this copy of a garden, as though it were a work of nature."

The most popular ready-made containers are of wood, typically cedar or redwood, which are the most durable. Especially handsome are boxes in cast cement, molded terra cotta, the newer plastics and fiberglass. Do avoid metal, though. It rusts in a few seasons, and on sunny sills transmits heat that burns roots.

If you build a window box of pine or other lumber that is prone to decay, coat the inside with a preservative like tar, or a product like Cuprinol. Avoid preservatives containing pentachlorophenol, which is toxic to plants. The outside of the window box can then be coated with any paint or stain.

For instant gratification, choose from among the ready-to-use young transplants found in small pots or market-packs at nurseries. Look for species with contrasting leaf sizes, shapes and tones. For an effective design, combine bushy plants (for bulk), tan plants (for vertical accents) and pendulous plants (for graceful over-the-side cascades). You might limit flower colors to a single theme -- maybe all white, or shades of pink and purple only -- or span the rainbow's hues instead.

Keep in mind that window boxes are not for flowers only. Culinary herbs, small vegetables, fancy-leafed houseplants and even,hardy perennials or dwarf evergreens can be as comfortable on a sib as in the ground. Take time to observe the amount of direct daily sunlight your window box receives and choose species accordingly (see list of plants recommended for various exposures on page 43). For immediate satisfaction, place your plants close together and thin them later if they get crowded.

Window box grooming means removing dead leaves and spent flowers and occasionally checking for insects. Insects can be kept to a minimum with a soapy water spray, or by eliminating plants that are continually under attack. At midseason, extensive trimming usually resuscitates flowers that look straggly, but window box gardeners may also splurge on replacements for a seasonal change.

In any case, you can keep new flowers coming with a biweekly feeding. Just don't forget to water -- sometimes twice daily -- when that summer heat is high.

PLANTS FOR VANDOW BOXES Wffh AT LEAST SIX HOURS OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT

blanket flower (Gaillardia) cherry tomatoes cockscomb (Celosia cristata) Dahlberg daisy (Dyssodia tenuiloba) dusty miller (Senecio cineraria) dwarf dahlias dwarf snapdragons gazania gerbera globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) heliotrope lantana lavender lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus) lisianthus love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) miniature roses painted tongue (Salpigiossis sinuata) petunia radishes red peppers rosemary sweet alyssum thyme tricolor sage (Salvia officinalis `Tricolor') verbena wormwood (Artemisia schmidtiana `Silver Mound')

PLANTS FOR WINDOW BOXES WITH AT LEAST THREE HOURS OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT

ageratum basil bay bee balm (Monarda didyma) bergenia browallia caladium cigar flower (Cuphea ignea) coleus coralbells (Heuchera) cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum) creeping juniper creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) dwarf blue mound juniper (Juniperus squamata `Blue Star') dwarf Chinese astilbe (Astilbe chinensis `Pumila') fan columbine (Aquilegia flabellata) four-o'clocks fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia) hosta impatiens Japanese painted fern (Athyrium goeringianum `Pictum') lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) lobelia lungwort (Pulmonaria) mint periwinkle spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) spiderwort (Tradescantia) stonecrop (Sedum) streptocarpus sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata) wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) wishbone flower (Torenia fournieri) vinca

PLANTS TOLERANT OF BRIGHT REFLECTED LIGHT ONLY

aluminum plant (Pilea cadierei) asparagus fern bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus) Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema) crested iris (Iris cristata) dead nettle (Lamium `Beacon Silver') dwarf rhododendron English ivy epimedium European wild ginger (Asarum europaeum) foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) goldthread (Coptis trifolia) grape ivy (Cissus rhombifolia) Hawaiian ti plant (Cordyline terminalis) hosta hoya lilytur (Liriope muscari) partridge berry (Mitchella repens) philodendron pothos (Epipremnum aureum) purple passion plant (Gynura aurantiaca) rabbit's foot fern (Davallia fejeensis) snake plant (Sansevieria) spathiphyllum staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum) Swedish ivy (Plectranthus australis) sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) violets wax begonias (Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum)

Linda Yang is the author of The City & Town Gardener (Random House). Her own garden is 1/40 of an acre, five blocks from Rockfeller Center, in New York.