Planning the Window Box

I get overwhelmed easily. This is true in just about every area of my life. I can sit down and plan a project out for hours or even days, but as soon as I go to the store to purchase the required items, even with list in hand, my head starts spinning at all the options in front of me and I can't think straight. I end up getting the wrong things and forgetting half of what I needed. I think I might be a little retarded, or at least have a slight case of ADD.

This is a real problem for me when trying to plan a flowerbox. There are just too many choices of flowers out there. I get a plan in place, but when I go to buy the flowers, either they don't have what I want and I am unable to amend my idea on the spot, or they have plants that I never considered that look much more appealing than my current plan. Either way, I am not good at changing my plan in a hurry, but when I am at the store, I really want to buy something so I can get the project finished, and I end up making bad decisions.

To avoid this problem while planning the flowerboxes this year, I decided to buy my flowers on-line. This way I can peruse all the flower options and make a much more informed and easy-going decision.

This is the flowerbox I am currently planning. It sits in blistering hot full sun the entire day during the Summer, and I get tired of lugging water to it by mid-August, so my plant selections have to be very hardy in harsh Summer conditions.



I know I want a plethora of flowers filling this box, much in the style of an English cottage garden. Flowers should be towering over the box and sprawling out of it, and it should be cram-packed, but in a good way. I like purple and yellow in this spot, because I think those colors complement the burgundy box and light yellow paint of the house. My latest effort to plan the perfect flowerbox led me to the following plants.

Three clumps of East Friesland Salvia as the strong anchor plants. This perennial will grow to 18" in height and spread to 16". I like the sturdy upright spikes of intense deep purple. This plant is also remarked as being good for containers and disliking wet feet in Winter, which is good, because this container doesn't get a drop of water from me in Winter.



Early Sunrise Coreopsis will provide a rich buttery yellow to the combination and also soften up the bold spikes of the Salvia. Coreopsis LOVES hot dry conditions, so it is well-suited for this spot. I also know from experience that coreopsis blooms non-stop from Summer to Fall, so this plant will provide a constant backdrop for a foreground of changing annuals.



This light and airy Calamintha should soften up the overall look and fill in some of the blank space in the box. This plant is also remarked as tolerating hot dry sites and being suitable for containers.



I also plan to fill in between the perennials with various annuals like:

purple petunias



yellow and white snapdragons



violas



So, this is the plan for now, but I'm sure it will change as soon as I step foot into Jesse Israel's and see their vast selection of perennials this Spring!