Help me figure out how to plant my windowbox!
April 1, 2010 6:28 PM   Subscribe

Help me figure out what to put in my windowboxes this year. Parameters inside.

Last year i put three windowboxes up outside my apartment. I live on the third floor, so looking outside to see flowers is really pleasant. However, I suck at keeping plants alive. Really, really suck at it. Combine that with the fact that to water them, I have to remove my screens (a really difficult process -- actually, it's more difficult to put the screens *back*) and I ended up with some dismal looking geraniums last year.

So I'm wondering what I could plant this year that might be a little more tolerant of just surviving on rain.

Parameters:
(1) Windows face west, but thanks to buildings/a tree, direct sunlight is only for maybe an hour or two
(2) I live in downtown Boston
(3) Open to pretty much any plant I can get at a local nursery
(4) Must be able to survive the occasional pigeon hanging out among the flowers

I also didn't line my windowboxes when I put them up last year -- if that would substantially help the watering situation, please tell me so.
posted by olinerd to Home & Garden (6 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Regarding the watering, have you considered drip irrigation? You could set up a small tube running out the corner of the screen, with emitters in the windowboxes. Then you wouldn't need to take off the screens to water, which would probably mean you'd water more regularly. For connecting the tubing, adapters are available that hook up to many standard indoor faucets.

If that's not possible, you might try looking among the plants recommended for xeriscaping.
posted by Lexica at 7:01 PM on April 1, 2010


Focus your energies on solving the watering problem instead of finding the unkillable plant. There are flowers that do well with minimal sun, but plants are mostly water; the only ones that survive without much of it grow very slowly. Windowboxes dry out very quickly in summer heat, and if your building's roof overhangs at all then they'll get hardly any rainwater anyhow.

Some sort of tubing arrangement was my thought as well. If you can raise the screen a fraction of an inch, or poke an unobtrusive hole in it, then you should be able to improvise some way to water more easily.
posted by jon1270 at 7:09 PM on April 1, 2010


I'm going to try these terra cotta watering spikes this year.

But, if it was me, and I wasn't totally married to actual flowers (which I'm not), I'd plant herbs that love abuse. This is my strategy for my poorly-watered front beds, and I have a rosemary that has gone batshit, and thyme that covers the ground around the rosemary and chokes out weeds. Mint and oregano, too, will go nuts. These need a little bit more water, but any of the pale-edged sages (like pineapple sage) or Bright Lights (Rainbow) chard are very beautiful, edible, and sturdy.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:31 PM on April 1, 2010


i'm not feeling the herbs. i grow my herbs in ideal conditions and i feel that, respectfully, they too easily get shabby-looking. what about coleus? they come in crazy or mellow colors and are so pleasing. they do not flower but grow to be very full.

impatiens are also a good idea. once they take hold, they fill in quickly, thrive in little direct sun.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 8:31 PM on April 1, 2010


With only a few hours of direct sunlight, you could do a lovely mix of coleus, fuchias, tuberous begonias, impatiens (new guinea impatiens if you're bored of regular ones), and more!

As to the watering issue -- yes, a small amount of soil such as a window box WILL dry out quickly. There are some things to help. Are you using a basket lined with coco fiber? coco fiber is so porous the soil it holds dries out extremely fast. Whatever you're using, line your baskets with plastic. Take a garbage bag and cut it into a rectangle to fit into your planters. Don't forget to cut a couple holes for drainage!

Secondly, you can add things to your soil to help it retain moisture. Non-organically, you should look for a product called soil-moist. They are little plastic-ish beads (honestly, I don't know what they are exactly) that hold water to keep your planting mix wetter for longer. Organically, you can mix in a bag of sphagnum moss into your planting mix. Sphagnum moss has incredible moisture retention! Make sure you soak it in water BEFORE mixing it in your potting soil, otherwise it will never become saturated.

Lastly, you can use a plant nanny (as seen on TV!). There are several kinds. Basically, they are a terra-cotta tube that holds a container with water. The best ones have a plastic doo-hickey that sits on the terra-cotta tube and has a corkscrew thread so you can screw on a whole soda bottle to it. Like this.

And, don't take this the wrong way, but plants are alive. They need water. If you want to enjoy a window-box full of flowers, than you'll have to wrangle those screens. :-)
posted by missmary6 at 11:13 PM on April 1, 2010


I kill plants, too, so here's an idea that has nothing to do with the plants themselves. Can you cut a very small hole (less than 1cm square) through which you could pass a little bit of tubing? Keep the hole covered with tape or the cut out mesh itself when not in use. That would allow you to water at will.

If you are renting and the damage to the screen is likely to be noticed by your landlord at the end of your lease, remember that repairing your screen is easy to do!
posted by pointless_incessant_barking at 8:51 AM on April 2, 2010


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