3 Fresh Window Box Ideas to Transform Your Exterior

You all know how much I adore flowers and I wanted to share 3 fresh window box ideas to transform your exterior. In today’s post we’ll look at some very simple ideas and also options for sun loving and shade dependent planters.

Each window box is different and has a particular style and feel.

Sun Loving Window Box

Let’s start out back by our pool. Full sun areas have numerous options of plants with beautiful colors and shapes. I always love planting our pool house window box for that reason!

We got all of these plants at the Scituate Garden Club Plant Sale in May and it’s such a lovely resource. We go every year and I love the plants we get but also enjoy the expertise garden club members share.

We loaded up Luke’s Kei Truck –

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Planting Tips and Plants Used for Sun Loving Window Boxes

Here’s a peek of me planting this window box. You’ll see how much it’s filled out since I planted it in the last two months.

Some Tips for Planting

• Refresh your soil to give your plants a healthy start.
• Place flowers and plants in the spot you’re thinking of planting and step back so you can see if you like how it looks.
• Leave some space around each plants so they can grow and spread as the season progresses.
• I like to loosen the roots a bit too as sometimes plants can become potbound.
• Feed your plants. I like to use osmocote.
• Water your plants after planting.

Luke built me this window box and it’s extra long with a watering system right in it. Get the plans for this coastal window box.

Plants Used

• Dusty Miller
• Angel Wings
• Pink Petunias
• Moonflowers
• Spikes Dracaena

When choosing plants, I look at shapes and textures. I love the texture and colors of the Angel Wings and Dusty Milly against the pink flowers. The Spikes add height.

All these plants absolutely love the sun and are thriving here.

Super Easy Window Box

For Luke’s garden shed I decided to go with something super easy. I simply planted one type of flower. This is the easiest way to plant a window box; a single type of plant.

It’s a bit messy by the shed so I had to crop in but you get the idea. We used a simple wire window box and lined it with a coconut liner and filled it with soil. Then I planted three coral / red geraniums. I got these from the Scituate Garden Club Plant Sale so think they are an heirloom variety.

Here you can see it through our Elderflowers. To me there’s something so beautiful and classic about just geraniums in a planter. I love their leaves and their flowers.

Tips for Geraniums

• Don’t over-water. It will prevent them from flowering.
• Dead head and clip to prolong the growing season. These will last into fall, which is another reason I love using them.

Ideas for Elderflowers

• Make Elderflower Cordial
• Make Elderflower Cocktails

Shade Loving Window Boxes

The window boxes in the front of our home are shade loving. For a long time I struggled to know what to plant here but over the years I’ve experimented and love mixing in vines, spikey plants, and white geraniums. These plantings will mature into autumn.

Planting Tips and Plants Used for Shade Loving Window Boxes

These are the plants I used for the front planters:

I got them all from Home Depot at the beginning of June. I used a mix of annuals and indoor plants. The ferns were in the indoor section of the store.

I always place the pots in the window box to get a feel before I begin planting.

Plants I Used:

• Sweet Caroline Potato Vine Bewitched Green with Envy
• White Geranium
• Hippo Rose
• Sweet Caroline Potato Vine in Bewitched After Midnight
• Spikes Dracaena
• Ruffled Arrow Fern

This was my first year using the “Polka Dot Plant” – Hippo Rose. I love the colors and I love playing with dark and light.

It was also my first year using Ruffled Arrow Fern. They have gotten a little bit lost under some of the others. I might bring them inside after summer.

This is my second or third year using white geraniums. I love them!

Here’s a view from the side:

Let’s Keep in Touch

Was this post helpful? What are you planting this summer? I’d love to hear. Be sure to pin this for reference:

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