window box flowers

[Deleted]

I promise myself every year that I will finally get some window boxes and grow some geraniums, and for some reason I never do it.

And so I just compare the flowers at the George V and the Prince de Galles hotels that I can see out of the office windows.

The Prince de Galles is a smaller hotel, which is maybe why it does bigger flower boxes.

The George V has to use a lot more flowers and I can't begin to imagine all of the gardening work that has to be done.

Around the corner, however, the Plaza Athénée puts both of those hotels to shame.

                   

The Bristol, across from the Elysée presidential palace looks rather anemic in the flower department.

Places like the Ritz with no flowers just look cheesy in comparison. I want flowers, not stupid little corkscrew shrubs!

[Deleted]

Unless closely tended,windowboxes can look really ratty in no time. Dead leaves and spent blooms. To me (my compulsion),there's little more in the garden department that drives me crazy then an unattended windowbox.
I did work for this one woman (and found out later,so had many others in the trade) and she had wall to wall WHITE carpeting. She lived on the 7th floor of a condo. Schlepping soil,plants,watering can etc. up and then having her follow me everywhere with a Dustbuster vacuum cleaner just about sent me over the top. Then there was the question of which looked better,from the inside or out. So,up and down. A little more to the left,back up, a little more to the right,back down. I didn't last long and shudder every time I drive by that building.
They can and do look lovely otherwise.

[Jazz]

White carpeting and a dustbuster! haha. Maybe this year you will have a windowbox Kerouac. I agree with Casimira that they can look ratty, but planting the humble but lovely geranium is a great idea. They bloom constantly and are very hardy...should you 'forget' them...the rains will water them for you. I love windowboxes. The ones in Paris and Provence are beautiful.

[bixaorellana]

Ohhhhhhh ~~ too gorgeous! Even though I'm usually a dirt gardener by preference, I love that happy spillage shared with passersby that window box and balcony gardeners achieve.

Since I recently moved and had to cram many of my darlings into pots, I became a balcony gardener by default again. What I'm noticing is that many of the plants seem to be happier. A phenomenon that gardeners struggle with here is how radically the angle of the sun changes with the seasons. Even a cactus can burn pretty badly in the Spring, for instance.

Anyone who started out gardening with Thalassa Cruso as a guide will remember her insistence that geraniums bloom better with their feet in tight shoes.

With that in mind, I have a suggestion for someone who'd like to have the window box effect, but who doesn't have much time to devote to the project, nor the inclination to haul dirt through his apartment. Do what those hotels are undoubtedly doing and plunk potted geraniums still in their pots into the window box. They will grow and entangle beautifully, and you can move them around for best effect and catching of the light. Best of all, you can do it now, and enjoy almost instant gratification.

[Deleted]

I have read as well that geraniums flower better when they are cramped, just as bougainvillea flower better when they are thirsty.

[bixaorellana]

Bougainvillea are not that easy of a potted plant because they need to be pruned and have water withheld at just the right time of year. I admire people who achieve beautiful potted bougainvillea. I also stunned and envious of the lush display of yellow tuberous begonias in Jazz's middle picture. They're tricky little devils!

[Deleted]

The yellow tuberose begonia's are so nice. Don't know if I like that maroon dracaena stuck in the pots with them though. Less is definitely more with plant combinations a lot of times. It gets tricky.

[spindrift]

Begonias of any sort are my pet hate.

I would like a window box outside my bedroom window but have no idea whether that's allowed in my street. Also how does one make it completely safe? I don't want to be sued for millions if the plants should fall three stories onto someone's head!

[Deleted]

It really depends on what kind of look you're after and then like you said the practicality. The wooden ones are so clunky and heavy,prone to rot and termites etc. There are some lovely wrought iron ones,some lightweight polymer,sphaghum moss lined lighter weight metal ones and on and on. Usually they are secured with metal brackets of some kind that make them pretty safe. Also,if the plants are camouflaged in a box you can stick with using plastic pots as opposed to the heavier terra cotta .

[spindrift]

Casimira, thank you.

Do you think I'd have to have the window box made to fit my window sill....or can you buy them ready made? I'd prefer the wrought-iron design to wood.

[bixaorellana]

Spindrift, in your situation I think I'd look for permanence. That means not just thinking about weight, rot, and rust, but sun damage as well. I think the rather horrifyingly priced fiberglass window boxes might be your best bet. (there are more economically priced ones available)

Also, considering that it will be three stories up, have a professional carpenter install it.

(google hit pages for "fibreglass window boxes")

[spindrift]

Thanks, Bixa. I wouldn't have thought of fibreglass....

Somehow I don't think the Council would let me fit a window box. It would be out of keeping with the rest of the street. However, I can ask.....

[bixaorellana]

You might start a trend! Imagine your street as a bower of flowers.

[cigalechanta]

I have balcon geraniums every year. Important to dead head.

[nic]

I recently acquired a substantial gallery. There's plenty of space for a whole mess window boxes, but I already have my hands full with my orchids.

[spindrift]

Nic - perhaps you could start a thread on Orchids?

[Deleted]

Oh, an orchid lover!. Welcome! My collection was fairly diminished during the 5 week absence during Katrina but I still have about a dozen. Do you have a huge variety nic,anything unusual? I've never had any success with the vandas or paphiopedilum(lady slippers) here.

Please don't be shy about starting a new thread on them.

[Deleted]

[bixaorellana]

Awww ~~ happy little petunias! That is charming as all get-out, especially with the rose bush in the giant pot and the Giverny green on the trim around the door. Lovely -- thank you!

[Deleted]

It is beautiful but all I can think is "boy, that's a lot of pots to water".

[tillystar]

I love these holiday apartments we always drive past in Spain, they overlook the sea and appear as you come round a bend in the road and are really stunning with all those flowers.

[bixaorellana]

Oh, I love it! It reminds me of a nice matronly lady in her good suit with a showy corsage pinned on.