Flower Garden Ideas for Containers and Windowboxes

Gardeners with small spaces can still create lovely flower garden designs using containers and window boxes. These five ideas provide fragrance, color and beauty for small spaces with options for both full sun and shade.

Sunny Container Flower Gardening Ideas

Flower gardens bloom best in bright, full sunlight, defined as six or more hours of direct sunshine per day. Choose a location that receives plenty of light. Purchase large containers or flower boxes at the garden center and a good potting mix. Be sure that each container includes holes drilled into the bottom for good drainage. Depending upon the size of the container, you may want to have it in place before filling it with potting soil. Large, heavy urns may be difficult to move after they’re filled. Window boxes should be tested on the hanging brackets to ensure there’s adequate support for the entire weight of the box, soil and plants.

The following ideas for container gardens and window box designs thrive in bright, direct sun:

1. The Hummingbird Garden: Create a container garden or window box design to attract hummingbirds to the garden. Group petunias, verbena, licorice plant and sweet potato vine in a window box. Select shades of dark pink or red to attract the most hummingbirds. A simple window box to attract hummingbirds may include only red geraniums, a favorite among hummingbirds.
2. Herb Garden: Grow organic herbs in a simple container arrangement or a window box. Choose basil, chives, sage, rosemary or whatever will be used.
3. Patriotic Planter: Create a patriotic-themed planter with shades of red, white and blue. Select red geraniums, white bacopa or trailing verbena, and blue lobelia. Place the tall geraniums in the center and arrange a ring of blue lobelia and white bacopa or alyssum around the geraniums in a ring in a pot, or on either side of the geraniums in a window box.
4. Houseplant Keeper: Houseplants that enjoy summer sun can be placed, pot and all, into the container or window box. Use foam packing peanuts to take up the space between the pots and allow for water drainage.
5. Early Spring Flowers: Mingle brightly colored pansies with other early spring flowers that can take the cold, such as snapdragons and stocks.

Shade Container Garden Design

Homeowners with patios or gardens in dappled shade can still enjoy containers or window box gardens if they select appropriate plants. Begonias tolerate dappled shade, and impatiens thrive in shady spots. Begonias provide the added benefit of interesting foliage, such as bronze-red leaves, along with shades of white, pink or red. Plant window boxes with one type of plant for a consistent, classic effect.

Houseplants that thrive low light can also be included in outdoor container gardens for shady spots. Choose Snake Plant (Sansevieria), Philodendron, or Peace Lily, and arrange them in their pots inside a larger container. Use packing peanuts to stabilize the pots inside the larger container.

Watering Considerations for Container Gardens

Don’t forget that container gardens need more frequent watering than the typical garden, especially window boxes, which tend to be shallow and thus have less soil to retain water for thirsty plants. Water container gardens daily, preferably in the evening so that the moisture won’t evaporate from the soil. Be sure to water near the soil surface; do not spray water onto plant leaves. Water that accumulates on the leaves of plants provides favorable conditions for mildews and fungi, which can rapidly spoil or kill plants.