Window Box Planters – Maximum Curb Appeal With Minimum Expense

Back in my twenties, I rented a small quaint house in San Francisco, just a short distance to the beach. The house was plain and simple with a small front yard. There was only a beautiful rose colored daisy like perennial and a wealth of cineraria growing there. There was a porch, two windows facing the street and two rundown window box planters. There was nothing inside them, not even some dirt, which surprised me. I found the house charismatic. Having never enjoyed the pleasure of a garden, as I had just moved for a third story Victorian apartment, I was very pleased with the possibilities of the diamond in the rough. All it really needed is time, effort and lots of love in order to come alive.

I decided that my first improvement would be filling those window box planters. My budget was as modest as the house, so I wanted maximum bang for my buck. The window boxes were a natural starting point. A little potting soil and some flowers and I’d be in business.

Since it was winter when I relocated, I immediately thought of tulips and daffodils. These are easily planted and offer a generous color of spring within a few short months. Easily, I visualized this magnificent burst of color surrounding my front door. After setting my bulbs, I set my mind to planning out the summer flowers for my window box planters. Keep in mind that the San Francisco beach area has a microclimate and is somewhat restrictive. There is fog and then there is fog and then there is even more fog. This foggy climate was made even more dense by the gray of the wooden walls, the roof and even the dull gray of the window box planters. Can we say, no imagination at all?

I chose a red paint, leaning towards magenta to paint the trim, front door and the window boxes. Yes! It looked better already. This made the cineraria stand out nicely and livened up the exterior of the house significantly.

When the tulips and daffodils finally surfaced and bloomed, I was delighted. I’d decided by then what I’d be planting for summer and fall, which coincidentally, but happily, went well with my window box planter color. I carefully interplanted begonias, purple and magenta fuchsias between the bulbs and threw in some deep blue trailing lobelias for good measure. By the time the bulbs died down for the summer, these new residents were well entrenched, thriving in the moist and overcast environment. I discovered that variegated coleus inserted yet more color. Visitors commented positively on this delicious display.

Red, pink and white cyclamens replaced the summer residents as fall turned into winter. Eventually, the begonias came in to wait out the winter in pots. In the meantime, ferns and spider plants began growing along the underside of the porch’s roof, hanging about like ballroom belles. You would be surprised what a couple of four foot window box planters can do for your home.