decemberthirty | The art of the window box (Reply)

One of the many new things that I gained when we bought our house was a pair of window boxes. Despite nearly ten years of apartment living, none of my apartments in either Philadelphia or State College ever had window boxes. I've always thought that they were cute, though, so I'm excited to have them.

Right now, they don't look very different than they did when we bought the house: both the little round shrub and the pale green foliage plant (anyone know what it is?) were planted by the previous owners. The arrangement is a bit stiff and formal for my taste--I'm fond of sprawling, messy gardens--but everything about the previous owners' style was stiffer and more formal than ours. I stuck some pansies in for color and to loosen things up a bit, but I haven't quite been able to bring myself to pull out perfectly healthy plants and do away with them! I guess they may not change much for a while, then.

Nevertheless, I brought the camera with me while out walking through our neighborhood today, and took some photos of some of my favorite window boxes. I'm always interested in what other gardeners do in this highly urban environment, and often impressed by the creativity I see when I pay attention.

I love the mix of greens and all the different textures in this very large box. This may be my favorite of all of them.

Pansies in an iron cage. Set those pansies free! Actually there's something quite visually appealing in the contrast between the soft floppy pansies and the wrought iron.

This tiny window box is laid out symmetrically, like mine are, but I thought the myrtle spilling over in the center made it feel a little more relaxed. I like all the pinks and purples, as well.