Permanent Planting Designs

If you do not want to go to all the trouble of regularly changing planting designs, choose permanent designs instead. Alternatively, you may find some permanent arrangements that you planted in liners useful for filling in gaps between flowering periods. For instance, there may be a gap between spring and summer or autumn winter bedding.

For Sunny Positions

Miniature roses, which are becoming incredibly popular today, are very nice for summer-long colour in window boxes. Try planting small silver- or grey-foliage plants with them, such as the cotton lavender (Santolina chamaecyparisus ‘Nana’) or the lavenders Lavandula angustifolia `Munstead’ or L. lanata.

Superb designs can be created with dwarf conifers and heathers. To give height try a group ofJuniperus communis `Compressa’, a neat, conical juniper with greyish foliage, and surround this with heathers for summer, autumn or winter colour.

Other suitable plants for sun include any of the small, shrubby veronicas or hebes, which unfortunately are not the hardiest of plants and may not survive winters in cold climates unless taken under glass. Most flower ^*profusely in summer. Dwarf kinds include H. albicans, with white flowers; H. macrantha, also white; and H. pinguifolia `Page, with grey foliage and white flowers. Try planting miniature spring bulbs between them, such as crocuses, grape hyacinth (muscari), glory of the snow (chionodoxa) and squills (scilla). Autumn crocuses would extend the flowering season still further.

Small culinary herbs are excellent for window boxes, if you can give them a position in full sun. A sunny kitchen windowsill would be the best place for the box because it would be so handy for the cook.

For Shady Positions

There are numerous small shrubs suitable for shade and some are described on pages 33-38. An excellent idea is to plant a collection of small shrubs in the boxes for interest at various seasons and to interplant them with small, shade-loving, spring-flowering bulbs like dwarf and miniature daffodil species and cultivars (of which there is a very wide range available) and snowdrops(galanthus). It is best to buy and plant snowdrops immediately after flowering while they are still in leaf, as dry bulbs planted in autumn take several years to settle down and flower well.

A design which I particularly like consists of Skimmia reevesiana, a small evergreen shrub whose white spring blooms are followed by red berries that last all winter, with an edging of the trailing Lysimachia nummularia `Aurea’, with its yellow foliage, and the lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor), which has starry blue flowers in spring. A sprinkling of small spring bulbs can be recommended, too. Unfortunately the skimmia is not a very hardy shrub and is best suited to milder areas ( — 12^°C/10^°F and above).

Not many people consider dwarf evergreen hybrid azaleas (rhododendron) for window boxes, but they are ideal for areas in partial shade. They have a low spreading habit and in spring smother themselves with flowers in shades of red or pink, plus white. Lime-free soil that is kept constantly moist is needed. Plant some dwarf lilies between them for summer colour.

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