Is anyone out there a New Yorker with a window box? We don’t have any garden access but I’ve been suddenly overcome with the desire to grow flowers outside our living room windows. It’s pretty sunny there, all day long, with a northwestern exposure, and I’ve been reading some tips about what sort of flowers might grow best.
I know I’ve said that I’m the Darth Vader of the plant world and I am, but for one, outdoor plants I can at least rely on getting watered by the planet as well as watered by me, and secondly, everyone should get a second chance to change what’s flawed about themselves, and I want the plant world to give me a second chance. You could say I’m standing under the plant world’s window, holding up a boom box and playing something appropriate, like Poison’s Every Rose Has Its Thorn or something. Whatever, I want a window box.
Advice? Links? Snide remarks?
[ Totally unrelated but also related to New Yorkers so not completely unrelated: Stuart and I are selling our lovely bed to make room for a bigger bed ... if you want to buy a bed, we're the people to sell you our bed. How's that for a sales pitch? ]
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I tend to kill a lot of plants, but have had suprisingly good results with my window box of herbs. Rosemary is pretty hardy, and I have oregano and cilantro, too.
Plus, what’s better than using fresh-homegrown herbs in your dinnner? You get to boast about that a lot.
Oh, that’s a good idea. Fresh basil and rosemary sounds great!
Get the biggest box you can for the window. Smash clay pots (v satisfying) and put the pieces in the bottom to help with drainage. Don’t count on rains to do the job, watering-wise. Growing from seed is very zen and all, but buying flowers in the egg carton containers is way easier. Snapdragons rule. Try to get a mix of viney flowers and sticky-straighty-uppy flowers.
i second the herb suggestion. also, i’ve had good luck with flowers if i buy them already grown and plant them rather than grow them from seeds.
good luck! i say give it a try. we planted tomatoes in window boxes on our back roof last summer and that worked ok (yummy!), so i am full of boundless outdoor city plant optimism! (and i tend to kill indoor plants.)
Mint is like, the strongest herb in the world, and smells so fresh and good. Plus it spreads like wild fire and grows many feet in the air. I planted a pot of it on my roof and had mint tea for the winter.
Rocket is a good one (a.k.a. Arugula). It replenishes itself quickly. I always like sticking a few bulbs in with other plants and seeing what happens (if the squirrels don’t get them first). Something that cascades along the edge can be nice (Zinnia, English Ivy). Oh, and Hostas. They like New York and northwestern light should be shady enough for them, maybe. I’m so jealous, my building won’t let me have a window box.
Queen-sized bed is definitely the way to go! Did you know that two people sharing a double bed actually get LESS room each than if you were sleeping in a single bed?
Just make sure you wait til its April or so – if you plant the flowers too early they’ll end up kind of stunted… I live in Chicago and have always had a window box with herbs and flowers… its so nice to have some fresh basil or parsely or whatever when you’re cooking – and it smells amazing!
I vote for Sage.
We don’t use it very much but it smells great and I have a soft spot for it after growing some when I was a nipper.
sage is great to put in the bathtub, too. and it grows like a weed.
and you could grow it upside-down!