A Colorful Flower Bed and Charming Window Boxes

Garden Beds in Vibrant Colors and Charming Window Boxes

Are you looking forward to spring? Will you be planting a brand new garden bed? Treat yourself this year to a beautiful, colorful delight for the eyes and soul. With annuals, you can create a new color combination every year. Growing a beautiful garden bed from seeds will significantly save you costs on plants. So even planting a larger bed will be negligible in your budget. Don't forget to fertilize perennial annuals at least once every three weeks with a fertilizer low in nitrogen. Water moderately, don't overwater.

Prepare your garden bed in autumn. Work mature compost into it. In spring, before planting, add bone meal fertilizer. Plan out how the color composition of plants will look.

The key is to plant several pieces of each color so that the colors blend harmoniously throughout the bed. Also maintain planting according to plant height, and plant those that belong at the edge at the edge, so they stand out. Don't forget to plant small lobelia flowers at the border of the bed. Lobelia is a plant available in many colors. It will serve its ornamental purpose well. In the front section of the bed, sow marigold seeds. On the bed, for example in a U or S shape, plant across Cineraria and Sage and intersperse them with Nasturtium and Cornflower. In the back section of the bed, sow Lavatera and Snapdragon.

For Window Boxes - Not Just Pelargoniums

How to plant a window box correctly so it adorns our windowsill in full glory from early spring? Every house owner or balcony owner surely asks themselves this question. You can bet on proven plants such as pelargoniums - known as geraniums. Choose from more exotic plants, or bet on conifers and large-leaved ornamental plants, or a tasteful combination of all.

The most well-known are of course Pelargoniums. They have adorned window boxes since time immemorial. Pelargoniums belong to the Geraniaceae family and we know approximately 200 species. They can be trailing, small-flowered, large-flowered, in various colors, or variegated in both flowers and leaves. Few people probably know that this plant originates from South Africa. It arrived in Europe apparently during its journey to an exhibition in Leiden in 1600. Pelargoniums are an important component of fragrances - perfumes. Some species smell like lemon, mint, fruit; the most important for commercial use are those that smell like roses. Geranium is a perennial plant, propagated by cuttings. Propagation by cuttings is done in August and the temperature should be around 18-23°C. Sowing from seeds takes place in December. Pelargoniums bloom from May to September. Some species bloom all year round. Pelargoniums are very ornamental. But not very resistant to drought and low temperatures. We provide Pelargoniums with nutrients using suitable fertilizer.

There are other beautiful and well-known plants typical for window boxes. If we're not conservative geranium growers, we can play with colors and various types of flowers suitable for growing in window boxes. Red looks great, of course, or a combination of red with white. It also depends on the color of your house facade, but these shades suit almost any. We can also play with leaves. Diverse shapes and colors of leaves will liven up the window box planting. We can plant a beautiful red Fuchsia and add Ivy, Lobelia, or Begonia to it. If you have a window box or flowerbed in shade - plants with silver leaves will brighten it up well - such as Dusty Miller.

Lobelia - is a small-flowered plant that cascades over the edge of the window box in rich waterfalls. Lobelia seeds are available in various colors. They always perfectly complement both window boxes and decorate the edge of a flowerbed or cascade in the garden. Lobelia is literally covered with ornamental small flowers. Therefore, it's always suitable for the edge of a flowerbed or window box, where it thrives best and allows taller plants in the middle of the flowerbed to stand out.

Forest combination - a "forest" combination of Cypress on the sides of the window box, Violets in the foreground, and Spurge with a silvery sheen also looks sophisticated. You can use this imaginative composition even at cottages and modern houses.

Candytuft - beautiful, small-flowered. For window boxes and flowerbed borders. We can use them in a foliar combination, where the small flowers stand out in a flood of greenery.

Choosing a suitable window box is also important. Choose self-watering ones. Window boxes need to be watered and fertilized regularly. Fertilizing and watering are a guarantee that plants will bloom for a long time. Add liquid fertilizer to the irrigation water and combine both together so you won't forget either.

If you have window boxes in shade, watch out for mildew, which can damage leaves. If such affected leaves appear, remove them and water plants only early in the morning so the foliage has time to dry during the day.

Author: Hana Michalíková