Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Winter Window Boxes and Planters

This fall when the shade loving plants begin to fade I like to do something different with the window box. When we look out the kitchen window I like to look through plants. It makes me feel like I am sitting in a meadow. So this fall I cut some Hawthorn limbs that had berries on it. On the right hand side if you look closely you can see the remmanents of a Cardinal nest on one of the limbs.

I think someone mentioned concern about how big the Purple Fountain Grass would grow when I planted it in this window box in spring. It didn't get too big luckily. It didn't have great growing conditions here but it did fill a space and the blooms lasted until I cut it down. Hawthorn limbs don't last very long. They dry up and lose their leaves, the berries dry up and look ugly after awhile. So when it gets cold I like to do a little something different with my window box. It looks so boring sitting there empty. Now when we look out the window we can feel like we are in a forest.

I hate that I don't have pine boughs to cut for the window box during winter since our pine trees came down during storms last winter. There are lots of cedars around. This year I cut some limbs of cedar, a few berries of the deciduous holly and some grass plumes. The wren box is one of several that I had in the garden. I thought this looked like a cozy place for a wren to roost and keep warm during winter. Once I got going with the trimmings I decided to fill a pot to set on the front porch. The front porch looked a little naked without a pot of something to greet friends coming to visit.
Do you do seasonal decorating with your window boxes and empty planters? I would love to see/hear about what you do to your empty window boxes and planters.

36 comments:

  1. Hi Lisa, your containers with winter beauties are such inspiration, thanks for showing them. I love the grass flower heads mixed in too! I really love your colored glass bottles in the window though, like a movable stained glass window. All the things you have shown are easily doable for most of us. I will add some cuttings from the garden to mine, as soon as it stops raining. :-)
    Frances

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  2. Thanks Lisa for reminding me I wanted to buy plants for containers outside. I nearly forgot...
    Your containers look great. Not sure mine will be as gorgeous.

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  3. Your window box & container look great - you are WAY too on top of things. I have yet to pull the dead stuff out of the frozen window box outside my office. I think it'll be easier in the spring...

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  4. Lisa .. did I ever mention how much I love your gargoyle to the right of the bar ? .. Perfect !!
    Your window boxes and front door decorations are wonderful .. I haven't gotten my tree up outside yet .. I have a naked step and that ain't good for this time of year !
    Great job girl !

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  5. Beautiful and inspiring Lisa! I always mean to decorate some winter containers, but just never seem to get to it. Maybe next year!

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  6. Lisa,

    Colorful, creative and inspiring...You've added just the right winter touch to your garden...now I want a few window boxes! Don't you love the color that a few glass bottles add to the mix! Thanks, for the ideas! gail

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  7. Those look great, Lisa. The little wren house adds a perfect touch!

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  8. No pine foliage to cut here, either, Lisa, since my pine tree is about 20 inches tall - guess I'll have to buy some greenery to copy your ideas. Your combinations look great!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  9. Your window boxes look lovely....and I also like the colored glass bottles in your window. Cute!

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  10. Lisa, the creativity of gardeners never ceases to amaze me. Beautiful displays! It takes all I have just to stay motivate this time of year.-Randy

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  11. I love this. I need to clean out all my containers. Thanks for the motivation.

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  12. Each window is a beauty and it should take you through the winter just wonderfully.

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  13. Lisa, you are so artistic! The cedar does just as well as the pine. And I love the berries and the grass plumes. The container on the front porch just pulls it all together. Great job.

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  14. No I don't Lisa.....to be honest I have never thought about it...I love yours though.....very seasonal....very artistic......

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  15. Please come to my house & do up my front porch container. It looks absolutely pathetic. I should have saved some of the branches from the Yews we dug out to use in the container, but I forgot about it until it was too late.
    Your containers have inspired me to gather some greens & maybe a couple of reds (Dogwood twigs) to dress up that sad container of mine.

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  16. They look great. We normally do outdoor arrangements to compliment the Christmas decorations but we are taking a break from decorating this year, so the containers are still empty.

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  17. Lisa, I love your new plantings in your windowbox and planter! It's probably not difficult to do, but you definitely have an eye for design. I don't have any windowboxes, but your planter looks so much more festive than the artificial poinsettias I stick in one of mine:)

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  18. Your containers and boxed are gorgeous!!!
    I decorated my topiary pots with balls and bows... also stuck my twig balls on top of some empty urns....that seems to work for me. I'll post photos soon!!

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  19. Dear Lisa,
    Your window box looks great!
    I do mine up every year with pine boughs and suet. I love seeing the wrens and the woodpeckers up close at the windows. Darling Wren house you put in your window box.
    Sherry

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  20. Lisa you did a wonderful job of a winter arrangements in your planters! I don't, other than the urns out front
    because we spend our winters now in Arizona so no one here to admire them.
    I love all the colored bottles on your window ledge!!

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  21. How beautiful Lisa. You are so very creative! :c)

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  22. I like your window boxes! You did a really good job dressing them up. Love the wren house tucked in there.

    Your colored glass looks great in the window. The other day I drove past a house with blue bottles in the window. It was so pretty I turned around a drove past again. Light shining thru colored glass is magical. Housewives have been doing it since the invention of glass, I guess.
    Marnie

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  23. Lisa, your containers look so nice! I wish mine did too, but I haven't done anything to them...yet. I think now that i should.
    Katarina

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  24. Hey Lisa,
    Awesome work on your window box and pot - I like the Window Box especially. I wouldn't have a need to do seasonal plantings as most of the plants are perennial here.

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  25. Wonderful Lisa, I never have winter window boxes...I don't know why (big mistake) Your looks great! Thank you for a most inspirering post.
    I wish you a nice weekend / Tyra

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  26. Oh, Lisa, you put me to shame. The hangers and pots get stored away. Now, looking at what you've done I realize what I'm missing. I had to look at your forest view from inside the house several times. You're so creative! Thanks for the ideas. I hope a little wren finds a home right under your window :o)

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  27. Great looking window box and containers. Such lovely decorations are a good remedie against the winter blues.

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  28. I love your window boxes and pot, and the lovely bright bottles on the window sill. Very festive and inspiring.
    ~Monica

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  29. Your window boxes are very nice. We occasionaly decorate them too. Actually I have branches of pine trees and ivy together with red and golden Christmas "balls" and candles.

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  30. I wanted to tell you all thank you for the comments. Also those little bottles in the window are vases. I actually use them during summer for small buds and flowers. In the picture you can't see them well but they have small glass ornaments sitting on top of them.
    Cheers...

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  31. Dear Lisa,
    This containers, after you composed it for winter look very nice!
    I realise this autumn, that I miss plants with red berries in my autumn garden, so I will make a selection for planting in spring.
    Greetings,
    Ewa

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  32. Hi Frances, you did a couple of very nice creations to fill in your spent summer containers. I especially like the view from your kitchen window and then the red berries to greet guests at the front door.

    As you know, I'm a "nut" about having way too many containers all year long. This year I scaled back and didn't add poinsettias to a dozen of them like I usually do for Winter. But I did create some new ones for Christmas decs on my dining table from branches and live tree limbs. I will probably do a post next week with some photos if I can get around to it. :-)
    Happy Sunday, Lisa!
    Meems

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  33. Lisa, I just called you frances after reading her comment... can you tell I'm a little scattered? Or is it just ditzy today? I am SO sorry and should stick to doing one thing at a time. :-)
    Meems

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  34. Those containers are beautiful. I love seeing the cardinal nest in the arrangement!

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  35. I'd love to send you some pine boughs as they are everywhere here. Your containers are inspiring....must get to that task! I don't even have a wreath on the door yet.

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