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The Window Box

I cannot remember what summer it was that I broke my leg, but I do remember being happy that it came after I planted the garden in front of the shop. In fact, I could have planted the window boxes dealing with a broken leg. Window boxes are at an easy height to plant, and of a scale to encourage and support any planting idea. The shop garden is not so complicated. A boxwood parterre, lots of gravel, and three big window boxes. The big window boxes are the star of the summer show. How I love planting those window boxes! I am a big fan of generously scaled window boxes. The planting is at counter height. Easy to plant. A window box is a cross between a container planting, and an in ground planting. There is more room and opportunity for a detailed expression in a window box than a container. A window box can be filled with the most compost rich and friable soil. I like planting with my fingers.

Planting annual beds in ground requires a lot of digging and turning with a shovel. The work of this is daunting. Real work. Sometimes annuals planted in ground at grade do poorly. Heavy clay soil, or sandy soil, can contribute to a poor show. I like bedding out for the summer with my choice of soil, great drainage, and a place to work that is elbow level. Planting in ground comes with a whole host of trouble. I like minimizing the trouble, and maximizing the opportunity. Big window boxes are my idea of a venue that affords lots of expression with not so much digging. I have seen plenty of window boxes that are 8″ wide, 4″ deep, and 18″ long. What does one plant in a box of that edited a dimension? Succulents are a good choice. But if succulents are not your style, make bigger boxes. I like window boxes that are wider than the window, deep enough to hold moisture for 2 days, and wide enough to plant plenty of plants.

Most commercially manufactured window boxes are made to sizes that fit UPS shipping requirements. What gardener wants to be limited by those dimensions? An investment in a custom sized window box will result in a lifetime of planting pleasure. The boxes at my shop are roomy. I would suggest that if you have a mind to invest in window boxes, go for roomy. Plants need a place to live. They do not so much mind being crowded by a neighbor. But they do need some space to put down their own roots.

You can see from this picture that my window boxes are wider than my windows. And wider than my shutters. In my opinion, whatever element is closest to the ground needs to be the widest and most visually sturdy element. A window box is a foundation which complements the window. Any planting box framing a window is an empire. Size those boxes accordingly.

The window boxes at the shop are of a size that enables me to explore an idea about color. A story about texture. These boxes, which have been my pleasure to plant for summer once a year, for 18 years, are little cities. The have a style. A language all their own. A particular set of rules. A commentary on design. A look. The day I plant them is a good day indeed.

The window boxes take on a life of their own, once I have planted them. They grow out, however they will. The best part of any planting is seeing how nature responds to my ideas. The big idea is to give every voice a chance. And chance what you will. A properly scaled window box means you have room to explore.

Shade window box

shop boxes

shop box

window boxes made to fit on a wall

window box planting

roof boxes

The roof boxes at the shop last year were as good as I could make them. All of my boxes provide me with a chance to grow a community of plants on to a greater visual good. Thinking about window boxes? Go long and deep. You won’t regret it.

Posted on: May 28, 2014 17 Comments

Filed Under: Detroit Garden Works, container planting, Summer Tagged With: window boxes

Roses On The Mend

Once the piles of snow melted this spring, the rose news was not so good. All of my roses were holding onto their dead leaves for dear life-as if our terrible winter caught them completely off guard. This scene just about broke my heart. A good part of the heartbreak was the uncertainty about the future. Were my roses dead? The early spring was cold and unfriendly. The garden was groggy, and slow to wake up. This story was a story about uncertainty that went on for weeks.

I did not touch them-that was pure instinct. It looked as though every cane was dead. The idea of giving up this old rose garden was very tough to take. The late spring meant we have had an incredibly busy spring at work. I quit looking at the roses, and hoped for a miracle. Hoping for a miracle-what else was there to be done?

More than a few readers of this blog have suggested that our foul winter meant the roses got a rejuvenation pruning. This is polite talk for dead back to the ground. Dead back to the ground, I have learned, does not mean dead. I am glad I have been to busy to fuss over them. It took well into May to see what was gone for good, and what would survive. I watered deeply when it was hot and dry-that’s all. Today’s story? Most of the climbers died back to the ground. The few canes of Jeannie Le Joie that survived are bravely blooming. All of the climbers, including Eden, are coming back strong, from the root. Only one shrub rose is dead. Two of them I suspected were dead send up new canes jut a week ago. I decided not to cut back the dead climbing canes. My idea is to attach the new canes coming on from the ground to the trellis made by the old canes. How do those surviving canes look today? Not gorgeous. Just brave.

My Carefree Beauty and Sally Holmes roses are coming back strong from below ground. The foliage is glossy green, and full sized. A scant month ago I was sure this garden would need to be replanted from start to finish. Not so. The will to live is a very strong will indeed. Any plant that is challenged by a brutal winter, or a lack of water, or a swarm of Japanese beetles-plants respond on their own schedule. The first and the last word belongs to nature. The Carefree Beauty roses I have blooming now are indeed a little miracle.

I am delighted about this turn of events. The two burned spots in the boxwood is the only winter damage I have to any of my boxwood. I was lucky in that regard. The roses are almost 5 feet tall. The Japanese anemone and boltonia are spreading their wings, with all the space and sun they have now.

I took the following pictures last June. This June is remarkably different, but I wonder if that winter rejuvenation pruning to prove to be all for the better. I have the feeling I will have beautiful roses again. It just may take a while.

Roses blooming

Roses

I am pleased the roses are on the mend.

Posted on: June 20, 2014 12 Comments

Filed Under: flowers, Color, Summer, Plants Tagged With: winter damage to roses, climbing roses, shrub roses, Roses

Off The Beaten Track

Every gardener is used to seeing containers placed on hard surfaces. On either side of a front porch. On a set of steps or walkway. On a terrace. But containers can fit right into a spot in the landscape. We have worked in several places this week where containers were placed in the midst of the ongoing landscape. I like what I am seeing. Placing pots in the garden is an unusual placement, but unusual can be a good. The first rule of good design is to not take any rule as set in stone. Some of the most beautiful landscape designs I have seen break every rule. By this I mean, they break every rule, but do it convincingly. A great heart, and sure hand always trumps following the rules. I worried myself for days, given the decision to place this pot in the middle of the lawn in the rose garden. Once the deed was done, I wondered why. The placement seemed right.

This container is set in a landscape bed. A clematis has climbed and wound itself around a tall steel container. A bed of pachysandra, angelina and hens and chicks has been inter planted with with Persian Queen geraniums, euphorbia, and trailing annual verbena. The look of this garden is better than good. I like how the introduction of annual plants into the landscape, and the perennial clematis climbing the side of a container have created a look in which the container has become an integral part of the landscape. The annuals planted in ground-so charming, and so successful. This planting is not mine-it is all Jane’s. Clients can be a great source of inspiration. They know their gardens backwards and forwards. Their decisions are based on a daily exposure. This corner is invariably burned by salt in the winter, so a summer/seasonal planting helps keep this spot luxuriant.A container set in a landscape bed is one way to create a focal point. This tall concrete pot planted with a lemon cypress, euphorbia, and petunias gives meaning to a landscape comprised of arborvitae and pachysandra. I like the ground cover growing up over the base of this planter. It looks as though the container has been there a while, and belongs there. A pot gracefully placed in a landscape can add another dimension to an outdoor space. Landscapes which offer many dimensions continue to interest the viewer. A pot placed in the landscape is a mark made by a designer. That said, I treasure the individual statement of a landscape above all. Some landscapes I see are all about a gardener in charge with a strong point of view.

We usually remove the grass underneath a container, excavate the soil, and replace that soil with gravel. The insures that the container drains unimpeded. Trimming the grass around the container is an extra step, maybe even a nuisance. But for the gardener that appreciates the small details, a placement like this is a pleasure. A pot placement in the landscape can be a temporary solution to a bigger problem. In this case, a tree directly behind this group of containers died this past winter. The tree, and its stump was of a size that replacement will not be easy. The pots draw one’s eye away from the empty space. Given this placement of pots, a much smaller tree could be planted which would eventually fill that void.

A container in the landscape takes on the same sculptural quality as a birdbath, armillary, or sundial. The small footprint of any of these ornaments makes them easy to tuck into a small space that needs some visual interest. This client has a particular fondness for pots in her borders. This pot is set on a short concrete plinth. That small amount of additional height keeps the bottom of the pot in view, despite the ground covering geraniums.

This French glazed pot is of considerable size and stature. It has been placed in a bed of myrtle facing down a stand of mature trees. Pink and red mandevilleas growing on a simple trellis made of bamboo stakes makes a considerable statement by late summer. This spot, minus the pot, would be too sleepy looking for this client. Every gardener wants something different from their garden.

The landscape in the front of my house features two fairly large patches of herniaria. This spot asked for something short that would require little maintenance-it has done very well there. Years ago I set a pair of French glazed pots at opposite ends. A garden ornament which represents the end, or boundary of a garden is called a Herm, 0r a term-as in terminus. Though I have since moved the Russian sage in favor of a simpler arrangement, and switched out the French pot for a concrete pot with a yew topiary that can sit in this spot all year round, the idea is the same. The placement of containers can be anywhere there is a need.

Posted on: August 10, 2014 12 Comments

Filed Under: container planting, Garden Design, Landscape Design Tagged With: container placement, container plantings

Recent Work

Fall is an incredibly beautiful season in Michigan. The sun low in the sky, and the morning fog makes every color intensely saturated. The leaves changing electrifies a fall palette of color in the landscape in a way that no flower could hope to achieve. The sugar maples are brilliantly fiery; the hydrangeas are a muted shade of brown and pink. No season celebrates color like the fall. We are in the early stages of that transition from summer to fall. This is a season that I follow closely, as I do not wish to miss one moment of it. The materials available for fall are spectacular in color. The ornamental cabbages and kales intensify in color as the temperature drops. The pumpkins and gourds are impossible to resist. Everything about them speaks to the harvest, and to fall color.

These pots are planted all around at the bottom with heuchera. I am not so much a fan of dark leaved coral bells in the summer garden. They are shockingly gloomy to me in the heat of August. In the fall, they shine in containers. These dark colors are so beautiful on a rainy fall day. I see many more growers offering large heuchera plants for sale in the fall. There are so many foliage plants with great color available. No doubt I associate and welcome certain colors with certain seasons. This is a luxury enjoyed by a gardener in a four season zone.

The window boxes in the front of the shop are showing signs of fall color. I so appreciate those years when the fall comes slowly, and the killing frost is late. The brown potato vine and the coleus are singed with cold. The color in these boxes is changing with the season. It is easy to replace certain very cold susceptible elements in a summer container with more cold tolerant plants. But letting the fall season work its magic on a a summer planting can be quite beautiful.

These urns sitting at the front door empty would be just lovely. But planted for fall, they have a warm and welcoming appeal . Red Bor kale is one of the most versatile of all fall container plants. They are tall enough to make a vertical statement. The crinkled dark purple leaves darken more as the temperatures get cooler. They are less rigid in shape than the other cabbages and kales, making it easy to fill in the gaps between the other plants.

Not every fall arrangement needs to be standard issue orange and yellow. There is an astonishing number of white and green pumpkins and gourds to be had. Every grower has something a little different. Every fall I see gourd shapes and color combinations I have not seen before. An arrangement of pumpkins and gourds in a window box is as lovely a celebration of the fall as a boxful of foliage and flowers.