Planting Guide- Flowering window box 001

Can we ever have enough flowers around? What are the benefits?

The effects of having potted flowers and plants around you fall into a few clear, scientifically backed categories:

1. Mental and Emotional Health

• Reduced Anxiety & Stress: Interacting with and viewing indoor flowers actively suppresses sympathetic nervous system activity, which lowers stress markers like diastolic blood pressure and cortisol levels.

• Mood Elevation: Research conducted by institutions like Harvard Medical School notes that having flowers at home lessens feelings of depression and anxiety. The bright, cheerful colors of blooming flowers (especially yellow and red) induce comfort, cheer, and calm.

• Increased Compassion: Looking at or being surrounded by flowers has been shown to make people feel more compassionate, kind, and trusting toward others.

I absolutely love having potted flowers in my garden, and I tend to believe that a house can only become a home when there are substantial flowers both inside and out.

I had someone say to me the other day, "I'm just not good at picking flowers to pot. I don't know what works together." When this was said, I happened to be standing in the middle of a bounty of beautiful blooms at one of my favorite garden centers. I gave this person a few pointers, helped her pick out some plants, and wished her well as she left to fill a planter she had inherited from her great aunt.

When I first met her in the garden center, she seemed genuinely stressed about the whole process, seemingly unable to feel confident in picking anything out. I'm no expert, but I enjoyed helping her select plants that I felt worked really well together. After offering her a little guidance, I could almost feel her stress fade away right there on the spot. She said she felt excited to go home and plant, and that she may want to do a few more pots as well. Michelle, this post is for you. You're one of my favorite people I've ever met in a garden center, and the window box below is my favorite planter I've created so far this season.

I was on Utube watching Tyler & Brian from the channel "Gardener In Love" as they showed the development of their parterre garden. In one of the episodes they installed self watering Nantucket window boxes from Mayne. Once I saw the window box, I knew I needed one, and I knew right where I was going to put it.

The window box was so easy to install. I simply attached the mounting brackets right to the wall below a set of windows. I'm familiar with the structure of Mrs. Colonial's wall in this area after going through the remodel, so I knew I didn't need to add any additional structure to securely attach the box to the wall.

Next, it was just a matter of slipping the box into the brackets and voila! I had a window box ready to be planted.

The plant material I selected is as follows:

1. Diamond Frost, Euphorbia hybrid (Proven Winners)

2. Summer Wave Trailing, Large Violet, Torenia Hybrid (Proven Winners)

3. Lysimachia, Creeping Jenny

4. Bidens Pretty In Pink (Blooms Nursery)

5. Violet Knight, Labularia Maritima

6. Ipomoea Spotlight, Red Heart, Ipomoea Batates (Gourmet Grown)

7. Cuphea Sugarbells (Sweetwater Nursery)

8. Craspedia Golf, Craspedia Globosa (Gourmet Grown)

I love the combination of the leaf colors and shapes, and the mix of pink and purple blooms next to yellow with a touch of white.

I packed the plants in pretty tight to fit the biggest amount of plants I could. I can't wait to see this combination grow and mature into an overflowing cascade of color.

Additional effects:

2. Cognitive and Work Benefits

• Enhanced Creativity and Productivity: Placing plants and flowers in dull or windowless work spaces helps free the mind. This leads to improved problem-solving abilities, higher attention levels, and better creative thinking.

• Cognitive Restoration: The simple act of nurturing botanical babies requires you to focus your attention, which helps you unplug from daily stressors like technology. 

Happy planting everyone. Let me know if this Planting Guide- Flowering window box 001 post was helpful and if you'd like to see more planting guides.

With love from,

Sandy and her magical house lady, Mrs. Colonial