Autumn/Winter Window Box
The autumnal weather this week made me think about changing some of my pots a little early. Some violas caught my eye at the garden centre, and suddenly I was planning my Autumn/Winter pots.
This one is very simple, and cheap. Three Viola “Primrose Blotch” flank two Heuchera “Palace Purple”. It is underplanted with Tulipa “Calgary Flames”.
The Heuchera was bought as one plant which I instantly split in two, by pulling the root ball in half and teasing out a more-or-less even number of growth points at the top. The violas came from a discounted tray of pre-grown bedding.
I’ll be deadheading the violas regularly (by snipping the flower stems down at the base as soon as flowers start to wilt) and hoping they will carry on flowering through the winter. The Heucheras should bulk up over the next few weeks, giving a lovely bronzey-green-purple foliage effect. The tulips – which are short and have white cup-shaped flowers with a yellow flame shape on the outer tepals – will come through in March, giving me some final pleasure before I change the pot back to some vibrant summer planting.
Hi Kate , lovely blog. I’m new to horticulture and wanted to start a window box that is already outside my bedroom window. However it’s inbuilt within the architecture of my house, I was wondering if this was going to be a problem with eventual growth of the plant/vegetable, as I read elsewhere that it’s good for the soil to have drainage? Thank u and Keep blogging
Hi Khadija, thanks for getting in touch. Sorry for the slow reply, I was on my holidays (which I have just been blogging about). You are right to think about drainage. The best thing to do would be to fill the bottom couple of inches of the windowbox with grit or gravel, before you put any soil or compost in. This will make a bit of a reservoir in the bottom so any excess water has somewhere to go rather than the roots and soil sitting wet. Then be careful with watering the windowbox not to overwater it. Wait until you can see and feel the soil is drying out before watering again. Hope that helps! Good Luck with your window box, it sounds like a great idea to bring some plant life to your bedroom.
Kate