9&11: Buy flowers for gardening, and plant window boxes

At the beginning of summer, I made a list of things to reveal beauty.  Here it is, for your reference: http://revealthebeauty.blogspot.com/2011/06/bound-for-beauty-summer-list.html. 

Last week, we bought the plants we would use, and then last Monday we planted the window boxes!  The plants we chose for our five window boxes were impatiens, coleus, geraniums, potato vine, spikes, and asparagus fern.  Here is our front stoop, with the flowers waiting for their new homes:

Because our house is a classic salt box colonial with white siding and black and gray accents, we decided to go with the classic green/red/white color scheme.  It was an interesting process, since the upstairs windows are too high to plant from a ladder.  We had to create a working spot with a huge tarp inside the house for the upstairs windows.  It was a boots on/boots off situation:

One great tip we heard, and implemented, was using a "filler" before adding potting soil.  We chose an option we are really happy with!  We went to a Mailboxes Etc. and bought three large bags of biodegradable mailing filler (often called "peanuts").  We filled 1/3 of the boxes with this material before adding potting soil.  Another note: important to always use potting soil when filling containers.  It has a lighter more fertilized make-up that helps your plants.  We also chose a "moisture control" version, which is supposed to hold the water in the containers.

I layered potting soil in, added plants one by one, following the same pattern for each box.  Remember to push the plants out of their containers by squeezing the plastic on the bottom.  And, before placing the plants, tear and loosen the roots so they will have an easier time expanding and growing into their new container!  I filled in holes with more soil using a small shovel tool, and waited until sunset to water.  Tah-dah!

I've always wanted window boxes!  Dream realized.  Next step: having someone remove the roots of the bushes we cut down, adding soil, moving the hostas from the side of the house to the front, planting grasses and a hydrangea bush... and adding mulch.  Oh boy.  Better take another moment to celebrate what we've done so far, before feeling overwhelmed:

I wish you eyes to see beauty in your world! --Meg Tess