Window Boxes 101

Window boxes need no introduction. Picture the classic eye-catcher: a narrow box painted perfectly to match the house trim, abundantly spilling forth ivy geraniums, pansies, and petunias. You can come across plenty of these old-fashioned favorites embellishing gingerbread houses or jazzing up everything from a ranch-style home to a city flat.

Window boxes, of course, are just containers attached to the house. They're easy to plant. Here are some key points to keep in mind to help you choose, plant, and care for a window box:

• Select a style that matches your house. Treated softwood or hardwood boxes are easy to paint or stain to blend in beautifully with their surroundings. Plastic, metal, terra-cotta, or concrete boxes can work too, but are harder work with.

• Pay attention to size. A window box looks best if its length is within a couple of inches of the size of the window, although slight differences — long or short — won't hurt. Plants need room to grow and soil that doesn't dry out too fast — boxes should be at least 8 inches wide to provide room for top growth and 8 inches deep for the roots.

• Make your own box if your window is oddly sized. Use 1-inch boards and simple joinery with waterproof glue and galvanized or brass screws to secure the pieces. Drill several drain holes along the bottom.

• Go for a sunny exposure to please the most plants. This, though, increases your watering chores. Remember that some window boxes are protected from rains, so you need to check regularly for dryness. Don't worry if there's shade. Many excellent shade plants thrive in partial or full shade.

Position the box below the window by a few inches. If you happen to have a window that opens outward, you have to lower the box. Use steel brackets every 18 inches or so and fasten them into the siding or masonry with the proper screws. Rest the box on the supports and screw the bottom to the brackets. Always mount the box before you plant.

Planting and caring for your window box

You have three options for planting your window box:

• Plant directly in the container.

• Drop in potted plants and fill around them with moss, bark, or another lightweight material.

• Put plants in a plastic or metal liner that fits inside the box. With this method, you can rotate liners and add fresh plants when current plantings pass their prime.

Basically, you plant the same way you do in any container. Cover the drain holes, fill with soil mixture, and firm soil around plants, leaving at least 1 inch at the top for watering. Use routine good care on the window box, starting with regular watering, feeding with a liquid fertilizer, and grooming to remove faded flowers and leaves.

Picking the (plant) winners

Choosing a container and a location is a fine start for window box gardening, but picking the right plants really makes the difference in your growing success. Generally, select a mixture of trailers, compactupright plants that grow tall enough to be seen without blocking the window, filler plants, and bulbs.

For a dramatic display, choose plants that contrast with the background — bright plants against light siding or wood, pale flowers against dark brick walls. Here's a brief rundown of the top 12 plants — both annuals and permanent ones — for window box culture. But remember that this list is intended only to get you started; your plant choices are many and varied for dynamic window boxes.

Annuals

• Sweet alyssum: Stalwart, reliable, fragrant trailer in white, cream, pink, and purple. Alyssum is exceptionally easy to grow and fills in beautifully, often reseeding itself.

• Lobelia: Sound familiar? Yes, we often call on this little annual with clouds of cascading color in white, sky blue, dark blue, rose, lavender, and cobalt. Simply great in window boxes.

• Pansies: Perfect in any box, pansies offer prolific color in many hues and quickly fill gaps between permanent plants or other annuals, offering long-lasting color.

• Petunias: Choose these when you want a stunning summer box that shines in the sun. Try cascading varieties, as well as multifloras, for an abundance of blooms in a wide range of colors.

• Impatiens: The plant for shade, and awesome in window boxes — especially valuable for continuous color in a range of hues. Use low-growing, dwarf varieties. New Guinea hybrids also offer excellent foliage.

• Dianthus: You get the bonus of fragrance with the gift of color. Plants are well behaved. If all goes well, a breeze blows, sending sweet scents through your open windows.

Permanent plants

• Ivy geranium: Yep. The selfsame winner in hanging baskets, this one also works really well in window boxes, gracing us with wonderful trailing stems covered with bright flowers. In cold climates, grow it as an annual.

• Geraniums: Bedding geraniums are the classic window box plant — grown for clusters of brilliant flowers in colors ranging from white to crimson to apple blossom pink. Plants are easy to grow. Consider geraniums an annual in cold climates.

• Dwarf bulbs: Forgive us for lumping so many bulbs together, but the miniature nature of many flowering bulbs — daffodils, crocus, grape hyacinth, cyclamen — makes them ideal players in the window box.

• Ground ivy: Impressive long stems spill from your window box in shimmering green or variegated tones. Ground ivy can survive through winter in milder climates.

• English ivy: Hardy, versatile, attractive, and useful for any box where you want trailing plants, ivy handles in sun or shade. For extra color, choose varieties with cream or yellow accents on the leaves.

• Miniature roses: You have dozens to choose from, and each one can be trusted to perform elegantly and effectively in combinations with annuals or other permanent plants. Some varieties also offer fragrance.

The meaning of Mothers Day around the globe

Did you know that Mother’s Day is now celebrated worldwide? Here are some interesting facts on how other countries celebrate it:

Argentina. It is customary to honor mothers with dinners, poems and special gestures of attention. Children write letters in school or make cards and crafts to take home. Husbands cook and clean and look after the family, allowing the mother to relax and enjoy the day. Moms are almost certain to receive flowers, cards, candy, jewelry or an unexpected surprise.

France. Inspired by American soldiers in World War I, France celebrated Mother’s Day first in 1918. The Minister of the Interior created the official day in 1920, declaring December 19 La Fete de Meres, Mothers’ Day. The focus then was on the re-population of France following the high rate of attrition from WWI (known in France as the Great War). Mothers with four or five children were awarded a bronze medal; those with six or seven children would receive a silver medal, and eight or more offspring garnered the gold. This tradition was abandoned when a more modern version of Mother’s Day came from the Vichy government, which on May 25, 1945, instituted the National Day of Mothers. Today, a common gift is a cake shaped to resemble a bouquet of flowers, along with candies, flowers, cards and perfumes.

India. A westernized version of Mother’s Day is officially observed on May 10, though cities and cultural centers tend to celebrate it more than the smaller settlements. On this day, mothers receive flowers, a prepared meal, cards or a phone call.

Apart from the modern version of Mother’s Day, Hindus have long celebrated a multi-day festival in October called Durga Puja. As the ancient Greeks honored their earth goddess, the Hindu holiday praises their divine mother, Durga. This ancient festival has evolved into one of the biggest events in India. Families spend weeks preparing food and gifts for friends, and cleaning and decorating their houses for parties.

Mexico. In 1922, a journalist Rafael Alducín wrote an article advocating the celebration of Mother’s Day in Mexico. Though the practice had already spread to parts of Mexico, Alducín’s article led to widespread observance of the holiday, and May 10 is now the universal day of celebration of “Dia de las Madres.” Celebrations include starting the morning with a song sung to the mother in the morning, followed by a family breakfast or brunch. Typically, mothers will receive flowers, chocolates, or sentimental cards (May 10 is the largest day for sending cards in Mexico).

United Kingdom. Like the rest of Europe, England and Ireland observed the mid-Lent holiday and honored and decorated their “Mother Church,” the church where they were baptized. The church eventually extended the observation to honor all mothers. The English called this Mothering Sunday and, in the 1700s they observed it by taking a break from the fasting and penitence of Lent and having a family feast. Mothering Sunday fell out of practice in the early 1900s, but the tradition was reinstated after the end of WWII, inspired largely by the United States. Today the UK’s Mother’s Day continues in much the same way as the old tradition, with cards and dinners in honor of Mom.

Canada. Canada was one of the first nations to pick up the U.S. version of Mother’s Day, making it a national holiday in 1909. The customs largely reflect those of its southern neighbor, although in Canada there seems to be an added emphasis on doing chores for the mother and cooking her supper.

China. While China’s Mother’s Day is based primarily on the practices of the United States, it is interesting to note that most Chinese names begin with a character signifying mother in honor of one’s maternal heritage.

Denmark. In Denmark, dining out to lunch is a popular Mother’s Day pastime. The day is called Mors Dag.

Ethiopia. Mother’s Day in Ethiopia occurs in mid-fall when the rainy season ends. Called “Antrosht,” Ethiopians celebrate by making their way home when the weather clears for a large celebration. For the feast, the children bring ingredients for a traditional hash recipe, which the mother prepares. After the meal, the mothers and daughters ritually anoint themselves with butter and dance, while the men sing songs in honor of family and heroes. This cycle of feasting and celebration lasts two or three days.

Italy. The Italians celebrate La Festa della Mamma with a big feast and a cake made in the shape of a heart. Typically, Italian schoolchildren will make something to bring home to their mothers, and the family will take care of the chores for the day.

Singapore. Singapore’s Mother’s Day places a heavy emphasis giving gifts, including spa packages, vacuums, hampers, jewelry and flowers.

Sweden. Sweden’s Mother’s Day, which takes place on the last Sunday in May, has a strong charitable focus: the Swedish Red Cross sells small plastic flowers leading up to the holiday, and the proceeds raised are given to poor mothers and their children.

Maybe some of these other traditions will inspire you. I for one know that my mom loves hydrangeas, and I won’t stray from our tradition of a huge vase of hydrangeas anytime soon. She deserves it.

Chosen top 3 local florists in Boston

We were recently hand picked for the top three local florists in the city of Boston! We would like to thank our amazing staff and great clients who have supported us throughout the years.

 https://threebestrated.com/local-florists-in-boston-ma

The color for Spring 2015 is...

I hope everyone is as big a fan of blue as we are! Because according to the color masterminds at Pantone... who each season hunt down what colors are being used in the design world—have declared that Aquamarine, Scuba and Classic Blue will all be THE hot colors for Spring 2015. Additional complimentary shades to note are; Custard, Lucite Green and Marsala. Overall, it’s interesting that the palette’s are not partial to the typical spring pastels; there are a handful of deeper, richer and bolder colors in the mix. I suppose after the past fall and especially this past winter with the pastel pallet domination, we  have been itching for richer and stronger color tones for this spring. We always take into consideration color trends when compiling floral and arranging our seasonal collections. As you can see we have designed numerous arrangements with hues of blues in our collection, check them out!

Floral Arrangement Care Tips

Educating our customers on proper care of fresh cut flowers is very important to us. Whether bring home loose fresh flowers to be arranged or receiving a flower arrangement from us, it all comes down to proper care. Our fresh cut arrangements leave the store with a floral care card to go over the basics of floral care. We also offer these care cards for our orchids, succulents and various other plants.

Step 1: Flowers drink a lot of water!  We recommend refilling the water every two days, its not uncommon to even need water everyday, so be sure and check the water level every evening.  Just like food, flowers are highly susceptible to bacteria that builds up in the water and flower stems. Changing the water completely every couple of days will prevent bacteria build up, reduce any odor omitting from the arrangement, and help with the longevity of the flowers.

Step 2: When changing the water, cutting the flowers stems should go hand in hand.  We recommend a new cut just above the original cut with a serrated knife (please use caution!); make a long cut and work your way down to the top of the original cut. Avoid using scissors to cut your the flowers; as scissors crush the stem, thus smashing and damaging the tissue cells at the end of the stem. Damaged cells cannot absorb water as effectively as healthy cells. A knife ensures a clean cut that doesn't damage the cells. 

Step 3:  Keep the flowers away from heaters, air conditioners and direct sunlight. People equate plants and flowers in the same category and insist on giving the flowers light, most plants need sun to survive however this is not the case for fresh cut flowers. Sun and heat will encourage them to mature and thus quicken their demise. Instead, keep your cut flowers in a cool area of your home to enjoy them as long as possible!