Ladew Gardens, Monkton, MD

Since it's summertime, I will posting a lot about plants and flowers. I love container gardening! I always look forward to planting the urns and pots at home.  While we don't have any, I think flower boxes beautify almost any home.  For rural or suburban homes, they can help continue flower beds and draw your eye up the face of your home.  For urban homes, they are one of the ways to add some greenery to a sea of brick, stone, or siding.  I think plants in general help to soften hard lines and surfaces and add a welcoming touch to your home.

(www.ladewgardens.com

On a day trip to Ladew Gardens, I saw these beautiful flower boxes filled with all types of succulents.  This a great example of texture and color.  These are two of the factors to think about when selecting plants for containers.  The shades of greens, yellows, purple, and blue-silver give this box excitement and the textures and various sizes of similarly shaped leaves add a great complexity to otherwise simple plants. I could see this box on the first floor of a city brownstone, so every passerby can get a great look.  I don't think it would work quite as well on a second story window since many of these plants do not grow too high or dangle over the edge.

There are plenty of premade boxes to choose from at home and garden centers. Or you can create and build your own.  Make sure they can easily drain and be removed if needed.  Happy gardening.