Back in my twenties, I rented a small quaint house in San Francisco, just a short distance to the beach. The house was plain and simple with a small front yard. There was only a beautiful rose colored daisy like perennial and a wealth of cineraria growing there. There was a porch, two windows facing [...]

Back in my twenties, I rented a small quaint house in San Francisco, just a short distance to the beach. The house was plain and simple with a small front yard. There was only a beautiful rose colored daisy like perennial and a wealth of cineraria growing there. There was a porch, two windows facing the street and two rundown windowbox planters. There was nothing inside them, not even some dirt, which surprised me. I found the house charismatic. Having never enjoyed the pleasure of a garden, as I had just moved for a third story Victorian apartment, I was very pleased with the possibilities of the diamond in the rough. All it really needed is time, effort and lots of love in order to come alive.

My first improvement was filling up those window box planters. Even though, my budget matched the appearance of the house, I did want the best results for my money. Naturally, I began with the window boxes, by adding some potting soil and a few flowers. Now I was in business.

Since it was winter when I relocated, I immediately thought of tulips and daffodils. These are easily planted and offer a generous color of spring within a few short months. Easily, I visualized this magnificent burst of color surrounding my front door. After setting my bulbs, I set my mind to planning out the summer flowers for my window box planters. Keep in mind that the San Francisco beach area has a microclimate and is somewhat restrictive. There is fog and then there is fog and then there is even more fog. This foggy climate was made even more dense by the gray of the wooden walls, the roof and even the dull gray of the window box planters. Can we say, no imagination at all?

Magenta paint was my choice, and I painted the front door and trim and your guessed it, even the window boxes. It did look much better, even if I say so myself. The cineraria stood out very stunningly, as the exterior of the house livened up drastically.

When the tulips and daffodils finally surfaced and bloomed, I was delighted. I’d decided by then what I’d be planting for summer and fall, which coincidentally, but happily, went well with my windowbox planter color. I carefully interplanted begonias, purple and magenta fuchsias between the bulbs and threw in some deep blue trailing lobelias for good measure. By the time the bulbs died down for the summer, these new residents were well entrenched, thriving in the moist and overcast environment. I discovered that variegated coleus inserted yet more color. Visitors commented positively on this delicious display.

As fall turned to winter, white, red and pink cyclamens replaced the summer residents. The begonias came inside to sit out the winter in pots. Meanwhile, spider plants and ferns started populating the underside of the porch’s roof, hanging from their hooks like so many ballroom belles. It’s absolutely amazing what a couple of four foot window box planters can do.