Cool Weather Window Box
1 Sasanqua Camellia" Chansonette" placed in center back middle. Bright pink, lightly scented with perfectly shaped petals. Foliage is glossy green. Tolerates more sun and stays smaller than most camellia species.
2 Flowering Kale (ornamental cabbage) planted on either side of Sasanqua Camellia, add a bold accent with their textured foliage and centers of pink and violet. Kale is a fast growing evergreen, rounded biennial, grown as an annual. Has heads of large often crinkled leaves in combinations of red/green, white/pink, and pink/green. DO NOT allow to flower. Has a height and spread of 12 to 18 inches ( 30-45cm) Fully hardy. Likes sun and fertile, well drained soil. Lime rich soil is recommended, but not essential.
Propagate by seed.
Susceptible to club root.
2 Variegated Spurges, planted as 3rd plant from each corner in front of box. This easy to grow trailing plant with light green leaves is also known as milkweed and is a genus of shrubs, succulents and perennials. Some of which are annuals, evergreen or semi-evergreen. Flowers are cup shaped bracts containing several flowers lacking sepals and petals and come in a variety of colors. Fully hardy to frost tender, like full sun to partial shade and moist, but well drained soil.Propagate by division or seed in early autumn or spring. Basal cuttings in spring or summer. Milk sap may irritate skin.
2 Florist Cyclamens, to be planted 1 at each end of box. Come in a variety of colors. Tuberous perennials, some of which are evergreen. Grown for their pendent flower, each with 5 refluxed petals and a mouth often stained with a darker color. Fully hardy to frost tender. Needs humus rich, well drained soil and full sun to partial shade. For potted plants, dry off tubers in summer and repot in autumn and winter to restart growth.
3 Pacific Giants Primroses, plant as 2nd plant in front from both ends of the box and in the front middle. These neat compact plants come in a variety of colors and bloom during the cool months. These plants come as annuals, bi-annuals and perennials. They have rosettes of basal leaves and tubular bell or primrose-shaped flat flowers. Flower stems, leaves, sepals and occasionally sections of the petals are in some species and hybrids, covered with farina - a waxy powder.
Re-pot flower pot grown plants annually. Tidy up fading foliage and deadhead as flowering ceases. Propagate by seed when fresh in spring; increase selected forms during dormancy either by division or root cuttings.