Embrace Summertime With the 24 Best Flowers for Window Boxes

While hanging plants and container gardens get their fair share of plant hype, it’s also worth considering the always lovely window box. Though it’s tempting to run to the nearest nursery and grab anything that catches your eye, there are a few things to consider when it comes to choosing your window-box contents that’ll make them more likely to thrive.

First, the hardiness zone you live in helps determine what plants will thrive in your environment, so check to see where your area falls. And think about the amount of sun your boxes will get: If your window boxes are covered by trees or roofing, shade-friendly plants are ideal, but if direct light is hitting your planters, flowers that love brightness are a good bet.

Petunias, geraniums, and begonias are classic window box flowers, but you may be surprised to find options like roses, tulips, and hydrangeas being used in these set-ups now too. Maintenance, soil, and watering certainly depend on the plants you choose, but there are a few good general rules of thumb. Soil should offer good drainage, and be careful about exposing too much water to the walls your window boxes are attached to. When it comes to watering, setting up self-watering planters or writing down a schedule is smart, as hoses and sprinklers don’t always reach these types of planters.

So below, all the window box inspiration you need.

This beautiful Charleston, South Carolina home has equally stunning window boxes filled with cyclamens, sweet alyssum, boxwoods, and licorice fern.

This north-facing window of a Charleston home gets hardly any direct sunlight, but luckily hydrangeas still thrive. 

“A common method to follow is to incorporate a thriller, filler, and spiller into your window boxes,” homeowner Nicole tells Apartment Therapy. “So the hydrangeas are my thriller. I have two fillers…asparagus ferns and dusty Miller, and for my spiller I chose lamium and creeping Jenny.”

You don’t have to fill your window box with flowers. Greenery can look just as great. This Charleston window box has lemon cypress, a tractor seat plant, and dusty Miller. Have you noticed yet that Charleston is known for its window boxes?

This window box is so cheerful with daffodils, pansies, tulips, primrose and alyssum. Don’t be afraid to embrace color.

A mixture of tulips, pansies, and small daffodils make the window box photographed by Jen Masucci for Philly Doorways‘ Instagram extra colorful and eye-catching. The different levels of flowers and bold mix of shades create a quintessential springtime look.

Choosing a single color and building a window box from there can make a dramatic impression, like seen in this picture from Laura Harley. Different textures of flowers between the hydrangeas and spiller flowers prevent anything from feeling too dull.

These gorgeous window boxes from Sally Evans of the Little Paddock Cottage, feature a mix of larger-sized geraniums. Because the blooms are bigger, not as many flowers are needed to create a statement, and these ones in particular add a bit of fairytale whimsy to this cozy home.

The colors of the pink geraniums and and trailing white petunias and their sizes in this image from Camilla give a nice layered effect. Switching up the heights and widths of your selected flowers is a surefire way to spice up a window box.

A mix of different textures, colors, and shapes make this box from Rouvalis Flowers a feast for the senses. Pink azaleas, pink heather, pansies, blue hydrangea, and pussy willows are just a few of the flowers that make up this fantastic arrangement. Trying mixing a random variety—they might blend together better than you think.

The petunias mix beautifully with the sharper foliage that’s layered behind them in this picture from Laura Harley. Playing with different shapes makes for a window box that’ll always be fun to look at.

Emma of White Orchard Interiors curated this delicately chic window box. For fans of neutrals and minimalist design styles, sticking with a natural box and sprinkling in a few simple plants like ivy is a great way to continue your style outdoors.

This gem found in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn by Annie Diamond proves that flowers aren’t the only showstoppers in the window box world. Variegated ivy, variegated grass, and cedar are a few of the green fronds that make this arrangement so stunning.

Cole Williams’ pretty planter contains orange and white petunias, marigolds, and summer snapdragons among some pretty dark green trailing vines. The colors featured make this a perfect assortment of blooms for spring and summer. When fall rolls around, you can replace flowers with foliage and even gourds and pumpkins.

Tiny to mid-sized blooms in all different colors make up this pretty box captured by The Charleston Lens. A wide selection of hues will easily add a punch of color to your home’s exterior.

Alex Thornton shot these gorgeous window boxes that contain a variety of flowers including lobelias and petunias. The darker colors of the plants are the perfect complement to the light blue shudders.

Totally understandable if you just did a double take. These stunning window boxes from Shannon Morscheck from Living with Lady’s photo contain faux flowers, which make maintenance so much easier—no green thumb required.

You can never go wrong with vibrant colors for really sprucing up your window boxes. The geraniums in this picture from Adorn Planters are a perfect example of how to use bright hues in a window box—these ones specifically really pop against the dark window frames and light yellow walls.

An abundance of lush and bushy flowers can solve for a bare-looking window box. Tracy from Plaids and Poppies shows how wildly flowing blooms can boost the springtime and summer vibes of an outdoor area.

This Old Cape Barn shows how even one type of flower can still look visually stunning. This scattering of plum purple Blue Moon tulips are dramatic, but far from moody thanks to the white window boxes and different blue shades on the house.

Vivid green sweet potato vines, Supertunias, and cleomes are what make this punchy window box so stunning. Mary Ann of Grace in This Space selected a gorgeous combination of colors that harmonize super well with the light gray stones.

Roses aren’t the first plant you’d consider for a window box, but this image from Kathryn Lott shows how taller perennial plants like this can work in this type of space. Consider bold planters beneath larger windows the perfect homes for these flowers.

A mixture of clean cut and free-flowing plants, like seen in this photo from Carla Taylor, can make for a beautifully balanced window box. Try arranging your plants with more structured, trimmed plants up top and cascading vines beneath them.

You can never have too many flowers, and these bright pink petunias from Aly Greer of Wild Cotton Photo prove that the more blooms the better. Allow your plants to truly crawl and trail out of your window boxes for an intentional “overgrown” look that feels straight from a storybook.

The aqua walls of this home are only boosted by the pretty green plants featured in this window box. Keeping in mind the color of your home and what plants you choose can really pay off stylistically, like seen in this image from Pam Greer.

Additional reporting by Carolin Lehmann