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If you hate to see your window flowerboxes empty in the fall and winter, think about planting winter vegetables in there. Winter vegetables are plants that love the cooler weather. In fact, most people don’t realize that a lot of the vegetables they try to grow in their summer garden actually grow better during the cooler fall months. These types of vegetables even taste better, once they have been kissed by an autumn frost.
For window flowerboxes, you can choose these plants either to enjoy a late harvest bounty, or to keep your flowerboxes full of color into the cooler seasons.
When to Plant Winter Vegetables
Winter vegetables have to be grown from the seed as stores rarely, if ever, sell starter plants like they do in the spring. The best time to plant these seeds is anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks before the first frost for your area. Of course, the planting time depends heavily on what you are growing.
Once you decide on what to plant, do a lot of good research on what you are planting.
What to Plant
When talking about winter vegetables, we are really confined to root vegetables and leafy vegetables. Any of the following can be grown in the winter:
Now, not all of these vegetables are going to be able to fit in your flowerboxes. This is why it is so important to learn about what you are planting. You don’t want to end up with a single cabbage head taking over your whole flowerbox, with its roots popping out of the bottom of the box.
Planting Winter Vegetables for the Look
If you are more interested in growing winter vegetables to give your flowerboxes color during the winter, pay attention to what the plants on the outside of the seed packets look like. The pictures will show you the colors, look and texture of the plant you are holding the seeds for.
For colorful flowerboxes stick to the leafy green vegetables that come in different colors like Swiss Chard, Kale and Spinach.
Care for Winter Vegetable Plants
Winter vegetable plants still need the watering and care that summer vegetables do. This can be tricky as the dropping temperatures at night can cause a problem.
After you have planted the seeds for your flowerboxes, DO NOT throw the packages away. You will need to keep them, so you know how low of temperature each of the plants can handle. If temperatures are getting close to the lowest temperature that can be tolerated, cover the plant for the night with a pillowcase.
Watering should also be done in the middle of the day, when the temperatures are warmer; unlike in the summer, when plants should be watered in the cooler evening hours.