Hello! New here and need some advice. I have four window boxes on the front of my house and have yet to fill them with flowers this season. It is the side of the house that gets the most direct sun and it is not always an option for me to water the flowers every day or even every other day. I had bad luck with Geraniums and had ok luck with another type (I forget what they are now) but they were supposed to be a tropical flower that loves sun and needs little water. They worked ok but I think it's too late now to put them in.

I usually pull out my summer flowers and plant mums in the boxes in the fall...I guess my question is when can I plant the mums (earliest) since I have nothing there now? What other types of flowers will stay flowering through the fall if I planted them within the next week or so?

TIA for any advice...I'm in Massachusetts so you can have an idea of climate....

my advise for those who cannot water containers every day in the summer & in the sun...

1. get a drip irrigation system
2. OR try mixing hydro-gels, gypsum, or something that holds water into your soil

plants that like full sun & look good together in planters: petunias, sweet potato vine, sweet alyssum

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I was thinking petunias also. My are still thriving! You can get a lot of variety in color with them as well.

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Originally posted by tkhooper:
Mums should be in the stores anytime now. I also love the miniature roses. Portulaca would be another good choice for the summer but the first frost and they are gonners.

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I totally agree.........Portulacas take the heat and are drought tolerant so if you don't get to water each day it's no big deal.

Plus you can cut a piece of one of them off and stick it in the dirt and keep it water and it will root itself.....

We always had Petunias in the big metal boxes out front, they reseeded themselves but when it got really hot they wilted pretty bad. And that was direct sun. This year I pulled them all out and planted them through the garden and put portulacas in them and the colors are just fantastic!