Windows of Opportunity

Spring is in the air and as garden enthusiasts geared up for the Charleston Horticultural Society’s Plantasia (coming up this Friday and Saturday!) and inaugural Spring Window Box Contest, we tasked three green-thumbed pros with creating wildly different window boxes for our April issue.

Landscape architect Glen Gardner’s tropical twist on a classic look made it to the issue’s cover. “So many people think of Charleston as a tropical oasis; they are often shocked that we are cold-tender here,” says Gardner. “While landscape plants must withstand the elements, temporary plantings in pots and window boxes give us more opportunity for decorative expression.”

For a box situated in a protected courtyard with dappled light, Glen selected a profusion of exotics and other plants, many of which are typically found indoors, such as the various orchids and ferns. “This design actually will last and thrive through our spring and summer seasons,” he says. “And when the orchids lose their blooms in two or so months, just swap them out.”

At tomorrow’s Plantasia Fête, Charleston magazine editor-in-chief Darcy Shankland and Horticultural Society executive director Kyle Barnett will announce the Window Box Contest winners. To view the ten finalists in the battle of the blooms, click here.

To get everything you need for your own window box, visit Plantasia at Wragg Square on Friday (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Saturday (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.). Find details here.

To read the entire “Budding Prospects” feature, click here.