Last year Howard Nemeroff, the owner of Plant Parenting in Chicago, shared some gorgeous images of a window box he designed through the four seasons (One Window Box, Four Seasons), and today he’s back to share some incredible spring container designs.
Pussy willow (Salix discolor, Zones 4–8) stems bent into a beautiful trellis elevate this planting of pansies (Viola × wittrockiana, cool-season annual) and bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla, Zones 5–9).
Bigleaf hydrangeas and a dramatic arch made of pussy willows make a bold statement in this window box.
Pussy willows have flexible stems, so they can be bent and shaped into beautiful structures like this. The silvery fuzz is the newly emerging flower spikes that burst open first thing in the spring.
In this close-up, you can see that there is a metal framework under the structure that the willow branches have been attached to. The attention to detail here is incredible!
In this spring container, purple and white tulips (Tulipa hybrids, Zones 3–8) are the stars, with their colors echoed by the rest of the planting and set off by yellow-green variegated ivy (Hedera helix, Zones 5–9) and moss.
Two-level containers feature bold blue hydrangeas on the bottom and pansies on top.
White pansies dominate this container, with a few pops of other color to accent the white.
A euphorbia (looks like Euphorbia × martinii ‘Ascott Rainbow’, Zones 6–9) takes center stage here, backed up by pansies, ranunculus (Ranunculus asiaticus, Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb), golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’, Zones 3–9), and nemesia (Nemesia hybrid, annual).
A dress made from pansies
And here’s Howard himself, posing with one of his stunning containers.
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