Is there anything better than a beautiful window box overflowing with foliage and flowers to brighten up a dull window? Unfortunately, unless you have plenty of time and skill (or a gardener), keeping a window box looking gorgeous year-round is a challenge I’ve failed at miserably for years. However, that all changed when I discovered the window box delivery service by Window Fleur, which has made my window box ideas the envy of the street.
Window Fleur was actually founded back in 2020 as the UK’s first ready-planted window box subscription service. In the last year, they’ve expanded to offer nationwide delivery, which is how I finally got the opportunity to try Window Fleur out for myself.
How does a window box subscription work?
Window Fleur is a small family business founded by two cousins with the simple goal of cutting down the effort, expense and waste that goes into creating a seasonal window box. There is no lugging around bags of compost, trips to the garden centre or costly planting combination mistakes. All the plants are responsibly sourced and delivered ready-planted in a ‘bloom bag’ straight to your door.
As someone who lives in a London flat, has no car and has tried and failed to store a bag of compost in a second-floor flat, this was music to my ears. Not to mention my novice attempts to curate a window box are nowhere near as professional-looking as this!
The subscription is like a ‘Hello Fresh’ delivery for plants, except instead of once a week, you are charged every three months when a new seasonal bloom bag arrives. Each season, you are given the choice between two love designs. When your new ‘bloom bag’ arrives, you drop it into your window box in place of the old one.
The bloom bags are available in three sizes and are priced accordingly: small (35-40cm) is £25, medium (58-62cm) is £38.50 and large (78 – 62cm) is £49.50. You choose the best one (or ones) to fit your current window box, or you can also add a window box to your first delivery if you don’t already have one.
I picked out the medium bag size in a design called ‘Woodsmoke & Wine’ from the autumn flower options and added on the medium basic fleur box in grey for an extra £18.
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The window box and bloom bag arrived in two separate boxes. The box containing the bloom bag arrived a little battered because it had gotten wet, but the extra cardboard inside the box had done a brilliant job of protecting the plants.
The bloom bag is made of biodegradable black fabric and looks like a sausage, packed with compost with plants sticking out the top. I didn’t need to do anything beyond dropping it into the window box, where it fit snugly, and trimming the edge of the bloom bag a little to give the ferns more space to spill over.
This all took a matter of minutes after coming home late in the dark from a long day at work; it was that straightforward. It took a day or two for the plants to settle, but they added an instant wow-factor and kerb-appeal to my home.
You can still see some of the fabric from the bloom bag on the side of my window box. But it blends so well into the damp compost and colour of the window box, I barely notice it.
I’ve had my bloom bag for over two months now, and it is still looking gorgeous. I have no concerns that it will last out the three-month cycle of the subscription (or longer).
The plants are designed to be easy to care for, and all Window Fleur recommends is regular watering and deadheading to get the most out of your plants. If one of your plants does, unfortunately, die within two weeks of arriving, they promise to replace it.
After you’ve subscribed, the seasonal refills will arrive in early September, December, March and June. Refreshing the windowbox is as simple as taking the old bloom bag out and popping the new refill in.
What you do with the old bloom bag is up to you; you can get rid of it or find a way to repurpose the plants somewhere else in your garden if they’re still going strong.
Is it worth it?
The main hesitation I had about the service when I first discovered Window Fleur was the price point. To keep my medium window box in tip-top condition, it will cost £38.50 every three months. However, when I broke it down, I realised what great value for money it was.
The medium bag works out at £12.83 a month, which is less than most flower subscriptions. Alternatively, if you break it down by the five plants that make up the bag, it works out as £7.70 per plant. This is roughly what you’d pay for good quality plants at a garden centre, and considering a bag of compost costs £8.50 from B&Q on its own, you are saving money.
But the most important part is that it has given me an easy-to-care-for, beautiful blooming window box which cheers me up every time I see it, and that is worth every penny.
Complete the look
keilend
Keilend Adjustable Window Box Brackets
If you don’t have an outdoor ledge to perch a window box on you can use these brackets to create space for one outside a window instead.
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Gardena Smart Sensor
For the ultimate low-maintenance window box this smart soil moisture meter will send alerts to an app on your phone when your plants need watering.
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Embossed Galvanised Metal Window Trough
Window Fleur has 7 different styles of window boxes you can buy, including a balcony friendly version. However, you can opt to buy your own if you prefer a different look.
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