Mailbox Gardens

Seasonal Postcards

Jul 22, 2008 Arlene Marturano

Grow a green mailbox garden sending seasonal plant postcards to the postal carrier and passersby.

Six days a week through excessive heat or cold, rain, snow, sleet, and hail, the mail comes to you. Express gratitude for the service by gifting the carrier with a mailbox garden. Select parcels of plants that deliver distinct seasonal messages through their foliage, flowers, fruit, fragrance, form and fortitude.

Rural mailboxes at curbside lend themselves to flora camouflage. Almost with the speed of overnight express flowering shrubs, vines, annuals and perennials clothe the mailbox in the latest floral fashions.

Flowering Shrubs

Lantana spreads underneath the mailbox bringing butterfly messengers. Abelia and crepe myrtlettes flower all summer long too. Old roses perfume the curb.

Vines

Perennial clematis, star jasmine, climbing hydrangea, scarlet honeysuckle, or passionvines return yearly. Annual vines like morning glory, thunbergia, balloon vine and scarlet runner beans permit altering the show each year.

Roadside Bouquets

A cutting flower garden circling the box could allow the carrier to take home bouquets of zinnia, sunflower, marigold, and snapdragons in summer and calendula, chrysanthemum and goldenrod in autumn.

Edibles

A mailbox in the country away from exhaust fumes, tar, and oil, encourages planting an edible fruit basket of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, and strawberry plants which offers a "pick-me-up" snack for the carrier, bicyclers, and runners.

Seasonal Bulbs

Select a seasonal sequence of bulbs to light up the mail route. Welcome spring with scilla, daffodils, hyacinths, bluebells, tulips and fritillaria. In summer allium, crinums, daylilies, gladiolas, and spider lilies are colorful choices. Gloriosa lilies climbing up a trellis adjacent to the mailbox post resemble a flaming torch. In fall colchicum and autumnal crocus, cyclamen and leucojum shine. Frost-filled days glisten with winter aconite, crocus, and snowdrops.

Heirloom Commemoratives

Resurrect plants from the past by growing a historical plot using heirloom selections from historical gardens or heirloom seed savers. Heirlooms such as hollyhock, nicotiana, zebrina, larkspur, and nigella will bring an aura of nostalia to the mailbox.

Fabulous Foliage

Selecting plants for foliage rather than flowers or fragrance can be low maintenance yet zestful. Hosta, coleus, caladium, elephant ear, Persian shield and perilla have instant curb appeal.

Stamp of Success

First time gardens need the most effort to insure success. Digging and turning the soil, adding copious amounts of compost, mulching and watering regularly are essential tasks. To remember to water to the curbside garden, take the hose or watering can with you to retrieve the mail.

Let your mailbox garden deliver green messages of cheer and beauty to the carrier and community. Waves and smiles will signal delivery confirmation.

The copyright of the article Mailbox Gardens in Flower Gardens is owned by Arlene Marturano. Permission to republish Mailbox Gardens in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Creeping fig fits snuggly over mailbox	Upstart gardens demand the most work	Scarlet honeysuckle shades mailbox
Vines and perennials greet the mail carrier