Mailbox Plantings

I would like to plant a few plants around my mailbox. I painted the mailbox post cream to match the trim of the house and replaced the original black box with a bronze colored one.

I would like to plant a few low growing, spreading plants along with some medium sized plants with interesting foliage with one taller plant or ornamental grass. I'm liking the idea of using plants with white blooms, maybe Sweet Asylum (sp?) for the ground cover... and I would like to plant a few plants with bronzish-purple-red leaves and/or an ornamental grass with a straw color.

The area is in full sun for most of the day and I'd prefer hardy, drought-tolerent species, if possible. I am located in Zone 6.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

I had the same situation last years only in Zone 7 some years 8. I planted four different plants at my mailbox to see which would do well. Only two came back and are thriving. Sedium and Guara. I got them from Santa Rosa Gardens. The sedium is doing well but I'm not a fan of the flowers. The guara is doing great and love the flowers.
Both need very little water and stand the heat and full sun in my area. The guara is supposed to bloom all summer and mine has deep redish leaves and magenta flowers. Only supposed to get about foot tall. I suggest you go to Santa Rosa Garden web site and look through their plants. Prices are great and plants arrive in great shape and larger than expected. They seem to specialize in drought tolerent plants. Good luck.

There are many types of sedum and they are very drought tolerant. I have Autumn Joy.

mnay people here plant Confederate Jasmine around their mailboxes, its pretty in full bloom, but you'll hafta keep it from swallowing the mailbox entirely

I have pennisetum karly rose which has purple featherheads from summer till fall, and ruby ribbons which has ruby & green color, and also dwarf fountain grass, which has a beautiful fountain shape & turns a pretty straw color in the fall, and stays that way till spring, then it's green again. I really like them all. You have to search on them to find the right size for your area, I would think you would want a smaller one (some grasses get quite large) mine aren't around my mailbox, but one area is at the end of the driveway and I wanted to be able to see while pulling out. But those should all be fine for your zone. They seem to be pretty hardy & drought tolerant.

As a reminder...if the flowers attract bees the mail carrier does not have to deliver your mail.

Here's a clematis - can be contained pretty easily - doesn't seem to attract bees - hardy, just shade the roots. The mailbox does that nicely for mine - Dax

Agree with flowerjen. My husband is a mail carrier, and bees around a mailbox are not appreciated! I also wouldn't choose plants that will grow to obstruct the mailbox or will get so overgrown that they restrict access.

I wound up going to my local garden center and getting two Coleus 'Dipt in Wine,' some Sweet Alyssum and a Leatherleaf Sedge. I'm sorta eh about the way the plantings look though. I have a feeling the soil is too poor for the plants - the only thing that appears to be really happy is the Sedge. The Coleus seem to be okay - I've been watering them a little each day in the morning, but they just look out of place. Too lanky - they are definitely more of a container plant. The Sweet Alyssum were very badly root bound when I took them out of their little trays. I loosened the roots a little and planted them in small groupings (3). The two seem to be 'okay,' but the third died off pretty quickly. Ugh. Luckilly, most of the plants I put in were annuals. I need to spend a little more time on set up. Get some landscape fabric, remulch, etc. I might try again later this summer (depending on how the Coleus and the Alyssum do). I think the grass will be fine, though it doesn't grow very big and I may move it or start over entirely.

7th I had to replace the soil around my mailbox completely before I could get anything to grow there! I think I used four 40 lb bags of soil, some peat moss, manure....I tried to grow stuff there for 5 years before I did that. now stuff is growing like crazy and I have to move some things...(once I replaced all the soil I totally overplanted the area, thinking SOMETHING'S gotta grow...well everything did and it looks a little schizophrenic out there lol). It gets the sand & salt in the winter here.

Lynnie6868,I like over planted ,and schizophrenic gardens,that could be me too!!!

Hugger that is just beautiful! I planted 3 clematis together thinking I'd be lucky to get 1 to grow...well it's a jungle out there lol plus coreopsis & agastache and pansies, which all spread like mad...so I'll be moving stuff when the sun comes back out....been raining here all week. Don't know what to do about the clematis, I don't think I can separate them.

lynnie6868,I too have 3 clematis growing together,I was whinning in another forum about them not performing well, they have been planted for 3-4 yrs they just dont bloom like I think they should,the roots are well shaded,mulched,get afteroon sun.they are getting ready to bloom,they look stupid,I will post a picture of them ,so discusted with them !!

I found several nice looking mailbox planting plans on better homes and gardens website under landscaping. www.bhg.com I think but if not then just do a search for better homes and gardens.

I am a lover of ornamental grasses, The switch grass is georgous and gives good looks summer and winter. It is striking green and wavy in summer and looks like a stalk of wheat in winter. The only thing is by around the third year it gets about 7 ft tall and probably 2 and 1/2 ft wide so may cover up your mail box. Now the purple fountain grass is pretty in summer and doesn't get that tall. I has cat tail looking blooms. The thing with ornamental grasses is that you have to cut them back to the ground before next springs sprouts will appear otherwise it will have the dead from the year before mixed in and really take away from the beauty of the grass. Poor soil is not a problem when planting grasses and they tollerate all types of weather.

I love my ornamental grasses too. I moved the coreopsis & agastache from the mailbox area, it looks much neater there now, just the clematis and some fieldstone and a couple of wishbone flowers.

well I'm in zone 6 to 8 so not sure of 5 zone, thinking that is a hotter zone than mine. Sounds like you have it under control and have picked the perfect blends. Around a small area such as mailboxes I would think the simpler design the better to keep it maintained. Good luck! Bet it looks great just like it is.

sd killen, Santa Rosa sounds like the site for me. I have ordered from catalogs and in return received sticks that died lol. Never heard of quara but sounds like something every gardener should have some of. You are just a couple of states away and the zone is similar so might just grow here too. Thanks for the tip

I would like more information on guara as well. Can't find it in plant files.

Julie I planted whirling butterflies guara, I love it.

Here are the Gaura's--apparently they've recently been lumped into Oenothera genus and that's listed as the primary name for them now in Plant Files, maybe that's why everyone's having trouble finding them http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=gaura&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

Well, no wonder. Thanks, ecrane3 for pointing me in the right direction, I would not have found it otherwise!
It looks like a great plant.

DAX080..your clematis is beautiful around the mailbox. I've never seen a clematis that blooms two different colors or is that two different vines? What is the name of your clematis?

I have shastas ,columbine ,ajuga,forgetmenots ,petunias ,larspur,grape hyacinths,snow drops,morning glory.should be pretty all season.if I keep it watered .

now that is pretty Huggergirl!

Thanx lynnie,it should be bloomin all summer with everything that is planted out there,Lets see if we can wake up this thread ... Tamara

my mailbox area is the one area I haven't gotten to yet *grin* I would wake up the thread with a picture of the weeds lol this unseasonably hot weather has put me way behind.

I know what you mean ,we started out nice warm and then rain and cold ,wind for weeks,was ahead now behind .....I need to pull grass out there in the shastas...

ok I got it done! Please excuse the garish orange hue of my mulch, the bag said "natural cedar mulch" I thought it would be brown. I'm going with pine next time lol

lynnie,I think it looks good ,but I still like cedar mulch,it will darken somewhat.Looks beautiful now and after it takes off it will be really cool.

Lynnie,
That was quite a job! Congratulations. Looks good and I agree with Hugger that the mulch will darken over time. I still haven't done mine. Just haven't decided what I want to do yet. I am the worst "put-off-ski" I know. LOL

aw thanks guys! it's nice to have such good feedback!
thunderstorm drove me back inside :(

AHH judy too funny put off ski,my dh is ONE BIG ONE !!!LOL