Try Calibricoa too. It comes in a ton of colors, is super easy to grow, and trails with hundreds of flowers. I've got deep red ones spilling out of a black windowbox and get lots of compliments from the neighbors.

http://www.provenwinners.com/plants/detail.cfm?photoID=8722

Great, this is just what I've been looking for! Where do you suggest buying these in the Boston area?

I love sweet potato vine! The best part is, if you just buy one or two, you can take clippings and place them in water, and in just a couple days they root, so then you've got lots of free plants!

Wonderful selection. These also look fabulous in vintage pots.

I've had a blazing rose plant for the last year, but never knew what it was. I have done countless google searches to try to figure it out. Mine is almost 24" tall and love our sunny west facing windows. I keep it about 5' away from the glass (otherwise it gets a bit droopy on hot sunny days). Thanks AT!

I love salvia - it is so lovely and simple - but last year it was very difficult to find because of... controversial use. Maybe that 'fad' died down and I can find it this year.

Controversial use?

All very interesting, but most apartment dwellers lack terraces, and window boxes are a no-no in my highrise - not an unusual restriction.. How about what to put inside if you have limited light, north light, south light. That would be more generally helpful.

yes please, recommend something for bright bright NYC sunlight from 1 PM till sundown... no them for or a day or so? That is HOT BRIGHT sunlight!

I use the dracean spike plants for my planter at my front door. Another good idea: plant several green ones on the edge of the planter and add a red spike plant in the middle. It's a nice contrast. You are right, these are easy to care for and seem to do well in containers. Sweet potato vine plants have great color. Did the same thing with a spike center in a planter with sweet potato vine.

Thanks for the post, I really want to put in a window box.

@violetveil -- Occasionally people smoke a type of salvia. I'm not if it's this specific variety though. You could google it if you care. Miley Cyrus (I think) was filmed smoking an herbal cigarette of some type that appeared to be marijuana, but she claimed was salvia, since while salvia is a psychoactive it isn't actually illegal.

Just wanted to add that salvia is, I think, the shorthand name for a wide number of plants (the genus maybe?). And not everything that is called salvia is necessarily the psychoactive herb version of salvia. I think. Like I said, I know a little bit about this thanks to media saturation and vague memories of my sister's medical professional husband mentioning it once, but I don't find myself caring enough to google it and write a wikipedia entry. ^_^

At my family home in Flushing, we grow sweet potato and yam vines to harvest and eat. They are DELICIOUS with sautéed in oil, salt, and garlic. Plus, the plants grow back so quickly that you can have 4-5 harvests a season

many years ago a post was illustrated with an amazing window box planted with (what i think was) vinca. the vine had trailed extremely long and looked terrific set against the brick of the house. (that photo has haunted me, but i cannot track it down.)

Salvia is a perennial, so it is not an ideal container plant (unless you have a big container). In my area, you don't get all season color out of it either.
A lot of coleus don't like full sun and heat, so read the tags before you plant or they won't perform for you.
Nasturtiums are great and easy to grow from seed.
Why not geraniums? I know everybody has them but they love full sun and heat and they will forgive you if you forget to water.
Annual Vinca (Catharanthus roseus/Madagascar Periwinkle) is a great plant as well. It is very heat and drought tolerant.

Not all Salvia is perennial. The annual salvia is perfect for window boxes. I had some in a window box on my patio several years back and it attacted a hummingbird who came every evening around 5 o'clock, just for his Salvia fix. Love blue salvia with sweet potato vine. Creeping Jenny is very pretty in containers too, however it does like water if it's in a sunny location. I have found that any plant that is good for Xeriscaping will do well in containers, especially in sunny areas. I love trying new things in my pots each year.

So many of the above posts prove why one should use the Latin names as well common names when recommending plants. That way we're sure to get the exact plant that you're talking about.

Thanks for the tip about rooting sweet potato vine. I've admired them in my neighbor's window boxes, but was too cheap to shell out $6/plant x 15 needed for my window boxes. I will buy one and give rooting the cuttings a try!

Chartreuse, I agree with you to some extent, but I realize that these are highly cultivated plants, which have been selected for their characteristics. They include hybirds, sub species, and sub-sub species. They don't necessarily follow typical bi-nomial nomenclature. Plus, you can't expect for anyone at Lowes to know what Antirrhinum sp. (Snagdragon) is. Yes, Fiber Optic Grass isn't even a grass (it is a sedge). But, providing the name that are on the tags is probably the most helpful for consumers.

re: Geraniums-- They are also a great insect natural insect repellent.

I'm growing Morning Glories in my window boxes this summer. I rigged a trellis from a curtain rod and some twine (I secured the bottom with tack nails) I am hoping to end up with living green curtains by July. I'm not sure if the flowers would face inside or outside (toward the sun) but either way I think they will be pretty.

My kitchen has southern exposure on the 5th floor of an apartment building and I hope that the plants might even help keep the room cooler.

Best part: Morning Glories are essentially pretty weeds that grow really easily from seeds. I spent $1.25 for my whole garden!