Love the tea tin planters.

Tins and small pots are perfect for a windowsill. Does anyone have recommendations for flowers that will grow well in a small pot and won't get too big?

Ooh very beautiful! What creative, lovely displays. And I love the forward and back arrows - thanks, AT! We've had to put most of our plants outdoors because of aphids or gnats, but I hear that if we dry out the soil beforehand, the bugs in the soil will die. So hopefully we can use some of these ideas soon!

Our new loft apartment has a long window that goes from one side of the room to the other with a half wall that was just begging for an indoor garden. Unfortunately, we have two cats who are very prone to eating..well... just about anything. Plants would be considered normal everyday food for them if I let them (which I quickly discovered after the first time my boyfriend brought me flowers).

If you're looking for something that can fit on a windowsill, hold your plants, and be moderately pet resistant, I definitely recommend the Ikea greenhouse. Even though we only have three plants in it now to start (spearmint, rosemary, and lavender), I could very easily fit another 5 of these boxes in there if I needed quick storage before re-potting them.

My goal is to have the entire length of the wall be covered in these!

i have a big (big!) window and have more plants than my window sill could contain so i installed some cheap closet shelves. my cats like to sit on the low planters of moss and i've learned what plants they like to eat (and put those ones out of cat reach).

i don't have any great photos, but...
one
two

If your cats like to snack on plants, what about growing a windowsill of cat nip or cat grass?

@Pi, just by coincidence another commenter mentioned how nice violets smell when planted in a container. Those would not take up a lot of room, I imagine.

Pi, alyssum, lobelia, or pansies would all stay pretty small and bloom a long time.

We don't have a lot of sunny windows and one of our cats is a pretty hardcore plant eater, but I've got a windowbox of herbs going in my sunniest window that's doing really well. Our windowsills are deep enough that I can just lower the honeycomb blinds over the box and the cat can't get to the herbs. And he doesn't try all that hard, anyway, since he knows that when I go in there to water, I'll give him a basil leaf or two (basil's his favorite!)

I have learned to leave room on the windowsill for the cat, and to grow prickly things there. ;) Or at least plants he is uninterested in. A small tray of grass is very helpful at distracting him from my tropicals, and easy to grow. You can buy a kit or grow your own with oat or wheat seeds.

These are great! My only sunny window is in my kitchen, and it has no windowsill. There's no room for a plant stand, no counter nearby... Any ideas? Is there something that could The window is about 5 feet wide and 3-4 feet tall, and slides horizontally. The only "ledge" is the half-inch depth of the woodwork around the window. I kind of have a black thumb, but I really want to get some practice at keeping a plant alive!

Oops... typo... is there something that could hook on, spring-mount, etc.?

@amberm A previous neighbor of mine had a pot rack hanging from her ceiling by the window, and hung plants off of that. Looked amazing!

@AMBERM I recommend adding L brackets and adding a shelf or a couple of shelves. They are easy to do and cheap.

"PI" mentioned growing catnip in the windowsill. Anyone have more info about this? I've only bought the toys w/ nip in them-- how would my kitty react to the plant in the window?? What about this cat grass? Would it make her cough up little presents like other grass? It'd be great if I could get some plants for her and distract her from my flowers and herbs :)

I recently bought a catnip plant. My cat discovered it while I was unloading groceries and squashed the life out of it in sheer seconds. He's a bit of a heifer.

Mel_Bell, I've never grown catnip, but you can buy commercial "cat grass" kits at pretty much any pet store. Though you can DIY it with cereal grass seeds. The commercial kit is pretty much a packet of seed (barley, wheat, and oats, I think), a packet of soil, and a cheap plastic container to grow the grass in. It grows and looks like green grass, then eventually turns all brown and dry and needs replacing - if you trim it, it lasts longer. Yeah, cat grass aids the cats in hairballing, but it also aids them in disgestion and balances their diet, AND it really does seem to keep them away from other plants. Plus they would probably hairball anyway. They're cats. ;)

I also love the look of the tea tin planters... but I worry about them rusting on the windowsill. I guess it could work if I put a pretty dish beneath them. Has anyone tried doing this?

Wow, @lawrenwinslow, I LOVE your windows/plants/shelves. Really great inspiration!

If you line the tin that should prevent rusting (I've planted small things in jam jars and just placed them in the tins, it's worked out pretty well)

and I am sure these people hire full time nannies to take care of these plants, right? Otherwise, how could they look so beautiful and healthy!!??

I've really been considering doing an herb garden this year in our kitchen window. But I completely lack a green thumb and am so nervous I'll just end up destroying it. This gives me some inspiration, I think I'll just have to take the plunge! Thanks for the great post!

Lauwren, wow, that's amazingly beautiful. Did you ever do a house tour here? I'd love to look at your house!

These are very inspiring ideas and I'm particularly fond of sf's. I m currently constructing my own just between my glass and window bars and am looking for more decor inspiration.

Great post, enjoyed all the pics & inspiration. Keep 'em comin! My cats don't eat my plants, they just use them as toys. They have both catnip & cat grass indoors plus lots of outside time. Yet they'll ignore all but the plants on my windowsill. I tried every trick in the book to deter them & nothing worked. I even installed a shelf higher up across my window thinking it would be out of reach. Yeah. Came home to find sinks, counters & floor covered in dirt, plants & broken pottery. Stubborn furry rascals.

Finally, I stumbled upon an iron pet cage at the CS on clearance. One of my rare impulse buys - I simply liked the look of it. As I was unloading it back home, I spotted my newly repotted herbs wating patiently on the potting bench. The cage is large enough to hold 6 good-size (medium) pots plus 2 or 3 small ones. My plants now live in the cage which is parked in front of the french doors to the patio. The cats can't turn them into toys. Bonus: the cage is on casters so I just scoot it out of the way when the door is in use.

I'm thinking a decorative bird cage hung from the ceiling in front of a sunny window will accomplish the same for small space dwellers and/or cat owners alike. Hope something here inspires someone. Have a great weekend!

Having a plant that leans always bugs me. Does anyone else make sure to rotate their plants so they aren't leaning over to one side for more sun?

I wish I was more green fingered. The only plant that I have not yet killed is a 'money plant' succulent, and the leaves feel soft, instead of firm/turgid. Not sure if I'm under or overwatering (about once every 2 weeks).

Re cats and plants - avoid lilies, they're highly toxic for cats.

Here's a more comprehensive list of plants that are toxic to animals: http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/Plants

A surprisingly good source for plant pots is Goodwill (or thrift stores in general, I guess). I got a bunch of basic ones there recently that were super cheap and looked new, probably donated from another store.

My indoor garden is keeping me sane during our home renovation.

http://bit.ly/YztXYe

I can keep plants healthy, even if I can't keep the drywall dust out of my purse :-)

Aninhas, re: plants in tins, you can remove plants from their grow pots and slip them into plastic sandwich bags for small plants, bigger baggies for larger plants, and put those into the tins. Just be careful to test the soil before watering, and pour carefully so water doesn't spill into tins.
Gmad, rotating plants should be a regular part of plant care along with watering, dusting and inspecting for bugs. Everyone should do it, good for you for having it together.
Discerning, great ideas for using cages to keep cats out of the plants. Some other ideas: crumpled chicken wire on the soil, big rocks on the soil, sticky stuff (wrap a few rocks with double-sided tape, put some tacky glue on rocks, etc.)

Aninhas, re: plants in tins, you can remove plants from their grow pots and slip them into plastic sandwich bags for small plants, bigger baggies for larger plants, and put those into the tins. Just be careful to test the soil before watering, and pour carefully so water doesn't spill into tins.
Gmad, rotating plants should be a regular part of plant care along with watering, dusting and inspecting for bugs. Everyone should do it, good for you for having it together.
Discerning, great ideas for using cages to keep cats out of the plants. Some other ideas: crumpled chicken wire on the soil, big rocks on the soil, sticky stuff (wrap a few rocks with double-sided tape, put some tacky glue on rocks, etc.)

MonicaK, Funny comment, but aside from Martha, who probably does have staff taking care of her plants, the other gardens are likely taken care of by their owners. It's really not that hard. THE COLOR OF YOUR THUMB HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! Some of the videos on The Ficus Wrangler Channel, http://www.youtube.com/watchv=wQwBUWgcYjg, and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBBh0RPPqu0
might help you get started.
DoubleDubs, as long as you have high light - herbs need high light - you should be fine. Just don't keep them too wet, or too dry; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv7-3p-nqMM
talks especially about light and watering for that light. Also I recommend buying your herbs from a plant store rather than trying to grow the potted herbs from the grocery store.
Pearmelon, the only way to know if you're watering any plant correctly is to test the soil all the way to the bottom of the pot. Test it with a kebob skewer, as if you were testing a cake. When it's ALMOST dry, water enough that you get a run off out the bottom of the pot, 1/4" - 1/2". You can let the pot sit in that, just make sure to test before you water You can find some more info at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf-8InSamYQ
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9fkseDb1Ys

On cats and plants -
I've had cats and plants together for 45 years, and I've never chosen to NOT have a plant because it was on some "toxic" list, nor have I ever had a cat sicken from biting into any of the "toxic" plants. They will bite into them (pothos, peace lily, philodendron, syngonium, sanseveria, schefflera, to name some common ones,) but they won't eat them. I suppose they don't taste good.

On the other hand, many of the plants on the non-toxic list they eat to shreds - palms and spider plants, especially - so I don't keep those is my house. I suggest, if you have cats and would like to have plants also, that you get small pots of whatever you would like to try, and see if the cats eat them. If they don't eat them, you're good to go. Also definitely provide your cat with some greens that they CAN eat, it really contributes to their health and well being.

I can't RECOMMEND to anyone that they ignore the toxic lists - I don't want to get in trouble. But I can tell you my experience. Of course, there will be people who will say that their cat ate some plant and was poisoned by it. I suppose it does happen, probably with approximately the same frequency as cats who die after jumping out of 10th story windows.

A thing to remember about toxicity lists - they're compiled by experimenters who forcibly administer plants or substances derived from plants to captive animals to learn how long it takes them to sicken and die.

Plants that I would suggest being cautious with because of possible reactions in people are dieffenbachea, which in some people will cause itching and burning from just touching the leaves; pencil cactus (E tirucalli), which causes severe reaction in some people if they touch the milky sap; and ficus spp, the sap of which can also cause itching, and possibly strong reactions in some people.

Lol @ The Ficus Wrangler. Enjoyed your post(s) and particularly this comment re cats eating toxic plants: "I suppose it does happen, probably with approximately the same frequency as cats who die after jumping out of 10th story windows."

My half-century of experience agrees with your findings. Way too much fear (and paranoia?) here. Our furry friends are endowed by our Creator with instinct. It serves them well. Otherwise they would have become extinct long before they were domesitcated.

Your suggestions of chicken wire & rocks are good ones. Never work for me (I mentioned I tried every trick in the book, lol) but they have proven good remedies for friends who've asked for advice over the years. My strong-willed stubborn furry monsters just thought they were smarter than me (ok, maybe they are). But now I chuckle as I watch them circling the cage trying to get to my plants. I just consider it cheap entertainment:)