Window boxes open doors to lots of gardening opportunities, that is.

From indoors, they're a fun way to bring the garden up close. Outside, they spiff up the house for that all-important curb appeal. Plus, they're a great way to link the house and garden.

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"You can mimic any style of garden in a window box — formal or casual, a cottage garden — by just choosing the right combination of plants," says Melodie McDanal, manager of Habersham Gardens, an Atlanta nursery.

As in the garden, the plant choices depend on exposure.

McDanal cooked up three window box recipes — one for full sun, one for full shade and one for part sun — and shared her recipes:

1. Rudbeckia ('Indian Summer', 'Becky Cinnamon Bicolor', 'Maya')

2. Bronze fennel

3. 'Amora' coleus

4. 'Ducksfoot Midnight'

coleus

5. 'Terra cotta' phormium

6. 'Terra cotta' million bells

7. 'New Gold' lantana

8. 'Red Shield' hibiscus

9. 'Carolina Purple' potato vine

10. Eucomis (pineapple lily)

• CHEF'S TIP: Make selections work for you. Tall plants create a nice picture from indoors as well as hiding a bad view.

1. Calathea

2. 'African Mask' alocasia

3. New Guinea impatiens

4. Maidenhair fern

5. Ajuga

6. White cane begonia

7. Creeping Charlie

8. Creeping fig

9. Heuchera

10. Staghorn fern

11. Peperomia

12. 'Lynn Lowrey' liriope

13. 'Kangaroo Paw' fern

• CHEF'S TIP: Don't forget tropical, or indoor, plants when shopping for shade containers.

1. Japanese boxwoods

2. Angelonia

3. Plectranthus (Cuban oregano)

4. Purple petunias

5. 'Firewitch' dianthus

6. Veronica

7. 'Evergold' carex

8. Centaurea

9. Tricolor sage

• CHEF'S TIP: Give window boxes structure by incorporating small evergreen shrubs, such as boxwoods and conifers.

SUN VS. SHADE

• Full sun: Direct sunlight for six to eight hours.

• Part sun/part shade: Direct sunlight for only part of the day, usually several hours in the morning, with shade in the afternoon.

• Full shade: Dappled shade all day.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

• Choose a box material that complements your house, and plants that complement the garden.

• Use a lightweight soilless potting mix and mix in a handful of slow-release fertilizer.

• Dress up the cocoa-fiber liners in hayrack planters by covering them with green sheet moss.

• Make sure window boxes have drainage holes along the front instead of the back so water won't drain against the house.

• Aim for a mix of plants that will cascade over the sides, provide height in the back and supply mass in the center. Go for a contrast in leaf sizes, shapes and textures, some solid and some variegated.

• Consider scale. One rule of thumb: A planted window box should be 25 percent of the height of a short window or 20 percent of the height of a tall one.

• Check often for dryness because elevated planters tend to dry out more quickly than others.