This Easy-to-Use Railing Planter Helps Me Honor My Grandpa's Love for Gardening

My Poppy loved indoor plants and orchids as much as he loved curating his many outdoor gardens. My favorite spot was always his deck, where he had flower boxes overflowing with annuals every summer. One year, I decided we should start a new tradition together—so I became his co-deck gardener. We would visit his local gardening center around Memorial Day to carefully choose our flowers, and we always kept his deck's sun-to-shade ratio in mind. Throughout the season, we would track the progress of our flowers together, excited for everything to reach peak bloom.

Gardening with Poppy was an annual highlight, and it was one I knew I would sorely miss after he passed away. Six years ago, just after Memorial Day, I decided to carry on our tradition through planting my own deck garden. While I was sourcing my supplies, I realized I wanted to make one slight change: In an effort to avoid installing flower boxes, I jumped at the chance to use these railing planters instead.

Buy It: Emsco Group Bloomers Railing Planter, $19 (was $28), Amazon

While there are great benefits to permanent installations, the introduction of brackets, nails, and a hammer tends to make me shy away. So the Emsco Group Bloomers Railing Planter is fantastic. It simply pops over top of wooden, metal, or PVC railings that range in size from 1.25 inches to 3.875 inches—and the installation takes seconds (no tools required). It comes with fasteners just in case you want to stabilize your planter even more. Plus, the popular planter has more than 2,400 five-star ratings and hundreds of positive reviews, so I'm not the only one who loves it.

"They have withstood multiple storms and high winds without issue," wrote one five-star reviewer who said the railing planter boxes are "perfect for a starter garden."

Other than the ease of installation, the other thing I love about the rail planter is that it's made from resin. Although it's available in a terra cotta color, you're able to avoid the heavier weight that's often associated with real terra cotta pots. Plus, the resin makes this planter durable, weatherproof, and lightweight (it's only 1.2 pounds).

Buy It: Emsco Group Bloomers Railing Planter, $19 (was $28), Amazon

Because growing flowers, plants, and herbs is the entire point of a planter, the railing planter also includes drainage holes to make watering easy. I've found that not every planter on the market has drainage holes, so they were a key feature that I wanted mine to have to help me to avoid overwatering my flowers all summer. Other shoppers agree.

"I am absolutely amazed at how sturdy this is and how it fits on my railing," wrote a shopper who also shared that they appreciate the railing planters' "adequate" drainage holes.

Whether you're gardening to honor a loved one or simply because you enjoy it, pick up an Emsco Group rail planter in any of the 12 available colors for less than $20. It's my favorite purchase I've ever made for my garden, and something tells me my beloved 95-year-old gardening partner would have appreciated it, too.