Christmas may be over but as I was editing photos from my trip to Germany, I wanted to share the gorgeous Christmas window boxes that I started noticing halfway through my tour of Germany’s Christmas markets on Uniworld.

It turns out that window boxes date back centuries to the Roman Empire who planted these mini gardens in terracotta planters. Originally, they served as extensions of or substitutes for the garden, housing herbs for medicines and food. However, as the need for this lessened, they became decorative and in true Roman style, many were–and still are–incredibly lavish.

The idea of window baskets traveled with the settlers to America and remain popular in places like England, Italy, Holland, and Germany. Most of these photos were taken in Rothenburg, a town that revolves around Christmas.

Save these ideas for later as they’d look lovely in regular container gardens around the yard, too.