SMALL SPACES: New Impressions from the Balcony Garden

This year the weather is really crazy - very humid but relatively warm - at least most of the time. It's good for the plants because they grow like crazy - not so good for the blooms I must say though. Simply not enough sunshine.

I have grown 3 different Tropaeolum this year and they are forming a real jungle in the meanwhile and the bees and bumblebees love their blooms which is wonderful - even at a height of more than 120 feet!!! I love bumblebees. Here are some vignettes how even a small space can transform into a lovely little garden.

This was the beginning of May:

As you can see I have quite a lot of pots hanging from the ceiling which is doing the trick if you are very constraint with space (even my little Oleander tree is hanging):

 4 weeks later it already looked like this - the Tropaeolum started to climb:

Now this is the view I have when I am sitting on my balcony - the ugly outer world has been shut off completely - at least by sight:

Our pigeons love this jungle - can hide between the leaves and relax there:

My Epiphyllum gave me soom blooms this year again:

Btw - this year I have spent less than a 100 bucks on my balcony garden including all the new pots/containers, potting soil, new herbs and seeds and even my new Oleander tree. (Last one was killed in the awfully cold winter). You see you don't need to spend a whole lot of money to create a little garden in your modest home.
Btw - you don't even need to buy expensive seeds or plants. Some vegetables have lovely blooms and the green leaves are sometimes very interesting, climbers and non-climbers. And if you are lucky you can even harvest the fruit in the end. Last year I even had some beans on the balcony. Unfortunately the rest of the plant was eaten untimely by lice.

I am growing a lot of Anthericum as well which can serve as a filler for empty places, is easy to grow from its own branches and looks wonderful when blooming (the blooms here are from my cactus though).

And this is my balcony as it looks now - wonderfully overgrown:

 (all photos above ©Petra Voegtle)

Here are a few more impressions what you can do with your balcony:

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This is a real surprise for me that you can grow Brugmansia on the balcony:

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Such a balcony garden adds to a romantic feeling - doesn't it - and is full of life instead of grey concrete. The plants create a soothing climate on your balcony, keep off dust and even pollution to some extent. They can serve as a windshield as well as a sunscreen. I could not do without them any more...

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Autumn on the Balcony

No place is too small to not grow something, to not have some living plant in pots on a small balcony or loggia, or even only on the windowsill. The internet can give you plenty of ideas how to start something like that, non-costly, non-labour-intensive.

This year I decided to do something about the missing colours at this time of the year. In the past I was always quite depressed when the plants had to come in to protect them from cold temperatures. The balcony then looked grey and abandoned. A sad view. Now we have end of October and my balcony is still full of colours thanks to one of the most wonderful flowers which show their true beauty especially at fall: Chrysanthemum.

You get them in nearly all colours you could imagine, you get them in all sizes, from large to tiny and you get them in various blossoms shapes - with very large blossoms which unfortunately do not survive frost but there are plenty enough, smaller blossoms which do. Even my Oleander is still blooming and adds his wonderful pink colour to the chorus:

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What is growing in your Balcony Garden?

This year I am really happy about my "balcony garden" because it is so lovely overgrown. In fact not very stylish as it could be and not even very tidy but greeeeeeeeeen and many blooms still to come.
I did not want to invest much money because you never know how the weather will be like and if the plants you lovingly potted will survive without mildew or other lovely pests. The question whether they will survive our harsh winters is also important because I have no possibility to put the more sensitive plants in a cool place inside.

So I decided to try something new this year:
I planted vegetable seeds and simple flowers. Vegetables can have some lovely blooms and depending on what it is, grow nicely in pots with climbing branches such as the small pumpkins. They have big yellow blooms - unfortunately they last only for one day. So this is something I am not going to repeat next year.

I also planted seeds of the Tropaeolum (Nasturtium) which is one of my favourites because it creates absolutely lovely blooms in various shades of glowing yellows, oranges and reds and their perfume is wonderful. They look very nice in small glass vases together with one of the leaves or two and can serve as lovely table decoration.

I also planted the seeds of sweet peas - which have started to bloom in the meanwhile. Their perfume is wonderful and the colours of their blooms are absolutely beautiful. They also look marvellous in small vases. I can only recommend these.

And then of course herbs in little pots or larger ones such as lavender and rosmarin may not be missing. I especially love to cook with rosmarin. There is nothing better than adding a branch of fresh rosmarin while roasting fish. Astonishingly these grow amazingly well in my balcony garden (the herbs not the fish) although we have the sun here only till about midday. Then it is wandering off around the corner of the building.

Here is what I am talking about:

So do YOU have a balcony garden and what is growing there?
Btw - something else is very valuable when you have a balcony with a green wall - it keeps the heat off considerably on really hot summer days and functions like a natural air conditioning.

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