Hello-
I have assorted plants that I leave on my porch during the good weather...If you want color I would go with varigated pothos. The will grow so you need to keep an eye on them and just keep cutting to start new plants...But I would think they would be great. And with the direct sun they should do great...If you want to talk, contact me at
plant_medic@optonline.net

T

Petunias could be a good choice. Wave petunias would even hang down from your planters. Of course, I'm partial to potted petunias. Actually, with a southern exposure you have a wide choice of flowers. When you buy your flats watch for tags that say the plants grow best in full sun -- and enjoy!

Hmmm, I have the same kind of issues with my balcony, except I'm in San Francisco. I have a westward-facing balcony which gets a lot of sun (on the days we get sun in SF!) but it's also extremely windy because I live on top of a hill. I'm interested to try the wave petunias that someone recommended above. I think my main concerns for planting are, a) that my plants get enough water, b) my plants have enough growing room, and c) they won't blow over.

My general plan is to plant a lot of vines and trailing flowers that I can guide along my rails for stability. I'm going to grow morning glories, moon flowers, and four o'clocks, and nasturtiums to let trail downwards. My nasturtiums did well last year.

For flower boxes, my guess would be to find flowers that won't grow so tall (otherwise you'd have to stake them). I think that California poppies are quite sturdy against windy weather, at least where I live, so that might be a good choice. Some hardy flowering herbs, like rosemary and lavender could probably handle the windy climate as well.