Well I think you might know my stuff by now but my sun definitely varies during the year. Facing NE, I get no sun in winter, a little in early spring, and full-on morning sun in late spring through summer, with this reversing as fall approaches. The spring/summer sun moves diagonally eastward across the bacony as it rises and then I lose it as it goes up over the building. In mid-summer, it goes away between ~11am - noon or sometimes for a wayard branch that sticks way out on the eastern end of the balcony, it gets some sun until about 1pm. Then in the afternoon in the far western corner of the balcony, I get sun cutting across from the back and west side of the building (I'm on the corner), from about 3pm until sunset at ~8:30pm (in summer and a wee bit in winter). Little or none of that afternoon sun reaches past about the middle of the balcony - it's mainly confined to the western end.

Despite this, I have a bunch of "traditional full sun" plants over on that western side - eg., the lilacs and blueberries, and although not necessarily loaded down like ground planted ones, they have done quite well. I put my veggies and other sun lovers over there too and what does get them is the wind, which can be a nuisance. One lilac closest to the wind tunnel holds up pretty good but plants like my tomatoes and peppers, etc., that I put over there can get wilted and shredded pretty quickly. I have had good blooms from bougainvillea over there despite the wind and they really like it sunny, hot, and dry.

What were you trying to grow? I know you grow a bunch of different things each year!

I'd been growing herbs, tomatoes, annual flowers, moonflower vine .... They did OK, but never anything like as prolific as when grown in full sun, and few have survived the winter outdoors. Plants that are a bit more shade-tolerant, like bee balm, anise hyssop, chives, and lovage seem to do better, though they came back sporadically this spring. Nothing returned of a large trough of violets and woodland plants that is situated directly against an outer brick wall and shaded by the level above. There doesn't seem to be a strong winter wind, but maybe my planters aren't protected as well as if they were bunched together and in a truly enclosed space.

I've never been able to get really prolific blooms with MFs, although some of that I think is weather-related. The past couple years have had quite a bit of overcast/cool days. I've done better with MGs in my conditions. My woodlands (ferns, LOVs, leucothoe, violets, hosta) seem to be doing okay although I've had to put them behind some of the taller plants for shade. Have some newer ones this year including a variegated Jacob's Ladder that I noticed just started blooming and a bleeding heart. I have them back near the wall.

I guess it's sortof a tradeoff. I know one of my sisters used to live in an apt. with an unblocked full south-facing balcony and goodness that was rough. She continually struggled with finding something that would grow without frying and did pretty well with a miscanthus in a 1/2 barrel. Everything else including veggies, herbs, and annuals like petunias, etc., would be wilted by mid-day, although her dwarf sunflowers seemed to like it.