just about full jenny?......you have created quite a greenspace...i am sure you enjoy your plants

Whoa, Jenny! So green, so LUSH! The "Full - Looking east" shot is almost scary! LOL!

I can never get a good long shot of my balcony - always shooting into the (sun)light.

Along the railing, looking east:

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Closer shot of eastern corner:

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Look closely and you'll see my two baby weigelas:

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Out the living room window, looking west. That's my veggie corner and holding/staging area ... LOL!

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Here's the new callicarpa, budding out nicely:

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Last year's fig. Had a bit of difficulty this past winter, but recovered and putting on little fig buds.

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And this is the brugmansia that the devil made me buy:

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I'm still growing a lot of annuals, but there are quite a few perennials (flowers and shrubs) out there. I'm working toward not having to plant anything "new" each year.

Fat chance.

PV

WOW PV!!! That's GREAT!! I'm going to have to take some time to study what you have there (because I know it will subliminally call to me to go find one for myself the next time I'm at a nursery...lol).

I like that idea of that expandable fence attached to the rail. THAT is a cool idea for running vines along and they would probably use that better than plastic fencing.

It's funny but I spotted the fig from a mile away. LOL When I first put mine out near the sunniest spot in the western corner. But then we got a windy storm not long after and that blew a bunch of the leaves off. They have been summarily moved to the other end of the balcony to catch less (but somewhat sufficient) rays (and less wind) there. Both figs have been sprouting new leaves now. I just got a baby one so I am coddling that.

Your weigelas look really happy and you watch - next year they'll double in size. :-D And the callicarpa will too. It has been hard for me to get a picture of mine since it is jammed inbetween my tomatoes and James McFarlane lilac... LOL Both my sister and I bought one (the nursery had a "buy 2, get one free" and we each bought 2 gallon size "Profusion" ones), which each had a central "trunk" with side branches starting to form on it. I have it in a 14" pot and it has about topped out at 4ft and about as wide in the container (looks like the growing tip has died back to keep it from going upwards). This is what it looked like in May when it started blooming (earlier than normal since it was obviously greenhouse grown but outside when I bought it):

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I thought the blooms were pretty:

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After it flowered, it didn't produce as many berries as I would have liked - I think maybe because of the stuff in the way blocking some of the wind? LOL My sister's has more berry clusters but then it is sortof freestanding where she planted it. Hers isn't quite as full as mine though. I understand that they bloom on new growth so they can (and should be) cut back to near the base like a butterfly bush. I can't wait to see the wild color berries when it's time for them to change color (although that will also mean winter is on its way... yikes).

BTW, these coleuses are YOUR FAULT!!! (heh)

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Sheesh, my coleus haven't made it outside yet! They're sitting on my dining room table, along with the caladiums and a few other things....

The callicarpa (mine is C. americana) was a "buy one, get one free" deal too - gave the other one to a friend.

There are two new azaleas out there - "Mandarin lights" and "White Lights" (which is supposed to be fragrant). The mandarin has doubled in size, the white is still puny, but alive and looking OK. Hope I can keep them alive.

PV

LOL PV! I have a new azalea out there too. It's sortof lost between the hibiscus and the pee gee hydrangea. We'll see how it goes - especially this winter. From what I understand about them, it takes a few years to build up the hardiness and the hope is that root rot doesn't get them. That's been my biggest issue (although now I'm planting my stuff in pure Promix - including the azalea, where I can lower the pH with some Hollytone and shredded oak leaf mulch).

Wow! All of you, I'm just so jealous. Such beautiful gardens. Mine is gorgeous too, for a first timer, and not dealing with anything "exotic". I just wish I had a digital camera. I did take a bunch of pictures and will develop them to disk. Maybe I'll be able to share soon. I just discovered that I have a couple tomatoes actually forming. For Wisconsin, this time of year, that's rather exciting! I also just ate my first yellow summer squash from the porch yesterday, and it was delicious. I can't wait for more things to be ready. I have baby purple bush beans coming along nicely! Yup, I'm very, very proud.

Jenny...
Hi.. I'm having a few of the roof / balconygardening folks from the city over on Saturday afternoon/evening to see the beginning of this year on the roof.. the Garden is looking fine. in a free moment i'll post this years efforts... I can't write direct.. to ask .. but if you'd like to make the trip to the city.. [ Brooklyn ..where parking is much better ] We'd love to have your expertice available.. food and drinks provided.. write back if there's any interest... Your Balcony is again this year getting packed... I've started a program of a summer camp for some of mine so there will be room to move about... any other interested parties welcome as well.
All the Best .. Gordon

wow. I definitely share the jungle aesthetic both of you guys have cultivated. But have yet to reach that level of lushness on my own balcony. (I've only been at it for two seasons, and am currently battling some foliage-eating fungi on my roses/honeysuckle.) I'll try to post some pix next time I get them developed. Thanks for the inspiration.

here are some containers i have going

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Greetings Jenny - Your balcony is so alive and lush with so much life! VERY nice.

Question for you jenny_in_SE_PA

Do you have any year round winter hardy container plants, trees, evergreens or shrubs on your balcony ?

Your 48' x 6' balcony is very unique. The 18th floor sounds like you must get some pretty severe exposure to the elements come winter there in PA. My wife & I live on the second floor up here in the North East New England, and our balcony measures just 12' long by 7' wide and fortunately faces the south sun. I have mostly small growing bonsai trees, some mosses (moss over rock), also a few good size emerald green arborvitees (it has been a challenge cramming everything into it's right spot - it is a constant moving puzzle).

Most everything I have on the balcony is winter hardy, and requires a cold winter dormancy to rest through. I wish we were up on the top balcony (6th floor)........not only more privacy, but more view, more sun, and also I would be able to get some snow in the winter to cover and help protect some of my trees from the cold if on the top 6th floor......but I think the cold winter winds would hurt my potted arborvitaes that are too large to move and protect come winter (I have a cold frame all set up on the balcony to protect the plants from going below 20 F degrees). It's okay for all of my potted container plants on our balcony to go just below freezing, but they say anything below 14 degrees F will kill the roots of most potted plants.

I included pictures below of our balcony in the spring, and this summer

I've already looked into the the Bonsai Forum, the Moss Forum, the Container Forum, and now this - the Balcony Gardening Forum. I'm always amazed what I have found on the internet........ I'm really excited to be on-board here with the balcony forum.

Thank you in advance to anyone with comments, answers, or maybe even some
questions about my balcony garden up here in the north east USA zone 5.

Best,

David. {{gwi:3354}}



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Everyone's pics are so nice! My friends all think I'm crazy for having so many plants on my porch - but after seeing these pics, I feel right at home ;-)

I will post some pics a friend took for me as soon as he gives me the disc :-)

Question for CRUNCHPA - what is that beautiful pink/purple foliage in your first pic??? I must have one!

that is a caladium,pele.

Here's my first attempt at container gardening. What fun!
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Wow Rose! You have beautiful containers. I love them all but that last one is so unique and stunning.

What is in the hanging basket?

It is bridal veil, wandering jew and purple passion. Thanks - I really like it too!

I was trying to figure out what green leaf plant flowered like bridal veil. = )

I love that combination! Your fountain on the first pic is also super cute.

I have the same fountain.
I didn't set it up this year though. I'm having "issues" with a raccoon who has decided to included my yard on his list of places to visit. He already knocked over my bird bath 3 times to get to the water. I have no problems with him drinking from the fountain. I DO however have a problem with him walking through my herb garden to get to it! LOL!
So I decided to give it a rest this year.
Here's a pic of it from 2002-
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Since this is an update post...
Here's my yard today-
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Hi David (bonsai_moss)! Welcome to our (obsessive) world! LOL

Yes, most of what I have out on my balcony that you see in those pictures, are cold hardy plants. The only things that I have to bring in are my tropicals and subtropicals (eg., plumies, stephanotis, christmas cactuses, a kalanchoe, some hoyas, passifloras, bougainvillea, tropical hibiscus, mandevilla, oleanders, some habanero plants that are now 3 years old, a gardenia, a scented geranium, a white BOP, my 3-year old Elephant Ears, and my 3 fig trees, which can technially stay out there if wrapped them very well, but I give them chill hours, with some wrapping, and bring them inside around January to let them leaf out inside). The rest of the stuff stays out there, including my fishies in the water garden (I have heaters for them), although I do bring in my crape myrtle if it gets too cold.

With respect to the weather, there are some days when it gets windy, but not that often. But I do face NE and when the Nor'easters come up the coast, I get all that rain and wind head-on. In winter, the balcony gets blizzarded on. LOL

This was the winter of 2003 after a 20" blizzard, where I had over 1 foot drifts on the balcony. LOL:

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Hello,

Great pics everyone! Jenny, your garden is as lush as ever, crunchpa: I love your hanging baskets and your colors... This is GREAT INSPIRATION!

This is my first update on my city balcony progress, and judging from all the pics below, I still have a long way to go!!! Mine is a tiny space (6x10 ft) compared to some of yours... but I've got petunias, sweet potato vine, small dahlias, and a little herb garden. I have an oleander too, did not get a pic of it, except I think you can see it in the last picture next to the herbs (got to remember to keep it away of the herbs, because of the toxic leaves). Also not pictured is a small jasmine I got last week.

Here is the balcony before:

and after (it's still a work in progress):

East side planter #1:


South East side planters #2, #3:


South West side planters #4 & #5: I love the dahlias, they look like a lotus flower, and they are blooming like mad...

West side planter #6: the herb garden! (I since have transplanted the basil back into a pot on my table because it was getting too tall and getting broken by the wind -it gets pretty drafty up here on the 18th floor!)

I just love seeing everbyody's flowers. I am so inspired!

Rose

Rose, that is pretty impressive for first time! You kinda put me to shame.

Katherine, you have done a super job with a small space!

I too, have that same fountain ...tho I have messed with mine. When I got done planting, I needed something to DO!

I haven't taken update pics because I've been waiting for things to look good again. The 10 days of thunderstorms really wreaked havoc on a lot of my flowers. I wonder how you avoided that, Katherine.

It sure has been windy here in NYC and I am amazed my flowers survived the thunderstorms as well as they did (and now get ready for round 2, with this coming storm).. My petunias were a little head over heels at one point but they recovered ok. My oleander though went down twice, before I replanted it into a heavy terracota pot and the basil got its head chopped off too, but there no major casualty!

Here are some of my recent pics:
First Mandevilla bloom:

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New Passiflora:

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First Moonflower bloom:

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Hyacinth Beans(left)and MGs(right):

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Wow! Everyone's gardens are looking fantastic!

crunchpa - is that coreopsis "moonbeam" in your second pic? And what's the variegated plant in with the pink flowers? Very nice.

David (bonsai_moss ) - thank you so very much for the pictures of your balcony. What an elegant space you have created. I am very fond of bonsai, but have difficulty in keeping them alive. Your plants are beautiful....

Rose - your containers are so vivid! Love 'em.

OUTofSPITE - just how many pots DO you have out there? Looking good!

catherinek - aren't you the one who claimed, a month ago, that you were a "rookie gardener"? Well, looks to me like the genes do tell! LOL! Your balcony is looking very nice.

And balconygardener - your vines are causing me some serious envy, especially the mandevilla and passion flower! Oy, what I wouldn't give for some more SUN!

Since I posted my update pics, things have been growing quite well, despite the wind and rain and sunless days! I can barely move around to water. The other day, a datura seedpod got me in the shin - those things are spiky!

Here's the east end, about two weeks ago, on a (lately) rare sunny day in NYC:

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PV

that is moonbeam with barberry 'rosy glow'..........sedum'frosty morn' with pink petunias

Well i guess it's my turn to post some photos :
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I'm growing more interested in vegetables. Stretching the limits and trying to know how many pumpkins I can grow on my balcony.
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If you want to see if I can manage to garden with a kitten, go on

Here is a link that might be useful: my gardenbook

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PV

I took these a week or so ago, and am finally getting around to posting them. To get an idea of what the balcony looks like these days, just add coral, seaweed, some fish . . . it's been pretty wet lately!

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: balcony, west side

Here's another shot looking west along the south side, with brunfelsia isola on the table.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: south side, looking west

Oops, wrong pic -- here it is.

Here is a link that might be useful: south side

Jim - that looks great! By next year, that table top will be covered!! LOL

I saw your plumie sitting up there in the first picture but I am curious what that plant is on the far right edge of the same picture with the plumeria? It looks like something in the sweet pea family (ie., a locust or a mimosa or something - having a long stem with identical-looking leaves, opposite to one another, going down the length of the stem).

Really nice, Jim! I especially like those planter boxes (and they even match your table, sheesh :p). It looks like you don't plant directly in them, but put pots in them ... is that correct?

Jenny,

It's a wisteria fruticosa "Amythyst Falls", which is supposed to be "more restrained" than an asian wisteria -- true, but it's all relative. It didn't bloom well this year, and had no repeat bloom this summer, so I'm beginning to have doubts about it, particularly with the thunbergia grandiflora right beyond it blooming every day. But I do love the foliage, and I'm trying not to be too impatient with everything, or I'd always be switching out old plants for new ;>).

Meg, I actually do plant directly in the boxes -- I staple heavy-duty garbage bags inside for a liner, with drainage holes slashed at the bottom. It seems to work pretty well so far, but the build quality of the boxes is not great -- some of them are opening up at the corners. Is there nowhere on this planet to get a good, yet cheap, wooden planter?!?

Thanks for the complements, all; it brings a smile to me on a busy day.

Jim

Wisteria. Heh. I keep looking at those and I have seen a number of personal websites with people who have posted photos of theirs, which they have basically bonsai-ed, keeping them about 4ft or 5ft tall and blooming - all in a relatively small container (I'd say, I've seen them in 14" or 16" ones).

Very nice and good luck with your baby. :-)

Hi Jenny
Your pictures are great! I see that you have a Bougainvillea. I received one as a gift in the spring and am wondering how to keep it alive over the winter. It is beautiful. It sits now in a large pot against the north side of the house, its approximately 4 feet high and still flowering even though we have had a light frost. Should I prune it and how much? Should I bring it inside? Would it be okay in the garage or do I need to bring it into the house? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have searched the Garden Web, but have had trouble finding anyone who has one in the northeast.

Gosh - sorry I missed this post.

I have my bougie inside now. They can be severely pruned as I understand and I think if you keep them under strong lights, after they do a leaf drop (due to a change of conditions), they will resprout new growth and can get back into a growth and bloom cycle again. Some people will keep them in a cool location to go semi-dormant, although they will probably drop leaves in that instance until eventually moved into light and warmth.

I've only had mine since this past March so this will be its first winter for me overwintering under my lights.

HI jen!Hope everyone has been well.You are certainly infull bloom in Pa.That's some Fig!I've scaled down quite abit.My purple fountain grass,orn.cabbage,one tough rosemary.That Poly/Jasmine never did bloom.Found a beautiful Oncidium orchid.Little christmas cactus is fine.No doubt now that I'm back the numbers will grow and grow and grow!Glad all is well for you this season.-D

hi there, i asked you about the name of one of your plants on the hibiscus formum (i gave only a written description)...i want to thank you for your help. i thought i would let you know that i found out what it is (finally)...it is called Hoya...(wax plant), i also learned how to get it to bloom, but it will take a couple of years. oh well, it's worth the wait...the blooms are really unique! Thanks again Lisa

Hi Donielle - yep have been busy getting things ready for winter out there. And that was alot. LOL I have a bunch of new evergreens that need protection and I'm going to try a burlap screen this year rather than plastic and see how that goes.

I have 2 Chirstmas cactuses budded - the one I sortof dub a "Thanksgiving cactus" because it usually blooms much sooner and looks like it'll be opening flowers in a few weeks. The other still have some time, but the buds are getting a little bigger.

Realms - I think I had mentioned the mandevilla but didn't realize you were talking about the hoyas! LOL I had 4 of them out there for the first time this year. One of them - the H. lacunosa, has been blooming inside quite a bit. The others have yet to bloom. One day. LOL

Here's the lacunosa with alot of blooms on it (a rope hoya is to the far right hanging down lower):

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Here's a closer pic of the blooms:

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Jenny in SE PA, hi there... Lisa again, your hoya is beautiful and HUGE...thank you for showing the pics!! Lisa

Jenny,

You've done it again! I repotted my lacunosa last year, and it's finally putting out buds again! Maybe some day it will look sorta like yours. Enjoy!

Jim

P.S. Many thanks to GordonHawk for a tour of his fantastic set-up, both inside and out, and a fistful of brugmansia cuttings, which will eventually fill the space left by my R.I.P. bauhinia!

LOL That poor thing was so neglected last winter - I didn't have anyplace to hang it so I sat it on a table near my lights but not under them. I bought it at Home Depot and it had been pruned all around to the edge of the pot. It had the nerve to send out vines all over my table, attaching to the electric cords for the lights and the light stand and any plants nearby. lol

The Lacunosa (also called "mini waxleaf") seemes to prefer more water than the others I have and would wilt alot last year before I got chance to water it. That's probably what triggered it to start blooming (stress... lol). Once it got warm outside and I had a place to hang it, I could water it alot better and now I have a place to hang it inside.

It has a nice wafting fragrance from those blooms in the evening.

Now to get the carnosa and incurvula to bloom. ;-)

I think we need a gallery :-) Freaks me out how long I have to wait every time I want to read what's happening in this thread.