i haven't tried anything that would look nice all winter on my balcony. you might want to post on the metro new york forum.

I have a north facing NYC balcony that gets quite cold in the winter, but my hardy Hens & Chicks survived beautifully all winter long, never lost their color even after they got completely covered with snow. Soon I'll be experimenting with other hardy succulents and alpines, including evergreen vines. I also have a small evergreen pine and some type of juniper bush that I got for only $10.00 each at the Union Square Farmer's Market. A great place to find a huge selection of plants for a good price. I'm going for the Greek Island look. Here's some pics I took this morning, March 23, 2006.

{{gwi:421}}

{{gwi:422}}

{{gwi:4008}}

Thanks for sharing the photos from your NY balcony. I'm curious how many hours of sunlight it gets...if any. Those chicks and hens must be really tough!

I only get 3 hours of direct morning sun. The Hens & Chicks are extremely tough, my girlfriend who has a summer home upstate and is considered a zone 4 gave these to me. They can take all kinds of abuse and thrive. I've seen another variety that has reddish leaves.

I have a south facing terrace, and some ivy made it through the winter. Nothing else. The pots outside of the big buildings on my street have flowers in the summer and then plant cabbage-type things in winter, but those sometimes die, too. A rich friend with a roof garden has conifers that look great all year, but I hate to waste what little space I have with bulky tree things.

I saw a photo in a magazine of a balcony done with dwarf conifers - in varying shades of green and focusing on different shapes. It was spectacular, but I haven't figured out what specific conifers would work.

Ivy is definitely something to consider. There are lots of interesting ivies out there!

FG,

A southern exposure gets really hot and dry in NYC during the summer, and heuchera needs partial sun to look good. Ivy would survive, but are you sure you want it climbing all over the place?

Aside from the sempervivums, which are a great idea, do a search for drought-tolerant plants, unless your sun wants to water the boxes at least once a day all summer, and make sure they're hardy to zone 5, or they're not likely to last through winter.

Consider some evergreen herbs like lavender, thyme, santolina, and similar, although they'll look a bit ratty in cold weather, and intersperse them with hardy dwarf succulents like aptenias, delospermas, sedums, saxifragras, and such.

Also consider one or two hardy dwarf shrubs, if the box is large enough for 'em: boxwood, taxus, dwarf juniper, maybe even one of the dwarf holly cultivars. Check out Roslyn Nursery's website for more ideas.

Don't forget grasses, which can look great in winter with dried seed heads and good stem colors.

Good luck, and have fun!

Jim

Thanks, Jim, for the great suggestions. I hadn't even thought about delospermas, sedums, and the like. I didn't realize they could survive NY winters.

Do you have a favorite grass or dwarf shrub?

Ann

Hmmm, the trick is finding something hardy, that looks nice in winter: my top pick would be a dwarf amsonia cultivar -- not really a grass at all, but looks like one, has blue flowers in spring, and great fall/winter color.

I just got a dwarf itea virginica "Little Henry", but I'm not sure how it'll perform in a hot, dry window box. I would look for alpine-type plants like spirea alpina or betulifolia 'Tor', potentilla cultivars, ceratostigma plumbagoides (great red color in fall!), and similar minis.

also, some of the mini-roses are actually quite tough, so long as they don't dry out completely -- I think there's even a mini-rose forum here.

Hope this helps you get started, have fun!

Jim

Jim - I got an itea myself last fall and wintered it outside. Not sure what cultivar it is (eg., "Henry's Garnet" or "Little Henry", etc) as it was "free" from the PA Hort. Society as part of their plant divide for members, but it should be a nice little addition to my collection. It had some beautiful fall leaf and stem coloration to boot.

Hello,

We have a very sunny balcony that will soon be in view of neighbors with a new building going up very close by. We need to think of a solution for privacy. We already have up bird wiring to keep out pigeons. I was thinking of growing ivy vines up the mesh but will that die in the winter? I don't have a great green thumb, but I'm learning! Thanks!

Susan 7 - instead of ivy (which can take over) one could tack a series of strings and grow a climbing nasturtium up each one.

This could also be done by those balconyites who are not allowed to put up anything permanent for privacy.