Last year, I put together my first balcony garden. I was hoping you might have a couple ideas for this year.

I have a second floor apartment with a balcony that faces due east. I get just about four hours of direct sunlight, then everything is "bright shade" at best. There's another balcony above mine, so basically every drop of water that the garden gets comes from my watering can. (I can be a little slow, so plants that are tolerant of growing dry for a few days are a VERY good idea.)

This is what I did last year: I placed four Ivy geranium, alternating red and white along the front, and planted pink and purple torenia (Wishbone Flower) along the back of the box. I also planted some variagated ground ivy along the edges.

Everything worked out, but I seriously overcrowded the box, which made my occasional lack of watering even worse. I don't think I'll use the ivy again, unless it's the only thing hanging from the planter. The torenia blossoms were gorgeous, but the plants grew so fast and required so much deadheading to keep them looking nice that I felt like they were taking over. If I use them again, I'll only get one or two plants to cut down on the work.

I've had thoughts of just filling the box with Ivy geraniums because they worked out so well, but then, I want to keep it interesting....

Any ideas? I've got a month or so before I'll risk putting anything out, but I'm starting to get antsy. :)