Are you planning on pots? Tiered planters look really great on a small patio or in a small garden. How much sun does the area get? There are some easy (if you can commit to daily watering) annuals to try for sunny and hot or shady areas. Does your patio have a concrete floor? That will generate more heat too and will dictate what can thrive.

Pam

Do you have an iron railing where you can hang those pot holders for the window box type of containers or a brick wall surrounding your patio? What you can grow depends on the amount of sunlight the area receives.

Do you have a little outdoor patio sort of area? I had a tiny balcony that got afternoon sun when I lived in Madrid, and I had so much fun gardening in that tiny space. I hung little iron pot holders all around on the walls and filled them with colorful pots and creeping, weeping and colorful succulents. There was a cafe table out there, and the space wasn't really big enough for 2 people to sit there and have a meal - so I put a huge huge pot (plastic to keep the weight down) of bright pink geraniums there. It was so pretty and colorful - I just loved coming up the street and seeing it, and it was so nice to wake up and have coffee out there and watch the world go by.

I guess you could call it a patio, there is a short walkway that comes up to the front door and then there is more of a porch, not really a patio. I have two wooden pillars that could maybe have a vine of some sort. Are there any vines that have pretty colored flowers growing off of them? I haven't decided what I am going to do yet mainly because I have never gardened before and I don't where to start. I will try and get a picture posted of the front of the apartment and that might help give a better idea of what I have to work with.

You could grow a mandevilla vine up that post. Put it in a good sized container and set it next to your posts. It might need a little help with support - some small nails nailed at the top and down at the bottom(so they won't leave big holes) with heavy fishing line attached would help give it something to hold onto. It comes in pink, red or yellow, so you would have a choice. It is tropical, so if you leave it outside in the winter, it won't return. But, since you are in a rental property, an annual vine like that would probably be best. And, if your container is large enough, you could also add some other colorful annuals or foliage plants around your mandevilla to give it variety. Maybe some asparagus fern would look pretty planted around the base. It would be a very nice contrast with its soft airy foliage with the large leaves of the madevilla. This would be a good place to start. Container gardening can be a lot of fun. Just make sure you water your containers daily and lightly fertilize once a week or use one of those potting soils with the slow release fertilizer already mixed in. Those things last for 4-5 months. Make sure your containers have a drainage hole and use a saucer underneath so you don't leave stains on your patio. A tip to keep the soil from washing out through the hole in your container - lay some paper coffee filters across the hole in the bottom of the pot before putting the soil in - the water will still drain, but the soil will stay in the pot.

link to a photo of asparagus fern: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/pictures300/Fern_Asparagus300.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Fern_Asparagus.html&h=299&w=300&sz=54&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=JN5L47kWpE9xZM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dasparagus%2Bfern%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DDGUS,DGUS:2006-14,DGUS:en

Here is a link that might be useful: Picture of mandevilla vine

With a bit of protection from afternoon sun, you can have classic, tropical elephant ears. Mine have grown enough to shade their own fan club of caladiums for a color boost.

They are water hogs, so most of mine are potted and I throw water on them daily. Otherwise they are easy and beautiful.