Gardening on a Balcony

Season-long interest in containers

Today we ’re visiting with Cynthia Strickland . We visited her former garden in St. Louis ( Gardening in St. Louis ) , but today she ’s showing us her current horticulture setup on a balcony in Raleigh , North Carolina . It ’s a estimable admonisher that even the smallest of spaces can be made into a garden fulfil with beautiful plants .

My first challenge was gardenias . I set twoGardenia jasminoides‘August Beauty ’ ( Zones 7–11)evergreen shrubsin autumn of 2020 . The plants survived the meek wintertime in plastic pot in a sheltered area . The blossom bloomed in May and June ! I adore the flower word form , scent , and the shining light-green leaves , so it was deserving a try in the less - than - idealistic conditions .

In this second photograph you’re able to see one of the evergreen gardenia shrubs next to a crapper ofHeucherasanguinea‘Bressingham ’ ( Zones 3–8 ) and some pottedAjuga(unknown variety ) . Sadly , by July both gardenias dropped all their leaves and died . Gardenias were one of the master bloom in my wedding ceremonial , so it was prissy to experiment with the plants . The flowers and scent take back happy memories .

Here you’re able to see an former spring photo of the two gardenia bush arranged with thelarger - leavedHosta‘Guacamole ’ ( Zones 3–8 ) and the smallHosta‘Blue Mouse Ears ’ ( Zones 3–8 ) .

Cosmossulphureus‘Cosmic Orange ’ ( one-year ) with gardenia .

My 2nd trial wasLagurus ovatus(annual ) , anornamental grassnative to the Mediterranean with a common name of bunny tails . I grew quite a few seedlings indoors with aheating matandgrow lighter . Several small , thickset mounds of gentle foliage endured thespider mites(I examine homemade insecticidal grievous bodily harm andneem oil spray ) . Without full sun , I managed to savor one cushy and downlike bunny tail panicle in August !

In this broad view of the summer balcony , you may see two lowly containers of the bunny girl arse grass .

The third fresh flora for me last year wasThunbergiaalata‘Blushing Susie ’ ( zona 10–11 or as an one-year ) . I commence seeds indoors and hoped to have threehanging basketsofvineswith pink heyday . One blank basket produced heyday for a few week in June . However , the white containers were cooked with heat . turn out them bear witness to be too much piece of work for not enough delectation . A few of the most vigorous vines were transplanted into the ground and flowered sparsely until frost .

Closer view of aThunbergia alata‘Blushing Susie ’ flower

By late summertime I still had several pots of dark unripened foliage ( my favorite ) but needed more flowers , so I fill in with three pots ofCanna× generalis‘Bronze Orange ’ ( Zones 7–11 or as an one-year ) , which was also new to me .

The canna plants took turns blooming until frost . One of the three canna is currently enjoying life as a houseplant .

Have photos to share ? We ’d make out to see your garden , a exceptional solicitation of plant you love , or a grand garden you had the chance to visit !

To submit , send 5 - 10 photos to[email protected]along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos . We ’d love to find out where you are located , how long you ’ve been gardening , achiever you are proud of , failure you learned from , hopes for the future , preferent flora , or comical account from your garden .

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