pick_me

5/03/2008

My Balcony Update

creeping ruellia
Creeping Ruellia


Last time I mentioned this plant I accidentally called it Mexican Petunia. I'm sorry for that. My teacher had said it was ruellia and had not specified. I had thought it looked mighty different from all the others. It's a creeping ruellia (Ruellia malacosperma). It has started to bloom out by the front door and is doing great. The Rex Begonia in the same pot is doing very well too. I believe it has started to get new leaves and it's red color has brightened up quite a bit.

The other pot I brought home a while back with purple fountain grass, and sweet potato vines is also doing wonderful. The fountain grass has really started to grow and make the container look better. The sweet potato vines have new leaves growing which means it's getting fuller.

left side balcony
Left side of my Balcony


Now here is what my balcony looks like with new plants and things rearranged. Always moving stuff around out there but I just can't help it. It's become harder to make room for all the plants I get for free, the seeds I buy, and the seeds I receive. It's really depressing because I feel so very limited. It's hard to not be able to buy all the seeds I plants I see and want because I no longer have the space. The days when space was readily available are greatly missed.

right side balcony
Right side of the Balcony


I've been very stressed out lately. Mainly because of school and finals coming up next week. I have been a procrastinator because I just don't want to do any more with these classes. Now I'm down to major crunch time. I'm not a happy person when I don't enough me time to do all that I want to do in the time I want to do it. I never used to be this way but after having a year that I didn't work it changed me. I realized how much time in a day there was to do art. From there I gained more hobbies and interests. I could spend the whole day on the computer, making crafts, taking photos, etc.. and still not get done all I wanted to.

The point of this..nothing really. But I'm also stressed about my plants. I'll be going on vacation soon for a week or two. I'm very worried about their survival. I'll be moving them all inside except for the vines. I'm thinking of doing a wicking system and getting the soil moist to help keep them going while I'm gone. I'll have to ask my friend who lives close by if she will come over maybe once or twice and make sure things are watered. I have wanted to plant more seeds but just can't because they will probably dry out way fast and die. I'm worried about the seeds I do have especially the poppies. They are so easy to kill and I would be sad to see my attempt fail again on them. I have though of getting a drip irrigation but I'm not sure how to hook that up. I don't have an outdoor faucet. Just a the water faucets inside. Does anyone know if they can connect to the water faucets? I wanted to buy a kit then just buy the extra pieces to be able to water all my plants. Anyone with suggests would be great. I know Anna has mentions the bottle method which I will probably do for my larger containers but most of my containers are small like 4" to 8"

7 comments:

Andrea said...

When I read your posts, its amazing how similar we are. I too was from the art world. I spent my entire childhood/teenaged years working on my drawing up until I got into Animation. I was thrilled, but after the second semester, I realized that A)there was no money in Animation B)I didn't want to do it anymore. Had I exhausted my passion on it? I couldn't say. I still live and breath art, though it comes in different formats. I find I do the extact same thing you do. I find hobbies, I dip into all of them but there isn't nearly as much time In the day as I would like so that I could actually accomplish one of them. There's so much to do, so little time to do this. I wonder if its by Pisces nature that we spread ourselves thin and become the jack of all trades in the artistic world? Just a food for thought.

Andrea said...

Oh and as a side note, I also live in an apartment. We're about to go buy a hose for watering out on the balcony and I'll be buying a hookup so I can connect it to the sink. Because lets face it, walking back and forth from the bathtub to the balcony with a watering can gets redundant after the second time. And nothing ever gets watered like you would like it too when you water with a watering can. I'll let you know how that goes when it comes up. We're still waiting on the cold nights to go away.

garden girl said...

Hang in there Priscilla. You do a great job with your garden even though your space is limited.

I've seen some drip systems where there's a reservoir - no outdoor water hookup necessary. I hope you find what you need or your friend can come and water for you.

I completely understand what you mean about there not being enough hours in the day for creative pursuits. Too bad we need sleep! I end up staying up too late so I can do stuff I want to do, but then I'm too tired the next day.

Julie said...

Hi...I found this page that talks about how to keep your plants alive while you are on vacation...I only read the only about using plastic bags...and it sounds perfect (and cheap method) for you, while you are gone. Read about it HERE

Sue Swift said...

I sympathise. How to keep the balcony going while I'm away, sometimes for extended periods, is my biggest nightmare. I usually leave mine to the tender loving care of our condo caretaker. About half of them survive, and the rest are fine after a couple of months convalescence...

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

I was a balcony gardener for years. It was a challenge to garden in such a small space.

Unknown said...

I know what it's like to be under stress. Luckily you know that the finals will be over soon, so hopefully it's not something that will hang out for LONG periods of time!

I guess I take my plants inside when I go on vacation. I give them a through watering right before I leave. I can never bring myself to go on a long vacation though, so I don't know what I would do if I went away for more than a week.

Good luck with the finals, I'm sure you'll do great!