Super Late Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Purple Fountain Grass

Wow I am late with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Really I was prepared on July 15th but for some reason my motivation has been slacking in all aspects of life. I need a nice vacation with no stress, like that is possible. Better late then never right? Carol from May Dreams Gardens created Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Garden Bloggers from all over the world share their blooms every 15th of the month. Go and visit Carol and all the wonderful bloggers who participated in GBBD.


Lobelia Crystal Palace


Campanula Deep Blue Clips


Balloon Flower


Candytuft


Mexican Heather


Gaillardia Razzle Dazzle


Vinca


Weeping Drawf Crape Myrtle Sacramento


Juanita Hatten Bougainvillea


Barbara Karst Bougainvillea


Chenille Firetail


Cocktail Vodka Begonia


Gaillardia Razzle Dazzle


Gaillardia Razzle Dazzle


Abutilon Bella Red Grapefruit


Gaillardia Razzle Dazzle


Sweet William Pinocchio


White Pentas

My Balcony Update

Right side on my balcony

So here is my balcony again for all to see. Of course it has changed since I have taken this picture. I just put out a flat with some sweet potato vine cuttings and the ground is messy again. When I take photos of my balcony is always after I have swept it. I added one plant since taking this photo, the basket plant I had inside.

On this side:
bougainvillea (2), jasmine, evening primrose, torenia, laura bush petunia, abutioin, corkscrew vine, daylily, hyacinth bean vine, stock, coleus, gaillardia, parsley, cocktail vodka begonia, vinca, livewire grass, variegated devils backbone, mexican heather, plumos fern, sunflower (2 both not doing well), winter squash, woolly mint, statice, mt fuji morning glory, phlox, salvia (not doing well), nemesia, bunny tail grass, lobelia, and soapwort


Lower right corner


Upper right corner


Left side

The left side always seems to get all the bad insects and diseases. Right now that side has white flies badly, minor spider mites, and the dianthus was partially rotting for some reason. This side has improved alot since I first started. It used to be the side where nothing would really grow and just didn't look too great. It looks great now in the picture but those darn white flies. I think I had some control over them recently with my daily (sometimes twice) spraying.

Plants here:
Hibiscus, boston fern, maiden hair fern, mint, knotweed, weeping dwarf crape myrtle, jacqueline hillier elm, dragons blood sedum, myrtle spurge, jovibarba hirta, needle point ivy, variegated devils backbone, variegated dracaena, amaryllis, snake plant, purple fountain grass, sweet potato vine, mt fuji morning glories, chenille plant, white pentas, dianthus pinnocchio, campanula blue clips, and balloon flower.


Lower left corner


Upper left corner

Do click on photos to see bigger picture.

My Balcony Update

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 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 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"

Even More Foliage

Daylilies growing on my balcony.

There are many many Daylilies in my balcony garden. I got so carried away with purchasing them with no worry to where they would go. They take up the biggest chunk of space. I like their foliage so they make a nice addition. There are daylily seeds that I purchased and never got to planting them. They are still in my fridge I'm sure moldy and not good by now. I'm hoping that I will get some blooms from them but I can only hope.


Columbine pushing out leaves but no flowers.

My Columbine has been making leaves like a machine. Right now it has so many new leaves coming out it's crazy. I do hope some blooms come along. I'm sad for my Columbine because it was attacked by the spider mites. Me not thinking put the effected lemon balm close to the Columbine and the mites traveled. I had thought the Columbine leaves looked odd but thought they were just old and dying leaves. I seem to always be fighting the battle against aphids and spider mites.


Peppermint growing like a weed

I had previously called this Spearmint but it's Peppermint. Goes to show how closely I paid attention to what I planted at the beginning of my seed addiction. My peppermint is still infested with aphids. I'm just not diligent enough to spray everyday and see if they disappear. I will have to though and it started yesterday. What a pain and why my mint?


The Unknown Jasmine.

The Unknown Jasmine got a nice new soil mix. I noticed it hadn't been growing well. It was planted when I didn't have soil conditioner to give more drainage. Just a few weeks ago it was repotted in the same container but with better soil mix. Now there is new growth. Hopefully it is happy and will take off.


Stock growing happily with the Sweet Peas.

The Stock is doing great along with the Sweet Peas. It has grown nicely. The Stock I transplanted wilts for some reason later in the day. I'm not sure if it's getting used to it's new home or disliking the humid/heat conditions.


The never before seen Astilbe!

This is not a new plant in my garden. I purchased this last year but it came as twigs. It then looked like it had died. Patience was given to see if it was faking death. I waited until early march until the Hosta started to come back right beside it. Well, it must be dead right? Wrong! Just when I purchased a Caldium bulb to take it's place signs of life emerged. Now it's doing great and new leaves are appearing every week. I'm glad I get to see my Astilbe grown now.


Invincible Hosta, true to it's name.

The Hosta is back. It was doing well in around January but then died away. I hoped it would come back and it did. Now My front door container might just be full soon with the Astilbe and the Hosta growing nicely. The Ajuga doesn't seem to be happy and might just die away.

Take A Look At My Nook Continued

Left side of my balcony garden.

Last post I wrote about the right side of my balcony. Now it's time to see my left side. It doesn't have nearly as many plants as the right side does. The storage closet makes it difficult to pack in all the plants. It's the only corner/side I get some shade for part of the day. This is where I put plants that will fry on the other side. There is a downside to the left side besides the storage closet. The left side is where my glass sliding door is. The glass can really reflect the sun and sometimes makes it even harder to have plants live in front of the glass.


Lower left corner of my balcony

The lower left corner has the wanna-be bonsais and the plants that can burn or I just stick there just because. This corner doesn't change much at all. It changed yesterday and got some new transplants and a plant repotted. It got some seeds, lost a bonsai, and gained a plant in the course of a month. Even though this is my "shade" corner it really doesn't get much shade at all. My maiden fern does suffer here once winter fades away.



Starting on the left are some Stock seedlings that were transplanted from their other pot. It was getting too crowded for them in their old pot. I thought a new pot and plant in this area would be nice. Behind that is what used to be the variegated dracaena. I left it outside during the winter and don't think it lived. It's said to be a houseplant but the women who gave it to me had it outside but on her covered porch. I don't have a covered porch. Also in the pot with the maybe dead dracaena are some devil's backbone. The old women gave me the whole pot. The devil's backbone I think it's rather past it's prime and could possibly be thrown out. I'm just seeing how it fairs for the next month or two. In front of that pot is the snake plant. These are doing great and new leaves are coming up every few weeks. On the table starting in the back is the Weeping Dwarf Crape Myrtle Sacramento. The crape myrtle is doing wonderful I'm so excited about it. In front to the left is a peat pot with a hyacinth seed in there that will hopefully grow. The two bonsai pots next to the peat pot have myrtle spurge seeds. There are a few seedlings of myrtle spurge starting to come out. I'll show you the seedling later in the post. The last bonsai pot on the table has the Jacqueline Hillier Elm which I'm not sure made it through the winter. It was starting to get new leaves in November and since then lost it's leaves and hasn't had any signs of new growth. I can only hope it comes back like the Crape Myrtle did. To the right of the table in the back is the newly repotted Hibiscus Rose. It has about 4 buds that should be opening up at the same time in the next few days. It's be great to have more then one bloom open at the same time. In front of the hibiscus to the left is a black pot with the knotweed (it's been trimmed recently...it got really roughed up), snake plant, and some unknown green plant that hasn't really grown. The last pot has the ferns it in. Right now the Boston Fern is doing good. I think the Boston Fern does better on my balcony then the maiden fern. As you can see the maiden fern is brown on the edges. Just a month or two ago the maiden fern was lush and green. Now that it got hotter and the sun has gotten stronger it's not doing well. There are baby ferns that are very slowly growing.


Upper left corner of my balcony garden.

Lastly the upper left corner. This corner also doesn't change much. It hasn't changed in many months now. The last addition to this area was the snapdragon. Before the snap dragon nothing much had changed. When I got these plants and pots this was the first place I put them and the place they stayed. This corner is the most lush corner is my opinion. It used to be the most unlush corner when it started. When I bought the plants they were tiny and so small. They quickly grew in no time.



Starting on the left side. The pot on the left contains the Dianthus Pinnochio Mix and the Dr Ruppel Clematis. The pot next to it contains the pink snapdragon. The last pot has Campanula blue clips (not doing well and is still so tiny), Columbine Star Blue and Allium Joystick Mix (which hasn't turned out to be a mix at all). There is also some lemon balm usually on this side but it's to the side of the photo. The lemon balm is infested with spider mites. The spider mites have gotten on the columbine. I'm finally going to throw the lemon balm out like I should have many months ago. I don't use the lemon balm for anything and I don't really like the smell. The scent of the lemon balm reminds me of mosquito repellent. That is not my favorite smell at all.

That's it for the left side of my balcony. Now you have seen it all. Not very exciting I know. It will grow out and be great soon. I'm awaiting for my vines to take over the metal railings. I have the one corkscrew vine that is spreading it's self fast on the right side. The other corkscrew vine just started to grow out little vines and is near the center rail to hopefully start were the other corkscrew vine may stop. I wouldn't be surprised if they overlap. That would be scary if the corkscrew vine did grow that big...it just might.


The right side of my balcony with new pots and reorganized.

Since last post I have changed the right side. I told you it changes often. I'm constantly moving things when I get new seeds or plants. I moved some pots around like the corkscrew vine, the jasmine, the devils backbone and the evening primrose.


New Pots with transplants and seeds.

Some new pots moved in. I got the rectangular planters finally to put my parsley seedlings and dimorphotheca aurantica African Moon seedlings. I know they aren't spaced right and will get crowded soon but I just can't throw good seedling out. After all it's containers and things will be compact. The three little 4" pots have poppy venus, heavenly angels mix peony poppies, and lt blue mt fuji morning glory seeds in them. The large pot has English Lavender Dwarf Hidcote seeds in it. Now I get the thrill of looking for new spouts again.


Myrtle Spurge Sprout

Speaking of new sprouts. Here is the Myrtle Spurge starting to peak it's head of the dirt. I'm glad that it sprouted even though I'm scared. Just not so sure I will like this plant. I guess I will never know if I don't try right?


Godetia buds!

I'm very surprised by this discovery. My godetia has buds! I will get to see blooms of this plant after all. I thought it wasn't doing well since all the lower leaves browned and just fell off. It looks to be doing well enough that it will flower. This was the only seed that sprouted after two tries from the same packet. There are even some seeds left for me to try again some day. I'll wait until after the blooms to see if it's worth finishing off the seed packet for maybe a lucky seed to sprout.


Corkscrew vine making it's way up and to the left

Lastly I'll leave you with the beast of the balcony garden. I still can't believe this is the fasts largest growing thing I have right now. This corkscrew vine was the sickest plant I had just not to long ago. It had some mildew or something and all it's leaves fell off. Now it's climbing it's way up up up. The middle vine finally reached the second top bar. Now it is being wound to the left. The far left vine will get wound up the top bar. The far left vine will probably just get around the other bars...maybe. You can see I really didn't think it deeply about where I was going to wind these besides up and left. I'll figure something out I'm sure.

Sorry for the long post! There was just so much to say today.

Take A Look At My Nook

Right side of my balcony.

Now all you readers I'm sure are dieing to see the big picture. I've been avoiding showing my balcony. I'm not sure why I just don't feel I've made the jungle I envisioned. Like I mentioned before I have many times just stuck plants where there is room in a container. Things look a bit different now. I'm always moving containers around so it never stays the same for too long. Let me show you the right side of my balcony. If you come out of my sliding screen door this will be on the right.

Here you see the big green planter. The green planter right in the middle contains many things and is always changing when things die. Right now it has dianthus tall double flowering mix, grape hyacinths, one hyacinth woodstock, a candytuft, phlox of sheep seedlings, and possibly dusty miller seedlings. Right in front is a tray with little pots most are plastic some are peat. There is the dieing sweet basil, the two dead coleus, and needpoint ivy in peat pots. In plastic pots there are dimorphotheca aurantica african moon, mt fuji morning glories and gaillardia razzle dazzle. In front of that tray is my seed tray that has parsley big mountain, laurentia, and more dimorphotheca aurantica african moon.


Upper right corner to the left of the large green planter.

This is the upper right corner of the balcony. Here to the left and in front of the large green planter in the orange pot is the cocktail vodka begonia. It likes this spot a lot. I had it somewhere else and it wasn't happy. To the left of the begonias in the large container in the corner is the juanita hatten bougainvillea. It doesn't look like much now but hopefully it will come back soon. In front of the bougainvillea are some daylilies..not sure what varieties any more, maybe cold harbor and windsor castle. In front of the daylilies in the black container is the unknown jasmine. I'm not sure if the jasmine would do well somewhere else. I haven't bothered to move the jasmine but maybe I should. To the left of the jasmine is the not fairing well two woodstock hyacinths, the thriving candytuft, and the not so well godetia. If front of that container is the evening primrose. No blooms on the primrose yet but there are many buds. Lastly to the right of the evening primrose container are the newly transplanted grape hyacinths. They were in a glass bowl and just weren't doing well. It was intended for them to be forced inside but I never brought them back in one day.


The bottom right corner of my balcony to the right of the big green planter

Lastly my bottom right corner. Probably the corner I like the most. Things do fairly well here because they get sun but aren't blasted like the upper right corner. Lets start in the back. Right behind the white container and super large container hidden is the corkscrew vine. It's nicely climbing it's way up the railing. Pretty soon I'm going to have to make it go to the left. The white container has stock tudor tapesty and sweet pea bijou mix. To the right of that is the super big container in the corner with many dayliles. Each is a different variety of daylily I'll see which is which when/if they bloom. To the left of those two containers is the flowering pansy. In front of the pansies going left to right is mint, then corkscrew vine, then the minerva amaryllis. The large rectangular container has daylilies and grape hyacinths. To the left of the rectangular container is woodstock hyacinths in the glass vase (shame on me) and devils backbone (someone kindly found out what my mystery plant was). To the right of all of that are 3 little pots. 2 pots have gaillardia razzle dazzle seedlings and 1 has a grape hyacinth. There is another little pot hidden between the pansy and mint that has more grape hyacinths.

That is my right side. It contains the most of my plants. I know it's ugly I should have spared your eye. Nah I like my corner. It's my first spring so next year I'll know what to do better and actually plan. Sorry for all the misspelling and grammar mistakes I'm horrible at my own native language, english.