Amarylis's Balcony garden
Garden Type: Balcony | Sun: Partial Sun | Soil: Potting Mix | Established: 2001 | Organic
- 4
- 3
I live on the ground floor of a block of flats & have a balcony 3m long by 1.5m wide by about 2m high.
I have done most of my gardening on this balcony since 2002. I grow lots of flowers & some Tomatoes & Strawberries during the summer. I have pots in aluminium rings hanging on the balcony railings. I have 3 long, white planters on the balcony floor up against the railings. The railings are covered in chicken wire & climbers, like Morning Glory, cover it in the summer. There are 3 big square pots with Golden Conifers as well as other big pots with different plants according to the seasons. There is a bar all along the middle of the balcony railings on which I place pots of different plants, again according to the seasons.
On the two end walls that enclose the balcony there are hanging baskets & wall pouches, usually full of flowers! Along the front of the balcony there are 3 hanging baskets hanging from the ceiling of the balcony, these are generally full of plants all year round according to the seasons.
There is also a free standing greenhouse, a metal frame with 3 shelves & a plastic cover, now perished! This is full of plants most of the year & also doubles as a support frame for the Tomato plants during the summer. (Update 2012: This greenhouse has now been taken away as it had rusted away & was falling apart.) I now have only a big round white table in the most sheltered corner of the balcony. During the winter it is home to many plants I conserve during the cold months & during the summer months it has some pots of flowers.
Most of the plants on the balcony are grown from my own stock. I often buy trays of plug plants like Pansies or Violas in the winter & then some bedding plants for the summer, like Petunias, which gave a magnificent display during 2011 & 2012. I just don’t have space or conditions to grow a lot of bedding plants.
I buy some bulbs for winter & for summer & conserve them for planting the following year once they have finished growing. I also grow some plants from seed but mostly on the allotment I share with my friend Gerry from church. He has a greenhouse on his allotment & I start off some of my plants in there & then bring them home when they are big enough or ready for planting out.
I also move plants from inside our flat out onto the balcony when the weather is warm enough. When my Amaryllis have finished flowering I put them on the table on the balcony. As their leaves get too big for the balcony I’m forced to take them down to the allotment when all danger of frost has past, mid-May.
Containing 37 plants, Amarylis's Balcony garden is an outdoor garden located in Huntingdon, United Kingdom and is grown using organic principles.
This Balcony garden is located in USDA Zone 8a and has Potting Mix soil with a Partial Sun outlook.Photos
Plantings
-
Petunia Day 4
Petunia multiflora
Transplanted on 16 May 13
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Petunia Day 5
Petunia multiflora
Purchased on 15 May 13
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Carnation 'Florist red' Day 39
Dianthus caryophyllus
Transplanted on 11 Apr 13
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Tomato 'Garden pearl' Day 39
Solanum lycopersicum
Sown on 11 Apr 13
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Tomato 'Gardener's delight' Day 39
Solanum lycopersicum
Sown on 11 Apr 13
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Common hyacinth Day 63
Hyacinthus orientalis
Established on 18 Mar 13 These Hyacinths have been growing in the same b...
- 2
- 0
- 0
-
Carnation Florist Red Day 63
Dianthus caryophyllus
Transplanted on 18 Mar 13 These Red florist Carnations originally were gi...
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Common snowdrop 'Flore Pleno' Day 82
Galanthus nivalis
Sown on 27 Feb 13 These Snowdrops came from a lady who has a plot...
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Common hyacinth Day 111
Hyacinthus orientalis
Established on 29 Jan 13 My Hyacinths from previous years are now growin...
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Spring crocus Day 203
Crocus vernus
Sown on 29 Oct 12 As I really love to see the happy colours of th...
- 4
- 1
- 0
-
Spring crocus Day 204
Crocus vernus
Purchased on 28 Oct 12 I've bought these species Crocus as I like them...
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Tulip 'Darwin Mix' Day 205
Tulipa
Sown on 27 Oct 12 I originally bought these Darwin Tulips in the ...
- 1
- 0
- 0
-
Daffodil Day 214
Narcissus
Sown on 18 Oct 12 These Daffs have now begun sprouting on my bal...
- 3
- 0
- 0
-
Daffodil Day 226
Narcissus
Sown on 06 Oct 12 I planted several bags of Daffodils on the balc...
- 3
- 0
- 0
-
Daffodils planted out on balcony Day 227
Narcissus
Sown on 05 Oct 12 October is the time when my Daffodils are plant...
- 3
- 0
- 0
-
Sweet Violet Day 232
Viola odorata
Sown on 30 Sep 12
- 4
- 0
- 0
-
Rosemary Day 233
Rosmarinus officinalis
Sown on 29 Sep 12
- 1
- 0
- 0
-
Viburnum 'Tinus' Day 233
Viburnum
Sown on 29 Sep 12
- 1
- 0
- 0
-
Spring crocus Day 242
Crocus vernus
Sown on 20 Sep 12 Today I planted out some of my Crocuses in the ...
- 4
- 0
- 0
-
Daffodil 'Tete-a-tete' Day 242
Narcissus
Sown on 20 Sep 12 I've been growing these lovely little Daffs on ...
- 4
- 0
- 0
-
Agapanthus Day 319
Agapanthus umbellatus
Established on 05 Jul 12 A friend of ours, Steff, gave me a pot with 3 o...
- 1
- 0
- 0
-
Lavender 'Munstead' Day 327
Lavandula angustifolia
Sown on 27 Jun 12 Seeds were sown on 28th June 2012 on my balcony...
- 1
- 0
- 0
-
Regal pelargonium Day 370
Pelargonium x domesticum
Purchased on 15 May 12 A present from my wife on the occasion of my bi...
- 2
- 0
- 0
-
Common Jasmine Day 389
Jasminum officinale
Transplanted on 26 Apr 12
- 3
- 0
- 0
-
Muscari armeniacum
Established on 20 Mar 12
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Dianthus caryophyllus
Established on 18 Mar 12 My wife loves Carnations as she says they remin...
-
Freesia
Sown on 06 Jan 12 These were moved to my balcony garden.
- 2
- 0
- 0
-
Amaryllis AVAILABLE FOR SWAP
Hippeastrum
Established on 21 Oct 11 I brought these home once again from the allotm...
- 2
- 1
- 0
-
Narcissus
Sown on 19 Oct 11
- 5
- 0
- 0
-
Cyclamen persicum
Purchased on 14 Oct 11
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Galanthus nivalis
Sown on 13 Oct 11
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Dianthus caryophyllus
Established on 13 Aug 11 I've been growing Carnations on my balcony for ...
- 0
- 0
- 0
-
Freesia
Transplanted on 13 Jun 11
- 3
- 0
- 0
-
Hippeastrum puniceum
Established on 18 Apr 11 My Amaryllis are doing really well with the flo...
-
Peacock flower 'Acidanthera "Murielae"'
Gladiolus callianthus
Sown on 13 Mar 11
- 1
- 0
- 0
-
Oxalis Deppe 'Iron Cross' AVAILABLE FOR SWAP
Oxalis tetraphylla
Sown on 13 Mar 11 I have been growing these Oxalis Deppei 'Iron C...
- 1
- 0
- 0
-
Mentha spicata
Established on 29 May 09
- 1
- 0
- 0
Comments
ruthiebaby88 wrote:
Wow what an amazing collection of plants! I wonder whether in your climate you have to water them? I have a 3rd floor balcony garden in a mountainous semi desert area with a lot of wind so conditions are quite different, but I’m always fascinated to see how people without dirt use their space.
What do you do with your dirt from year to year? I have read some things that say you should empty and scour your pots every year, but without anywhere to dump dirt it becomes something for the land fill – what a waste and a big chore! We have a big seasonal clean up every year as everything freezes and dies in winter.
This year as a compromise I tried stirring the dirt and making the top 2-3" new potting mix.
Posted on 03 Aug 12 (10 months ago)
Amarylis wrote:
Sorry I hadn’t seen your comment till now! There are certainly lots of plants on my balcony & yes, I do have to water them, at least once a day during summer &, if it is a particularly hot day, twice! As I also have 5 hanging baskets they often get watered twice a day in summer &, if it is a particularly hot day, three times!
.
We live on the ground floor here in the UK but in Spain we lived for 13 years in a fifth floor flat where I also had our balconies full of flowers! Have you seen my Spanish Balconies garden?
.
you should empty and scour your pots every year, Perhaps you should but I never have! I also have the same problem as you – or at least I did till last year when it occurred to me I could take the spend compost from my pots down to the allotment I share with my friend Gerry from church. I put my spent compost in plastic shopping bags & then “hide” them away under the big round table in the corner of the balcony! I put a couple at a time in a small wheeled suitcase & took them down to the greenhouse on the allotment. I then mixed it with the soil in the greenhouse border! :-)) I do remove some compost each year & buy in new but as I have to cart it all the way from town back home I don’t change it as frequently as perhaps I ought to. Nevertheless it doesn’t seem to harm my plants.
I change my planting twice a year as I like to have flowers for as long as possible. In October I put in spring flowering bulbs & then I plant Pansies or Violas over the top of them. That way I get a few flowers at least most of the winter & then in the late spring, as the bulbs are going over I get the main burst of flowers. Then it’s all change again in late May/early June when I put in summer bedding plants.
Posted on 10 Dec 12 (5 months ago)
girlswear wrote:
Hi there! Glad to know there are balcony garden success!! I live on the 3rd floor flat, balcony faces North East in Central London. Do get plenty of daylight. Occasionally I get reflective sunlight from the south facing building across hopefully that will help. Must admit am first time gardening in this scale, before was a window still gardener. Not much success as one year had aphid infestation and killed my tomato, courgette and aubergine. I only had one mini sweet pepper has ever been produced.
Will appreciate any tips for newbie like me!!
Posted on 17 Feb 13 (3 months ago)
Amarylis wrote:
Hi again! I feel sorry for your balcony orientation as it’s the EXACT opposite of mine which faces, more or less, South West! If you get reflected light that might be a help but how long does it last?
.
Sorry to hear about the death of your plants through aphid infestation, I, too, had a similar problem on my balcony during the winter of 2010/12 when a tiny, itsy-bitsy grey-white aphid covered all the green surfaces on my Pansies & Violas. They sucked them dry! They even latched onto the Crocus sheaths, (the brown covering around Crocus shoots as they emerge from the ground/compost), but I was able to clean them off with my fingers – not a nice procedure, I assure you! They mainly left the Daffodils alone! I’d underplanted my Pansies & Violas, (in clay pots in rings on the balcony railings), with Mini-Daffs & Crocuses.
.
I’ve grown a few Tomato plants on the balcony every year since we have lived here (12) though last year was my worst year as the two tall plants didn’t produce any edible tomatoes before the winter arrived & they succumbed to the cold. On the other hand a tomato plant in an upside down bag did produce quite a few small tomatoes which were delicious!
.
I use my balcony for growing flowers not veg. Last year I had a full year on my new half allotment. I got it in September 2011. Before that I helped my friend, Gerry, from church on his 1 & 1/2 plots. I still help him as well as run my own. I’m still rather “wet behind the ears” when it comes to veg growing, more especially harvesting times! Actually growing veg presents little problems but it can be difficult to know when they are ready!
Posted on 18 Feb 13 (3 months ago)
Like to add a comment? You'll need to sign up for a free account, or log in if you're already a member.