Ines!
How nice to see you posting again!
I'm glad the balcony is doing well!

Ric

Good to see you, ines! I, too, have been hibernating for a while. Woke up to see spring is just around the corner!

I'm deciding whether to start anything from seed this year. I've got plenty of perennials overwintering, so I think this season will be a simple one.

I've also been in deep hibernation! Not sure what the plans will be for this year. I was hoping to be ready to buy a house by now, so I hadn't given plans for the current patio much thought.

Okay everyone, time to faint! It's a leap day today and also 62° F out. Just enough to wake me and the balcony up! Yeah, it's been a busy busy time for me also, but I think spring is just around the corner so it's time to get crackin'!

Went out to do some cleanup and so far, most of the new things that I left out there over winter appear to still be alive. I noticed my peony is sending up a couple shoots, the crocuses (and hopefully the new snowdrops) might be finally stirring. I even saw a couple hosta eyes and a daylily shoot. It was also time to prune the 2 clematises back to the first couple pairs of buds.

I know that Mother Nature can be cruel sometimes but I'm hoping we can squeek through March and the first week of April with no more of that wintry stuff (last year, we had snow on April 7... ugh).

Hope to pop back in more in the future but I'm still here!

Well, bless my heart, if it isn't Jenny! Hi there, girl! I'm poking through crusts of ice and stretching winter-weary limbs to wave greetings to you from the finally-thawing metropolis.

It's nice to see everyone. Ines, welcome back. Have any pics of the new baby-dog? Or at least a name and description?? :)

Jenny, there's hope... I'm north of you and I have about 15 crocus blooming right now, the number blooming is multiplying daily. I just wish I could get home in time to see them opened up. I only had three open on Saturday so they're blooming fast!

Tulips are poking through the lawn a bit, muscari too. I'm also hoping no dip in the temps, I'd be really upset to lose anything!

Here´s freezing also!! We had a beautiful winter withouth any frosts till one month ago...Bad news because all plants were already growing...Lets see what happens!

The new baby dog is another maltese, my mum has one and I was completely in love with him so I decided to have another. Quite convenient for an apartment and they are very loving and clever dogs...although a bit stubborn!! I love animals ( ALL KIND ) as much as plants...so...you can imagine...

Good to hear from you all!! Go to a meeting, will read later!

Ines

Congrats on the new dog! It's 70 degrees here today and I am bitter that I'm too busy with work to get home and do some gardening. keeping my fingers crossed that it will be nice again this weekend though.

Snowdrops blooming, daffys growing & some crocus sprouting.
Tulips sending up shoots. Robins around. It really is spring. The fishing line trellis is a great idea. I use a variation under the trees. Last year I had Moonflowers climbing to the top branches. Lots of luck to all this season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Last year pictures

Darn! One of my sisters gave me a whole pile of snowdrops, crocuses, and daffs and I planted them pretty late (like the end of November). And even then, I was trying to jam them in every which way because the first frost was a-comin'. Have only seen a few peeps of any of those bulb sprouts so far. :-(

But at least I've seen the daylilies popping up and my honeysuckle sprouting thanks to the brief warm ups. But then I ended up covering that little honeysuckle last night with some row cover to protect the tender new leaves for the next couple days. Oh well, new gardening season coming up!!!

Did make my annual trek to the Phila. Flower Show this past week so I'm psyched (aching like mad from all the walking, but recovering...LOL)

My word everyone is popping out of the woodwork!

I guess the Spring is bringing out the gardeners as well as the gardens!

Ric

Great to see you guys here again! Spring is a bustin' out all over, and so is the forum. Can't wait to see this year's blooms.

girlsaylor

The Spring so far has been kind.
It appears the Asiatic Lily's are leaping back out of their pots.
We have also just started planting 350 Caladium in containers.

Here's a link to some shots.
Links there will take you to our newest projects!

Here is a link that might be useful: RNR's Secret Garden

Hello my balcony friends!

Long time indeed, and long cold winter here. I finally got outside and was able to get all my containers fixed up (mixed in some new soil, threw out some old, cleared away all the debris). Three hours and some sore muscles later, I am pretty much ready to go. All it needs to do is warm up!

I am doing more from seed this year, partially to save some money. I've got two kinds of tomato plants I grew from seed in little pots (a Better Boy and a Black Krim), am going to try a bush cucumber too, plus some basil seedlings. Then I plan on planting strawberries in my long window boxes (ordered some bareroot plants that should arrive any day now).

My flower selections are: cosmos, portulaca, dwarf sunflowers, zinnia, morning glory... going with things that are supposed to love the sun and be a bit more drought tolerant than last year, + some tried and trues that worked for me last time.

On the more experimental side, I am thinking of trying big tall sunflowers in a very large pot. I have some poppy seeds that will go somewhere. And I found some freesia and peacock orchid bulbs (corms?) at the garden center that I am going to toss in.

Here, when I was already planting tomato seedlings, sweet pea seeds, etc, cold weather and snow have returned!!

This weekend I have been outside under the snow trying to protect the tomatoe seedling from cold...

I have added a plum tree to my balcony, wich is already sprouting....any of you have one?

The little lilac tree ( remember Jenny? the one with the leaves that were brown the first summer ), seem to have lots of lilacs!!!, all the bulbs are already sprouting and I have already at home two beautiful bunches of freesias and tulips.

Bad news...I had a jasminum at a trellis, wich grew like crazy but didn´t flowered...well, He´s not living any more..(snif). Now I have to think what to put in that shady spot...if you have any suggestion...but want flowers!!

Ah! I have too a new little fig tree!!

How are you doing!!

Hello all, I'm new here... after reading through the posts for a while, I couldn't resist, I feel like I've found a home! :0) Finally, folks that understand... LOL When I get to chattering about all this, my friend's eyes glaze over, and I get the inevitable "that's nice" response to my excited decriptions of ideas and happenings out on the balcony :0)

Actually, I'd let my balcony go to the birds for a couple years, but now I'm revitalized and ready to go again! I'm planning to cover it in a fit of ivy and vines. On one end I've got lattice for clematis, on the other lattice for fatshedera, and plan to cover the railing in morning glory and moonflower for beauty and privacy.

I've not decided on what should fill the hanging pots yet. Probably some pothos, aristolochia, rhodochiton, streptocarpus, and whatever might catch my eye over at Graf Growers :0) I think I'll scatter some pots around with browalia, heliotrope, and again, whatever calls to me or hides in my cart at the greenhouse :0)

Of course, all of this is soooo subject to change... all of my carefully laid plans go right out the window when I get to the greenhouse and see the riot of plants that I MUST HAVE! LOL

Now I'm all hyper waiting for the warm weather again... c'mon spring!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: The last time I did the balcony

Hey Ines!!! Glad to see that your lilac has flowers! That's great. My 2 (actually 3 since there is a baby one) are just starting to get leaves. Sorry to hear about your jasmine. I know how you feel! Don't give up though, there's plenty where that came from! LOL

Ruggy, glad you could make it over here. Forget the houseplants. Time to fill up your balcony with shrubs! heh heh

Jenny, are you enabling or luring here? LOL Actually, I'd given some thoughts to shrubs this year, particulary around the fountain, but I am kinda partial to vines. But some the idea of some shrubs, with their anchoring sense of permanance, is appealing. What kinds of things would you suggest?

Ruggy - need to know what gardening Zone you are in and some info on which way you face and about how much sun you get (plus whether it's windy, etc). ;-)

Jenny, I'm in zone 5 and the balcony faces west. I get progressively more sun from noon till sunset, as the sun crosses over the building and finally clears the roof. I'm on the top floor of the tallest building in the area, so I get sun till it goes down over the horizon.

It's really only windy during storms in the spring, and I can only remember a few that were bad enough for me to bring the plants into the shelter of the apartment.

Where you are, you could stick any kind of shrubs hardy to Zone 4 or less (Zone 5 if you're careful to protect it since you can often get a good microclimate going on a balcony). For example blueberries! YUM. They have cute flowers in spring, nice foliage that makes a great screen in summer, of course all of that coming with fruit, and then in fall, the leaves often have great fall coloration, and finally through winter, many have reddish canes during those cold winters, giving some winter interest. Plus the cane framework itself is interesting - especially if you get wet snow... LOL

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Some others include the lilacs and also pee gee hydrangeas, which are like Zone 3 and prefer lots of sun - doing well in that afternoon sun (the pee gees are sun lovers when compared to the macrophylla & oakleaf, etc., varieties).

I'm trying a redtwig dogwood this year (it jumped into my cart from Frank's... LOL). Poor thing is outside right now in the winds (it had already leafed out and I have been hardening it off for the past couple weeks). BUT... they are hardy to like Zone 2. LOL

Since you like vines, you might consider a honeysuckle. There are a number of natives and ornamental ones that aren't supposed to be as invasive as the old fashioned japanese Lonicera japonica. I'm trying a Mandarin one (if I can keep those new little leaf sprouts from getting frosted out). My Mandarin is supposed to be hardy to like Zone 4.

Of course if you are a vine person, many on this forum grow moonflower vines yearly and many have grown morning glories, hyacinth bean vine, and cardinal climbers.

If you don't mind bringing vines in, you could try passifloras (I have 2), Mandevilla (I have one). And actually, if you got a passiflora incarnata ("maypop"), you might be able to leave it out with protection and have it pop back up the following year. Passies are kind of neat. They WILL find some place to hook onto to support themselves!! LOL

My Passiflora belotti:

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Just as another footnote that I forgot - you could also try clematis (I have 2) for vines. Just make sure you have something to support them on. LOL

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The prolific jackmanii clematis and a number of others are hardy to Zone 3 and are generally the group 3s, blooming on new growth so you can cut them back to the first pair of buds in late winter, and they'll engulf the support by summer (like my above...lol).

Jenny, my wallet is whining... LOL Such good ideas!

I'm all about blueberries... was already planning to go with clematis and moon flowers (and morning glories).

I would have never dreamed I could grow lilacs... I've been waiting to get my house for those!

I can see that my bank card and graf growers are going to be fanastic friends this year... hehehehe

Thanks for the ideas!

I've just come home from the garden center with goodies! I'm in a funk today, and decided some planting therapy would be just the thing :0) I a clematis and a lilac to start the fun off with! We'll grow from there...

Question though... how long before a lilac looks like a lilac? This is a one-year-old plant, according to the box, and quite small. Is it going to be years and years before it's noticeable and blooming?

The clematis says it's 2 year old... I think my old established one was taking over the garden at 2 or 3 years old, so I'm thinking (hoping) that's nice and lush going up the north lattice...

Fun fun!!

LOL!! You have been hooked!! heh heh

With respect to the lilac, it depends. I understand that some can bloom as young as a few years old. I've been nurturing a baby "Agincourt Beauty" (a Syringa vulgaris) for going on 3 years now and it (actually "they" - there were 2 tiny ones that I bought) look like this right now:

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But looked like this the first year I had it and repotted the 2 together in the same 1-gallon nursery pot:

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This hasn't bloomed yet but I am hoping that maybe this year I will be lucky. My older lilacs bloomed the first year I bought and planted them (bought in early spring and bloomed that year).

The clematis - don't worry about it. They can bloom as young infants barely a year old! LOL

As they say - "First year sleep, second year creep, third year leap!" And with my clematises, it seemed that 1st year they crept and the 2nd they went totally out of control, trying to reach over 4ft to get to my lilacs across the way and hook onto them. LOL

Re: Clematis, Jenny is right. Even the babies will bloom. I bought a little "2 year" clematis in a box last spring and it bloomed for me. I think it is a "President". Beautiful purple flowers. It's coming back strong this year, and I already see a bud (I think!).

Good luck with your balcony, Ruggy - it seems you have a great space that's big enough to play with, and have gotten lots of suggestions from the experts :)

Do you know if a clematis could be grown with two hours of sun? You know I have an empty trellis...and I love them!!

There is a post in the Clematis Forum about which clematis could grow in shade. You can find it here. Have to look some of these up!

Oh yes, I'm definately hooked, and thanks to help here, I'm sure to have a true stunner of a balcony this year!

The jackmanii has grown several inches already, and I just found morning glory and moon flower sprouts today!

I had to make a little run through Graf's today, and the selection is filling out quite nicely. And it looks like tonight is the last below-40 expected for some time (hopefully for the rest of the season!) so I should be ready-set-go soon with the layout and design work!

I'm gonna run back and get a honeysuckle friday... I am just dreaming about quiet evenings on the balcony with that amazing aroma!

I need advice...

The lilac I bought looked like a little twig with some green on top. The green part is no more. Just died off. Now I have what appears to be a dead twig in a big pot. Is it possibly still alive? How long should I keep it before replacing it as a lost cause?

Also, the clematis is a bit weasily looking... it didn't like the wind we had recently and the tender new ends are shriveled off. But the rest of it looks good, and some new sprouts from the center, so I've high hopes :0) But I do wonder about the climbing nature of it. I have a trellis on the wall behind it, with strips of wood at either end to make it stand out a bit, so it's not flat on the wall. Will the clematis climb this, or do I need to provide it with something else? For the morning glories last time, I ran twine from differnet points on the trellis down to the pot... I was thinking this for the clematis, but then wondered if twine would do, or if I needed to go with something stronger, like clothesline...

Everything else is doing great! Seedlings everywhere! :)

With respect to the lilac - my baby and one of my older ones got tip burn. I would continue to water as usual and if the roots are healthy, it should sprout along the dead-looking stem. It's frustrating to have to wait, but... they seem to be tough plants. I know I had one of my lilacs completely defoliate during the summer of 2002 when we had terrible heat and drought (even though it was watered well), but it bounced back just fine.

With respect to the clematis, they wrap with their leaves and as I noticed with one of mine, some of the stems where the leaves attach, can get rather long allowing it to wrap around something thin a couple times. But whatever support you choose to give them, YOU have to guide them to it. This is a constant process, otherwise they'll just attach to themselves and fall over in a tangled mess. LOL I think twine would be okay if you make sure you tighten it every once in awhile if it sags.

ruggy, the first season of mine was exactly the same, Jenny told me just that, I believed her ( of course ), and now, two years after, my lilac has grow quite a lot and has five sets of flowers!!!. That leave burn never happened again . I buyed it on spring, and think that it didn´t have enough roots to be able to cope with our hot summer...

Just don´t despair, next spring it will come out green and strong!!

ines

I have grown many lilacs for a long time. They don't do much for the first couple of years, but if you don't disturb them too much with transplanting, etc. They will take off quickly, they don't do much the year they are moved. They can get so big, so fast. I'm surprised that you can grow them on a balcony. They will at least double their size per season and can get to be 15-20' high and almost as big around in the ground. However, careful pruning can control this, to some extent. But when its 5+ years undisturbed, you'll be pruning and cutting back all the time to keep in on a balcony. Maybe growing in a pot it will stay smaller? and you can always take it out in the fall and divide and split but this will set it back somewhat for the following year. You will also get runner babies after a few years that you will have to control, depending on the variety. Some put our runners more than others. Just pot up and give away or sell. I will have access to lots of runner babies after next week, when I have moved to Barrie, several different varieties. I will put one on my balcony, I think. You guys have inspired me! You can get some dwarf and smaller varieties that would be better for balconies, I think, like palabin or the Chinese lilacs. Lilacs can get HUGE very fast! Be careful which ones you put on a balcony! You might not be able to control it!

Also, a word about pruning. Lilacs bloom on old wood and last years growth, so if you want blooms, only prune immmediately after blooming in the spring and not in the fall. And not in early spring before blooming or you won't get many blooms. They need about 6 hours of direct sun to bloom and do better in the cold regions as they need the frozen winter, too. They like it a little on the dry side and no too much fertilizer. They just don't like to have their roots disturbed, but will always come back the following year.

Otherwise, they are extremely hardy and hard to kill. Some kinds grow wild at the side of the road here, so that should tell you how easy to grow they are!

When I moved into my house in Barrie, 20 years ago, I went into the wild and dug up about 30 wild baby lilacs, different colors, and planted them along the property line in a row. This took me about two summers to complete. These ranged from 1-3' tall each. I did this all through the summer not just when they were dormant. They all lost all leaves and looked like a dead stick for the first summer, all summer, nothing. I dispaired. But the following spring, every one had new growth on it and fresh leaves. They didn't grow much that following year, just getting their roots established, I guess. The next year they took off, started doubling in height every year. Some were 20' high after 7-8 years, even with judicial pruning and cutting back and digging out. They sure were beautiful in bloom!

Hope this helps with the lilacs. Don't give up!

Ines, I would love to see some pictures of spain!