do they have 'nandina domestica' in Europe? common name is 'heavenly bamboo'. it's a very common landscape plant in the southern us, but it can be grown indoors too. it's slender, compact, has pretty fall foliage and red berries too. depending on climate it keeps the leaves most of the winter. I think it's a pretty easy plant to keep too.
it resembles bamboo. lots of posts on GW about it.
it has panicles of white flowers. don't know if they smell.

I also adore flowers that float on thin stems.

I grew verbena bonarienis back when I had a yard - absolutely loved it. It does sprawl a bit as the season ends, and btw self seeds prodigiously, so although not a perennial, it comes back every year.

Another favorite (a biennial, so comes back for a second year, and is also a great "volunteer" with self-seeding): rose campion - lychnis coronaria. Stupendous magenta blooms that float above the lamb-ear-like whorl of silvery vegetation. Maybe not "very tall" but tall.

Those two need full sun, so I don't get to try them on my balcony. I did try gaura lindheimeri whirlybird, loved it & haven't found it again this year. It also didn't reach full potential as it likes more sun than I get. And once (in the sunny garden) had a vibrantly orange/red gaura species, very tall and airy and fantastic.

Please post pics!

P.S.
Here's a pic of my gaura whirling butterfly - in the terracotta plant on the floor, with the "sun" stake in it.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/balcony/msg0310252331864.0319203227488.jpg

Google images for it and you'll see how gorgeous it is in the right conditions! (Sigh...I do miss full sun...)

P.P.S.
I've always wanted to grow knautia macedonia - picture here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3322968/How-to-grow-Knautia-macedonia.html

How about cleome? Or orange cosmos? I grow the diablo cosmos. Very pretty. In large plastic pots they get 3' tall. Well, I guess cosmos are not really airy.

It doesn't flower, but I have been very happy with my fig tree. Big open leaves, survived when I brought in last winter. A very pretty plant.

Thank you for all the suggestions! I will make sure to save this thread for when I get an allotment, then I'll probably grow all of them. A fig tree has been planned for a looong time, and I can just imagine the sight of knautia macedonica growing with rose campion (áð ÃÂàáð)

Balkong: When growing verbena bonariensis as an annual, how tall does it get?

Orange or yellow cosmos is actually not a very bad idea... a google search showed some, that didn't have many leaves near the tops.... I just can't figure out what these varieties are called! I wonder what else is out there, that carry their flowers way up there on tall 'naked' stems!

Today I discovered Crambe cordifolia, which I think looks great, I just doubt it would be happy in a container though, as it gets a HUGE taproot, and dislikes crowding.

This post was edited by vgtar on Sat, Jun 22, 13 at 11:57

Talinum paniculatum fits this description well.

Various Alliums.

Angelonia (though may need more sun than you have available on a balcony.)

Celosia.

Some of the Salvias.

Hypoestes.

Some of the Amaranthus.

Larkspur.

Heuchera/Heucherella.

Are Cannas too "fat" for your setup?

Purple: Yes, I would say that Canas are too dense for what I'm looking into right now... That being said I do love them!

I've never heard about the Heucherella before, and didn't know that Heuchera and Tiarella could be cross-pollinated... Now I know what my Mom will be getting for Christmas ;-)

Some of the spikes you suggested, made me think of Eremurus robustus (a VERY tall foxtail). -I became very excited for a few hours, only to find out, that they wilt after flowering... and I don't think I can come up with ways of hiding wilting leaves of that magnitude during the summer... but perhaps if I put a sweet potato slip into the pot every summer around the time, when it begins wilting?

Alynne, that looks like the F. carica that's ubiquitous here, turkey fig. YUM! They are behind this year, should be ripe in about 2 weeks, going by their current appearance. I've never noticed any flowers, they figs just show up, get bigger, then ripen - almost ALL at once. I've decided to put up fig sauce in the freezer instead of deluding myself that I'll get anything "canned" in glass jars. It's just too hot to do that.

Vgtar, IDK Eremurus at all, but agree sweet potato cutting will take off in any pot anytime it's warm. Speaking of which, some of the potatoes that overwintered are just NOW starting to grow foliage. By this time last year, I had it alllll over the front porch, going every which-a-way along fishing line, and was begging people to have some, take some, packing more and more out-of-bounds pieces back into pots.

Are you familiar with Alchemilla? Very similar to the Heuchera crowd, might appeal also. Enable, enable...!

Hoping these cuttings added to existing pot a few days ago (and another pot of them out of the frame) will soon cover and shade our dog's house, sorry I wasn't able to get it started sooner. This side gets some sun hitting it, mid-afternoon for about an hour. I need to put some fishing line for it to twine around.

Lol, I also just started Sweet potatoes... Well, I put it in a pot in April, I think it was, but it didn't produce any slips until now.
Yes, I know Alchemilla. In Danish it's called Løvefod, which mean Lion's Foot... I love that name... it's so cute. My mum has been growing it in the garden for about 20 years. It seems to like her heavy clay soil. So does Heuchera and Tiarella, which is why, I think some Heucherellas would make a nice gift for her.

Awww, that's very thoughtful! Two thumbs up!

I don't know what I'd do w/o SPV. So glad it's coming back in abundance, even if it's so late.

Vgtar, my tall verbenas reached 3 to 4 feet.

Crambe cordifolia!!! I lusted after that one, but never saw one in even the most esoteric of nurseries. Drat it, I should've ordered one from a catalog while I had the chance (a back yard and lots of sun).

I second and third any type of cosmos. I loved and miss Cosmos sulfureous, the flaming orange one. It's pretty stalky, and the flowers are on floaty wiry stems. But I also have a weakness for feathery foliage, thus adored cosmos bippinatus, which comes in a range of colors, some magenta and lots of pastels. Both types can get quite tall, 3 feet at least. They don't resemble each other at all, really, they differ in both foliage and flowers. You're spoiled for choice!

If you haven't tried the rose campion, I really really recommend it. I'm always surprised it's not better known. That combination of airiness, blue/silver foliage and floating hot magenta flowers is just killer. And they were really trouble free and tough. Just deadheaded them and they'd go on and on.

Balkong, your post reminded me of Silene armeria. I had those in OH and wow, they attracted some cool butterflies and hummingbird moths.

Lobelia siphilitica!
Foxgloves?

I've finally ordered my seeds. I ended up with:
Thalictrum delavayi
Lychnis coronaria "Rose Campion"
Cephalaria gigantea 'Giant Scabious'
Verbascum bombyciferum 'Arctic Summer'

I might regret the Verbascum though, as I'm not really sure where to put it (this variety gets a massive leaf base). I need more window boxes for some of the other stuff I'm growing, I think, lol (where to find ROOM for everything!?).
But even if I'm not sowing the verbascums, I'm planning on giving some to one of my mom's friends, who has a garden, that basically just consists of sempervivums and verbascums (and grass and dandelions ;-) -And I know she hasn't got any of this variety.

This post was edited by vgtar on Wed, Aug 7, 13 at 10:29

That sounds lovely! And generous. You should see some butterflies visiting those (if there are some in your area when they are blooming.) I don't remember, is this something you can get started now, or will you be waiting until spring?

Here's that SPV pot after a few weeks. I've taken cuttings from some of the plants, but this helps the dog house look better, IMHO.

Starting them now is the plan anyway. I'm not really sure where though. Perhaps now is the time to get yet another window box or two.
My Sweet potato is finally beginning to take off, although it isn't nearly as big as yours. The mother root keeps on sprouting now.
I'm not sure if I'm all that generous, lol. The seeds were dirt cheap (from seedaholics.com)! I thought the company was English, but on checkout I discovered, that they are Irish. If the seeds are good, then it's definitely not the last time, I'm buying from them!
One area, where I know for sure, that I'm NOT generous, is in my love for pigeons! Yesterday I discovered a couple of pigeons, that had begun building a nest. I cannot believe the damage they managed to do in just a few hours. They trampled down the iceflowers (I guess for a lookout post), and whacked down the Chocolate mint and chives in order to make room for a nest.

{{gwi:2202}}

Sheesh, that's uncalled for! Probably the same feeling as when our dog stepped all over a patch of Begonias just when it was starting to look nice. Sorry!

Bad dog!
I have to say though, that I'm amazed at the speed of these pigeons. They hadn't really been scouting out the place (not for months anyway), and yet they managed to build this in under 5 hours. Yesterday morning, they came back twice, and this morning one time. I can hear them when they land, and simply pop my head out through the curtains, morning hair and all, and that seems to scare them off for the rest of the day (who wouldn't be?)!

Oh a nest! You're going to have grandbirds! I am way late, but next time also consider Artemisia lactiflora-- the purple ghost one.

Hollyhocks may also have worked.

And if you're into carrying in and out-- which i know we discussed before-- some of the taller shrub begonias.