With the limitation of space, sunlight, portability, watering in rented apartments, I am developing a tiny garden on my balcony..I hope to expand my collection and have a full-fledged beautiful backyard someday when we will have a house..but, for now, these make a nice start......
They do screen the fence, prevent dust, hide the trash receptacle, add fragrance to my sitting area and de-stress my study-strained eyes....
The Arabian jasmine.........
So far, its the best yielding-vine......
So far, its the best yielding-vine......
Areca palm.........
Cardboard palm..........
Dracaena.......
Ixora............
Mandevilla or Sun parasol........
Crimson one...
Pothos.........
Spineless yucca....
Flamingo plant....
Star jasmine.......
Ite is too small to flower now......but, I hope, when it will start, will bloom vigorously and permeate the air with heady fragrance...
Bougainvillea.......
It takes the prize for brightening the balcony....
Hibiscus....
President hibiscus........
Carolina breeze variety........
Both hibiscus variety together create a stunning juxtaposition.....
Rose.............
Pink variety......
Orange one........
Gardenia.........
African marigold..........
I must say this plant is hard to manage...very prone to water-logging and fungal infection...
Sunburst caladium.........
Vinca.......
Baby sunrose...........
Portulaca..........
Some bug is destroying its floral buds and in order to protect it, I have to keep the pot in kitchen sink every night...gardening is not easy!
Coleus......
Arrowhead vine......
A brown mum...
Arrowhead vine......
Mums............
Red one... blooming and going by the buds, they will keep doing so for months to come.......it gives a feel of fall being just around the corner.........
A brown mum...
and a yellow one.....
Also, dozens planters......multiple bags of potting mix.........a water pitcher...other basic gardening tools...
Finished look of the garden.........
After hard toil and dirt, the garden got a face-lift...the newly installed trellis is guiding the vines nicely...lending a fuller, lush look...I expect a thriving look in coming weeks.....Currently, the jasmines, bougainvillea, mandevilla, mums and portuloca are flowering....Pothos and arrowhead vines growing luxuriantly..........it looks lush, pretty, colorful.......
I always knew the therapeutic effect of plants and a garden...........
I am already feeling the beneficial changes.....in the morning I could wake up just with the motivation to spend time there...and the hummings are visiting more often...
Ever since, I have developed the balcony garden, I realize it more than ever....It's still in budding stage..yet, already infusing joy, fragrance galore...
Bowlful of fresh blossoms to make potpourri..........
Fresh flowers for the vase......
That's not all.... an edible garden is shaping up side-by-side, which I am much excited about...I will post about it in subsequent posts..........
Quinault strawberry.........
Coriander...........
Mustard...........
Malabar spinach.........
Also, I have planted few blue plumbago, geranium, cape honeysuckle and Japanese honeysuckle from twig cuttings...it will be months before they can bloom...waiting is tough!!
A great gardening center is located just beyond our house...and potting mix comes cheaper than I thought.....about $4 for a 20 pound bag of poultry manure, bat guano and kelp-rich soil....fair deal.
Yet, I always felt the kitchen scraps must not be just dumped away...
...they should be transformed into compost somehow....but a tiny balcony and bug menace were hurdles...anyway, I devised a plan and started a project of composting in a big ziplock bag....hopefully, it will work and I can be happy about yet another step towards sustainability.......
Gardening bug must have bitten me hard........but, I must put a full stop or a long pause in my plantpurchase spree.........the balcony is crowded now...But, I am happy to fit them in big enough pots, to last them few years...and hopefully by that time, we can have a piece of land of ours....
There is the obligate share of pest problems...myriad bugs are showing up...grazing away the leaves, ravaging the buds, fungi wrinkling the vines....some rose buds are dropping off, three of my six marigold succumbed ....to some disease or was it over-watering? I am too novice in gardening to say...Despite the setbacks the little garden is doing well...blooming day after day....providing joy and inspiring...
...they should be transformed into compost somehow....but a tiny balcony and bug menace were hurdles...anyway, I devised a plan and started a project of composting in a big ziplock bag....hopefully, it will work and I can be happy about yet another step towards sustainability.......
Gardening bug must have bitten me hard........but, I must put a full stop or a long pause in my plantpurchase spree.........the balcony is crowded now...But, I am happy to fit them in big enough pots, to last them few years...and hopefully by that time, we can have a piece of land of ours....
There is the obligate share of pest problems...myriad bugs are showing up...grazing away the leaves, ravaging the buds, fungi wrinkling the vines....some rose buds are dropping off, three of my six marigold succumbed ....to some disease or was it over-watering? I am too novice in gardening to say...Despite the setbacks the little garden is doing well...blooming day after day....providing joy and inspiring...
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