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It’s all change on the balcony!

balcony

By balcony

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It’s all change on the balcony! Time for the seasonal change over! Out with the old & in with the new!

Today I got rid of the Petunias & the China Pinks as well as the Morning Glory. I’ve emptied the pots of Petunias & put Pansies, with species Crocuses planted underneath them, in the vacant pots then I put them in the aluminium rings & hung them on the balcony railings.

Pansies & Crocuses

The Pansies will give some flowers through out the winter whenever we have mild spells before their main flowering period starts in April. The Crocuses will flower before the Pansies start & the Pansies will hide the dying Crocuses’ leaves. I’ve done this for many years now with great success – though I must admit some years have been better than others! One year I changed the Pansies for Violas & had the most stunning display! The local council here has planted Violas & Pansies “en masse” for several years & the effect is always stunning!

The Petunias did very well & I shall repeat this planting in future years. I’ve grown a few other years but never in the amount I did this year.

Petunias

I also pulled up the China Pinks I grew from seed. They took rather longer to start flowering than I anticipated – maybe I should start them earlier. The wind had shredded the poor plants & for weeks they have looked terrible. Nevertheless I liked them very much while they were in flower – if it hadn’t been for the weeks of strong winds I’m sure I would still have had a few flowers on all the plants as I had with the Petunias. I intend to grow more another year as well.

China Pinks

The Morning Glory have done very poorly on my balcony this year. I grow them most years as I always save some seed & they add a vertical element to the balcony. This year I bought a packet of seeds when my wife & I went to Spain in May. I planted some on the balcony but I planted lots down on the allotment. I think they must be a new variety as there were many colours but the best part was that they stayed open almost all day – even on the hottest days they were still open in the afternoon! This was a surprise for me because I’ve grown them for 20 years or more & I’ve never known the flowers to remain open in the afternoon except towards the end of their growing season when the days are a lot cooler.

Morning Glory

I am very, very happy with how they grew & flowered down on the allotment! :-)) They started to flower just at the time the Sweetpeas were coming to an end! They took over seamlessly! So I have had colour on the division created between two half allotments for about six months! The wind has damaged the plants no end & most leaves are almost in tatters, yet still they continue to flower!

The most curious thing about them was that the plants on the Balcony & on the allotment started to flower the very same day! They were also planted on the same day in May.

More blog posts by balcony

Previous post: End of another growing season (well, almost!)

Next post: Amaryllis-once again on the move!



Comments

 

Your potted petunias are lovely. I grow them in containers every year & they always put on a wonderful show. The morning glory is something I haven't tried, but as yours are so pretty, I may well do pot some up. Enjoyed your blog.

12 Oct, 2011

 

We will all need photos like these to look back on and cheer us all up in the winter when nothing is in flower. You certainly pack alot into a small space Balcony. How is that new allotment coming along? Have you managed to dig it all over yet? Hope you havn't acquired too many blisters along the way.

12 Oct, 2011

 

Lovely show, Balcony! We were driving through a few little towns the other day on the way to and from the beach, and there were many lovely shows of Morning Glory along the way. Not your lovely different coloured ones, but the 'old' variety of deep blue - never fails to please me! I still hanker after hiding our awful eyesore of a satellite dish at the end of the garden with Morning Glory, but Partner's put a veto on that one! Maybe I'll grow one in a large tub and let it cover the entrance archway before meeting up with the pale pink rose at the other end?

By the way, love that stunning salmon-pink Petunia - in this region all we seem to get are white and purple! They look stunning draping over balconies, but a change of colour would be nice! ;o)

13 Oct, 2011

 

I love that last pic, beautiful.

13 Oct, 2011

 

Lost most of my Petunias during all those dry weeks early on in the season, the ones that lasted are still flowering and staying green so will probably last until the frost.
Pansies and violas are a favorite of mine so get replaced every year in pots and the garden, I always think they provide a very cheery sight even on the greyest of days...
That division works well and looks a treat...

13 Oct, 2011

 

the last photo certainly is eye catching, something different. Im mostly a veg grower but ipomea finds its way into the garden most years, tried them in hanging baskets last year, great scarlet colours but amusing to see how they refused to hang so everyday I untwinned them from there upward travels, they won !! ;-))

13 Oct, 2011

 

I've got rid of my Petunias & have now put Pansies, underplanted with Crocuses, which I started off on the allotment & then brought home, on the balcony railings.

Today I planted up 2 of the 3 small flower troughs that sit on the middle bar of the balcony railings. I had to empty them of the summer plants & planted Violas, again underplanted with Crocuses, in their place.

In a week or two I'll make up another blog of the winter/spring planting on my balcony.

As I say in my blog above, I've grown them for very, very many years! Most of my 19 years in Spain & most of the 10 years we've been in this flat back in the UK! They give a very satisfying vertical component to the balconies I've gardened on over 30 years!

16 Oct, 2011

 

You've done exceptionally well with your growing on the allotment and on the balcony :o)

16 Oct, 2011

 

Great blog Balcony, and lovely plants

19 Oct, 2011

 

Thank you, TT :-)) I'm pleased you think so! One does what one can! :-))

Glad you liked them, Aleyna. I'm glad you liked the plants, too. :-))

I've, more or less, finished planting up my balcony for the winter/spring. The 3 long, white troughs were eventually planted up. I put Tulips & Daffs in each of the 3 but each one will be a bit different. The Tulips will be the same in each of them but the Daffs will differ somewhat. The two ones have had Violas planted in them while the middle one has been planted up with Pansies. Underneath them I have planted Crocus corms. Well one still hasn't been done as I had no more Crocuses on hand but I have some down on the allotment which I'll bring home on Monday, if I remember, & put in the last trough.

23 Oct, 2011

 

Lovely photos, Balcony! I particularly like the play of sunlight and shadow in pics 2, 3, and 4. Those look like nasturtium leaves in pic 4!

31 Oct, 2011

 

Errata correction: *The two ones have had Violas planted in them while the middle one has been planted up with Pansies.*

I meant to say "The TWO END ONES had Violas planted in them while the middle one has been planted up with Pansies."

Sorry for that slip!

Thanks, Gurthbruins, & you are right about the leaves in pic 4! The Morning Glory had grow up the same piece of wire that the Nasturtium was climbing up but as its leaves are smaller they can't be seen here! But above & below the top flower you can make out the heart shape & slightly paler green leaves of the Morning Glory.

1 Nov, 2011

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