Work on the balcony
By balcony
12 comments
Work on the balcony
I made up for the other days when I’ve not done anything on the balcony as I spent at least 2 1/2 hours working outside! You might wonder what work could occupy me for so long on a balcony! Let me tell you what I’ve done today – I promise not to take up 2 1/2 hours to tell you!
The bag of compost I ordered online arrived. I bought it to plant the ‘Golden Wedding’ rose given to us by one of my brothers 3 months ago. Up until now it has had to stay in the pot it came in. But I had earmarked a square tub for it that had no plants growing in it this summer. It had a few spring bulbs but nothing else really. I emptied it out & put the new bag of compost with John Innes in it. Then I searched for as many bulbs as I could fine & put them to one side. The old compost was then put in the new compost bag to dispose off at some other moment. I then had to move that tub to the other extreme of the balcony & give the back of it a good sweeping so as to get rid of the past 15 years of cobwebs that had accumulated behind it & also the wall it had been up against all these years. Done that I then had to move an identical tub from the other extreme of the balcony to take its place. Then I had to repeat the previous operation at the other extreme, just that there I have 2 of these tubs. I wanted the tub for the rose closer to the balcony door so we can see it from inside the flat when it is in flower. Eventually I had the 3 tubs in their new positions & set about planting the rose.
I wanted to plant some Daffodils underneath the rose so I went back indoors, found the Daffs & proceeded to plant them in the tub before the rose. Done that I put the rose in the centre & filled in around it with new compost.
There wasn’t really as much compost as I would have liked, although it was a 25lt bag I could have done with a couple of more litres! I pushed some little Crocus corms down into the compost as I had planted the bigger spring bulbs, from the old tub deeper, among the Daffs. I found a few pots with compost still in them from failed Fuchsia cutting & emptied them on top of the new compost.
Then it occurred to me that the Violas I bought on Sunday on my way home from church would look good under the rose & as they flower during mild periods in the winter would give us something other than a square tub of compost with a twig in the centre!
So I planted 12 of the little Violas under the rose. As I still had 12 left I thought they would look good in the other tub alongside, so I put them in there as well.
Now we should have some colour to look at from the balcony door over winter & until the Daffs flower followed later by the rose for the summer! It should look a picture!
- 11 Oct, 2024
- 5 likes
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Comments
I agree. That's some workout, Balc!
12 Oct, 2024
Well done Balc β¦ hope youβre sitting with your feet up now!
12 Oct, 2024
Phew, I'm exhausted just reading of your efforts! Well done ... :o)
12 Oct, 2024
Thanks all for your comments! ππ»
I really hope you are right, Bernie! ππ»
Angelat & Sheila: it was a lot of hard work made all the more difficult & time consuming with such little space to work in!
I was exhausted as well, Shirley!
12 Oct, 2024
I am not surprised you were exhausted but the hard work will pay off next year!
13 Oct, 2024
Your tubs look colourful, I'm sure they'll give you pleasure through the winter.
13 Oct, 2024
I had to find your blog as it wasn't coming up on my page!
14 Oct, 2024
As the Violas settle in to their new home they are starting to look good already! I can't say the same of the rest of the balcony! as we are in between seasons, that of the summer flowering plants coming to an end & that of getting the balcony ready for winter.
As we are forecast a couple of warm days during the 3rd week of October, I might make a start by getting rid of the tomato plants. The few tomatoes left on them are not going to ripen any more outside. Then I can put up the big round table & the mini-greenhouse that sits on top of it all winter. I can then start to fill it with the Geraniums & Fuchsias I want to conserve over winter. A few of the bigger pots will go underneath the table where they will be better protected & kept dry till the spring next year.
Once I have finished with the above work I will be better able to turn my attention to what will grow &, hopefully, flower during the winter. I want to get some more Pansies which will accompany the Cyclamen that have survived from last year as well as the few I bought a few weeks ago.
14 Oct, 2024
Goodness me Balc, I had to make a cup of tea and sit down after readings of your endeavours! Phew, but will all be worth it in the spring. Will look forward to seeing your pretty Rose in bloom next year..:)
14 Oct, 2024
A project well done, Balc! π
I can imagine you were pretty shattered afterwards. Your golden wedding rose will be so lovely come next year!
You've made great choices for your winter pots, you'll have smashing colour through the driech and cold season.
You really do show others how much you can transform a balcony in to something special.
15 Oct, 2024
Thank you, Janie. It was a lot of work but the heaviest work is now behind me! I will keep you all updated on the progress of the changes I've made, especially when the rose blooms again.
Kate, I was indeed tired but now the rose is planted in its final position & I will upload pictures when it flowers next year.
Thanks also for your lovely comment on the balcony as well! As I had no garden in Spain I learned to garden on balconies in the different flats we lived in over there. So that I was able to make good use of our balcony here! (23 years have gone past since we moved in!)
I cut down the tomato plants today & put up the big round table in its usual corner on the balcony. I didn't have time to put up the mini-greenhouse but I will do it before the week is out.
15 Oct, 2024
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Your hard work will pay off brilliantly when you get to see lots of colour through the winter and then that gorgeous Rose in bloom in the summer.
12 Oct, 2024