Winter flowers and fruits

We've always had very few seasonal flowers. Our past focus was on perennials that flowered, so that we didn't have to keep putting in and digging out plants at the turn of the season. With a balcony garden, this is much easier to do. So we decided to get some winter annuals. We're hoping that they brighten up the dreary winter!

Our regular nursery doesn't stock many flowers, he's also a perennial type of person I guess! But the nursery next to his had lots of flowers. We picked up Petunia, Calendula and Chrysanthemum.

Calendula

Petunia

Chrysanthemum

We also got a Strawberry plant. In Melbourne, we were losing all of them to the Possums. Hopefully no one steals them here! 

Strawberry

While we got these plants, we also re-did our vertical garden. We planted seeds of Coriander, Methi, Spinach, Kale and Chives. Except for the Chives, all of the others have started to grow nicely.

Adding new plants

After settling our balcony layout, we were keen to add more plants. 

We had a huge box of seeds that are definitely expired by now! Even so, we sowed them in seed trays to see if something would germinate. My MIL would look at it closely every morning when drinking her tea and would give us the report of the germination. So far the germination rate is 0% 😂 So we have decided to get new plants.

This nursery trip was for the functional plants. We wanted to get plants to screen our balcony from our neighbour's (they will move in a few months). We also wanted some plants for the pot next to the grass patch, to shield it from view. 

Our first purchase were 3 plants of Bamboo. We've never owned bamboo before (unless you count the Chinese bamboo that people have gifted us), but we know about the plant. It is a vigorous grower and is best contained in pots. Its also great for windy locations as it does not break. Ours look a bit straggely, but we hope they will grow out soon.

We also picked up a few plants of Marigold to underplant with the Bamboo.

Bamboo

Bamboo with Marigolds

Next up were the screening plants for the pot near the grass patch. We wanted Tecoma, but the nursery did not have any. They did have an unusual burgundy coloured plant, whose leaves and flowers were both burgundy. Turns out it is a plant called Cranberry Hibiscus. Its very tall and was growing quite wildly in the nursery. We decided to pick those up for our balcony.

Cranberry Hibiscus

Cranberry Hibiscus plants

We planted Marigolds under the Cranberry Hibiscus as well. The last few times we have planted Marigold (in Ahmedabad and Melbourne), they have not lasted beyond the first flush of flowers. They always seem to wither from the bottom up and slowly die. Lets see whether these survive.

Marigold

Deciding the layout of our balcony

After moving into our new apartment (with the really loooooong balcony, if you remember!), we have been sorting through all the plants, pots and garden supplies we have. Most of the balcony gets full sunlight throughout the day. During the summer, the full sunlight is restricted to the first foot of the balcony from the railing. During the winter, we expect the sunlight to reach inside the rooms, as the sun will be lower in the sky.

We have sectioned the balcony in specific areas. The eastern side is the domestic side. It has the grass patch for the dogs, a vertical planter (from our Melbourne garden), a new Daily Dump composter (our previous one broke in the storage) and the veggie plants. We're also using this area to store other items for now that will be processed later.

East-facing side of the balcony

The alcove outside the drawing room is for the creepers. This pot contains plants that like partial shade. This area is also collecting the waste water from the office AC. 

Alcove outside the drawing room

The second part of the alcove is where we have our outdoor seating. We use it a lot for our meals and evening coffees. Next to us is the doggie hut (that we had in our Melbourne home). The dogs actively use it to catch an outdoor snooze during the day. 

This section is visible directly from the drawing room. So we've got all our flowering and feature plants here. This is also the side of the balcony that has the water outlet that we pulled from our kitchen. 

West-facing side of the balcony

Building a new garden in a new home

It's here! Finally our new home is getting ready for us to move in. With a 30ft balcony and full sunshine, we are looking forward to building a fully-functional garden.

The first thing on our list was to get a lawn for the doggies. It was most convenient in our Ahmedabad home and not difficult to look after. We already have a lawn mower and shears to cut the grass. In any case, we prefer the Nilgiri grass, which does not grow very fast (except in monsoon).

Lawn at one end of the balcony

This time we also decided to get a few plants and planters as a package deal along with the grass. We picked out the plants we wanted and gave the contract to a landscaper. This helped us get to a green state much faster! We have picked Boungainvillea, Ruellia (pink and white) and Thunbergia Erecta Blue for the cermaic pots.

Our new plant collection

Another thing we wanted to add was a feature tree. The choice was between Crepe Myrtle or Frangipani. Finally we went with Frangipani because of the fragrance. This went into a large cement pot, along with Jasmine Rex for underplanting.

Frangipani in a pot

Finally, we wanted a pot with support for creepers. This is to be placed outside the drawing room door, which is a shady area. We picked Paan and Sweet Potato Vine for the climbers. This has been underplanted by Variegated Money Plant.

Creeper planter

So this is how our balcony looks now!

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