The Bounty of my Balcony
As summer is winding down and fall is taking over my garden is changing.
Living in a city apartment my balcony is 6x6 feet but I call it my garden - beautiful blooms, lush green leaves, some edible veggies, and more pollinators than I could have imagined.
Lovely dinners and drinks were had out on our balcony - now is time for reflection.
My goal with the garden this year was growth - any green or flower I can get to grow I did. It was a wild variety this year - some unexpected options and some classics trying to fill the balcony with as much green as it can handle.
Armed with Ikea scissors, dollar store gloves, and a sun hat that takes up ⅓ the balcony - I spent countless days planting seeds, watering from a can filled in the kitchen sink, cutting dried leaves, staring at bugs, and counting my successes and failures.
Some successes - tomatoes, basil, mint, sunflowers, zinnias, cucumbers, morning glories, wildflowers, carrots, dill, peppers, cilantro
Some failures - squash, peas, daisies, cabbage, sage, cantaloupe, larkspur, catgrass, chives
I don’t mind failures - I spend little money on my seeds (thank you dollar tree) and good money on my soil (a requirement) to have the perfect combination of well growing plants, but no upset over loss of investment if one doesn't work out.
Failure in the garden literally leaves room to plant something new - no metaphor needed.
I took a chance on a tomato this year - I’ve never tried before and had little faith.
But 5 dollars is worth the chance of failure and it turned out to be a great success! 40+ tomatoes from one little plant
Germaniums and Fuschias - 88 cent starts that brought so many hummingbirds to my garden. They are still blooming brightly and if I care for them right will be even more beautiful next year.
Do Monsteras belong in the garden? Indoors for three years and no growth. Eventually it was a sad nub so I put it outside to die.
The nub mocked me.
Inside = death.
Outside = a lush beautiful wild plant that won’t stop creating new leaves and supports a red maple sapling as well.
The baby cucumbers are so delightful - next year I want to make a syrup with the flowers - they’re edible!
The internet said mammoth sunflowers can't grow in an 8” terracotta pot and I successfully did not listen. Stunted and overcrowded but growing tall.
