CityDiggity
A green space for urban gardenersArchive for balcony garden
Weather or not: If your garden’s taking the heat, you’d better count your blessings
It often feels like so much of balcony gardening comes down to waiting on the weather. More than one post on this blog has pivoted on the intemperate turns the weather has taken here in Chicago.
And some of my weather adventures in my small-space balcony garden high above the city streets have bordered on slapstick—at least in retrospect (smile). Not quite as funny in real time when I was scurrying about in overpowering winds trying to right terracotta pots only to have them Read the rest of this entry »
Period of adjustment: Plants sometimes look worse before they look better
It looks like my caladium has finally made peace with the full-sun exposure of my balcony garden.
For the longest time, I wasn’t sure if it would make it. Many of the vibrant leaves—a splattering of ruby red over white over lime green (a little like an abstract canvas)—had turned brown and shriveled at the edges.
But remarkably, it’s rebounded! The sickly looking leaves have fallen away, and the new leaves are healthy and standing proud.
Of course, too much or too little sun isn’t the only thing that stresses garden plants. Just changing
Read the rest of this entry »
Garden is the perfect antidote for the stress of long days
As the sun set on the first day of summer, I reflected on the state of my balcony garden — which, sad to say, is still in its infancy.
The crush of months of unrelenting work, plus a stubborn bug that zapped any remaining energy I had at the end of the day, has resulted in a slow start. I’m still adding plants as the days progress, and I have to admit that for once I didn’t go into the season with a well-crafted plan.
I had the usual abundance of seed packets, and even picked up a few more that displayed photos which struck my fancy… But, the visions of color
Blossoms fight the good fight as one season fades into the next
An epic battle is raging in the garden. As the seasons vie for dominance, witness some flowers continue to boldly blossom while others dry up and wither around them.
This morning I saw an outstanding bloom on a heavenly blue morning glory vine that has winded its way up from a small pot on my balcony deck to the planters attached above it at the railing’s perimeter.
Oh, the horror: Watering tomato plant turned downright scary
It was after midnight. Prime time for watering my balcony garden plants. Or so I thought…
Little did I know that horror lurked under the normally comforting indigo sky. (Fade up the really chilling scary movie soundtrack.)
I turned on the connected strands of the net lights that wrap my small space in a starry blanket. I grabbed my watering can and made my first trip inside to fill it and then returned to commence my daily ritual.
I started on the right side of the balcony with small pots of morning glory tucked in at intervals around the perimeter.
By the time I made it around to the left side and a large heirloom tomato plant, the moonlight glinted on something I couldn’t quite make out…
It looked to me like a huge mutant pea pod, and I instinctively reached out and touched it… Terror Read the rest of this entry »
Mid-July garden follies: wind, rain, heat and the master plan
I started Saturday with a plan. You see, I knew the forecast predicted scattered thunderstorms, which I was actually looking forward to because I hoped they’d take some of the sting out of the blistering heat we’ve been experiencing. I was also hoping to save myself from the grueling task of watering my container plants under the sweltering sun. And lets not forget how beneficial rainwater is to developing plants. And mine, delayed as they are, need all the help they can get (smile).
So, I crafted what I thought was an ingenious scheme: I’d keep watching the skies and when they grew overcast — the dark before the storm — I’d Read the rest of this entry »
Nature cuts garden down to size
The weather. It can definitely do damage to a fledgling garden.
But, before we talk about that, let me take you back a couple weeks… When I looked out at the overabundance of seedlings (in my zeal I used about 150 peat pellets) I’d planted for this season’s garden I thought I may have gone a little overboard.
Nature, however, has a way of leveling things out. Torrential rains hit Chicago a few days later, which had me flashing on a scene from the old movie, “Tammy and the Bachelor,” in which the Debbie Reynolds character scurries about in a downpour, Read the rest of this entry »
The garden started without me: spontaneous blooms are the first of season
I’ve been slow to get my sprouts into the garden, what with waiting out the weather and other distractions. Apparently, though, the garden decided it wouldn’t wait for me.
Despite the fact that I pretty much build my garden on annuals because I don’t expect anything sitting in plastic planters on an exposed balcony, enduring the harsh Chicago winter and winds, to regenerate — I’ve been pleasantly surprised in recent days…
Things started to sprout spontaneously in the Read the rest of this entry »
The mystery of orchids and the Mother’s Day garden timetable
Orchids. There’s just something about them.
And to the envy of mere mortal women, they manage to achieve the double feat of being beautiful and mysterious. And it’s hard to put your finger on just what makes them so entrancing…
Like a good mystery buff, I first became intrigued with the exotic flowering plant after following the exploits of fictional detective Nero Wolfe.
Author Rex Stout painted an intriguing portrait of the brilliant private detective who, in unraveling the evil men do, got a first-hand look at the uglier side of nature.
Not only did his stately brownstone — from which he solved his cases — provide refuge from this ugliness, it also was where he escaped to his beautiful world of orchids.
He owned thousands and devoted the upper level of his home to them, caring for and nurturing them as though they were his children. He was an obsessive and devoted hobbyist.
Of course, today we can all share in the orchid Read the rest of this entry »
Year two: The promise of spring, renewal, and all that jazz
To my mind, winter was made so that we could more fully experience the exquisite bliss of the awakening of spring.
In fact, in more sentimental moments, I feel downright sorry for my gardening buddies languishing in tropical climes (smile).
OK, so they have non-stop blooms, lush color and the life that gardens bring to your world all year-round. But, hear me out, what they miss is Read the rest of this entry »
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