The summer view

Balcony Garden

I used the balcony as a lab to plant different things I am fancy about randomly, which can make it look a bit wild over time.

So I spent some time to draw the outlook this spring before I bring any new plants home. Some of them are young plants, and some are growing from seed since it is much cheaper.  The most valuable are perennials, like roses and clematis, which has been with me for years.

Not everything has turned out exactly as planned, but I am happy to let the nature to take over a little bit, so I can just grab a cup of tea and enjoy the view…

'Trees' in window box

I bought five fuchsias last year during the Xmas, and leave them indoor next to the kitchen window to go through the cold seasons. Two of them have grown as standing trees. The left 3 were put into the window box since I don’t have many big containers left. Seems they are happy to stay there.

Fuchsia 'Mrs Popple' in two shades

Cutting flowers with Fuchsia 'Mrs Popple'

Cutting flowers in black and white

In this sunny cool weekend, I removed a few branches from the fuchsia to keep the young tree growing taller. After taking a few cuttings, there are some flowers left. So I put them around the edge of the glass jar to boost it with more colors.

The fuchsia I used is Mrs Popple, and the other 3 plants are vinca major, peppermint, and trailing nepeta. They all can root easily in the water, so are always a good background for the cutting flowers.

Trailing Geranium in hanging Window Boxes

Geranium 'Blue Sybil'

Geranium, also called Pelargonium, is always my favorite plants in summer. It is free flowering all summer until late autumn, and always to forgive me if I forget to water them for a few days.  This year, I am trying a few double flowered trailing varieties, and they are all ivy leaved, and looks great in my hanging window boxes. ‘Blue Sybil’ has the pretty rose-like buds; ‘Tommy’ is in deep red with the soft texture of velvet; ‘Mexicana’ has the vibrant colors, add spicy to the whole collection.

Pink Trailing Geranium

Geranium 'Tommy'

Geranium 'Mexicana'

Geranium 'Tommy'

Geranium 'Blue Sybil'