Grow a garden on my balcony

When I returned from my half-year spent in Southeast Asia, I was appalled to find that my roommates had killed my plants. No, really. This was not just from neglect; I found my planters stacked on top of each other in a corner.
So, I started again. I planted some yellow “victory” roses, and a purple cyclamen. Hopefully they survive.

Well, my balcony still looks nice. I’ve added a few more plants since my last entry.

I think it might be the end of the double impatiens…they haven’t been looking so well, and it’s been getting pretty cold here at night.
The coleus took over the entire corner of the patio! And I’ve had to re-pot the caladium, it got so big.

Even with my week spent away from home, my garden is doing well…even better, I think! I soaked all the containers on Monday night, then was gone until Friday morning, and they all look healthier than ever! My allysum is getting huge, and the caladium sprouted new leaves. The impatiens are spilling over the side of their basket (so pretty!).
I just hope the survive the two week trip coming up.

I must be doing something right. My double impatiens are blooming! And the coleus plants seem to be doing quite well in their shady spot.
The heliotrope bloomed earlier this week, too. My balcony is looking so nice…

This weekend, I wandered out to Lowes and bought three more planters (none of them hanging), a huge bag of potting soil, and an assortment of plants. So now I have a really pretty Caladium plant in a blue pot, an oblong box with heliotrope, polka-dot plant (I liked the pink), and alyssum, and in the corner that gets no sun whatsoever I planted coleus. So now it’s just, water, and watch to see how they grow.

Well, I transplanted the double impatiens from its plastic container to the hanging basket this afternoon, and hung it up on my balcony. I think I should maybe have gotten a couple of smaller plants, instead of the one big one. It looks kind of tree-like in there. But then again, it could fill out. We shall see…for now, I’m just uber-excited about having flowers out there!

Well, I was at Home Depot this evening, buying a hammer drill so my boyfriend can hang his hummingbird feeder. While he was browsing the tools department, I wandered into the garden center and decided to buy a 12” hanging basket. And of course, I had to get something to grow in it.
I decided on double impatiens, since my balcony doesn’t get much direct sun. I’ll actually plant it & hang it tomorrow after work.

So far, I have one (indoor) orchid, and it seems to be doing well. Then again, I’ve only had it a few weeks.
I was shopping at Home Depot today, buying a patio set for our (huge) balcony, and I saw a lot of really nice looking planters. I’d really like to have my own garden, so I think I’ll try this.