Life is never the same, one day it is fast moving and exciting and the next it could become absolutely slow paced and a struggle not much different from your garden, right! It's raining non-stop for the last two months and the plants in my terrace garden are not taking this too well, while the weeds are having a heyday. I just watch this part of my garden from a distance since there is nothing much I can do in the rain. There is a time to work and a time to rest, a time to flourish and a time to shrug your shoulders and let things be, I am at that latter place right now.
Life after a heart surgery, a slipped disc and arthritis kicking in is never really a good place to be in, but I am not complaining. I do what I can do to enjoy what I have. For this month's #gardenjournal I plan to show you my balcony garden. I set this up as a hanging garden in the last two months so I don't strain my back too much and still enjoy being in the garden even though its minuscule in nature. This is currently the most suitable form of gardening considering my health and the weather here. All the rain water drains out faster from these hanging pots without causing the root rot and damage as I see happening on my roof top garden.
Let me describe the space I have here for you before you get some ideas. I have a 2x4 feet passage leading to a pergola on the first floor. This pergola/balcony looks down on to the street where we live. It is a 9x9 feet space cramped with plants that it is hard to take proper pictures of my balcony garden as there are plants everywhere. In the city where I live space is at a premium and houses are built so close to each other that its almost like having a common wall between houses. This said, I have made use of every single square centimeter of space both in the air and below in my balcony garden.
This is my comfort garden! Currently this is the only place from where I can enjoy my garden because of the copious rain we are experiencing right now. This space is green, deceptively like a forest with leafy loveliness caressing you whichever way you turn. The very idea of a home garden in a city is to bring nature closer to us. I guess I have succeeded in this effort to a great extent. Not only do the plants make my balcony feel like a forest of sorts but birds and bees make the set up seem perfect.
In the mornings we have the tiny sun-birds frolicking around the Chinese-hat flowers; never wasting a drop of nectar that nature provides just for them. Yet its truly impossible to take a decent picture of these beauties as this space is constricted and I cannot move around without being a disturbance.The birds seem extremely afraid of me holding the camera although they are fine with me standing there motionless when they are around.
The passage way to the pergola is framed with vines namely hoya, clematis alba, blue daze and a lonely volunteer magenta morning glory. These vines not only make the passage colorful but sweet smelling and dream like when the hoya and clematis alba are in bloom. I have added plants to the sun windows to make the living room below seem like it is in the midst of a jungle.
I have tried to add color to my balcony mainly with foliage. The tradescantia zebrina and tradescantia nanouk plants add color and vibrancy to a predominantly green space. I am slowly adding flowering plants here but only in spaces where they can get a good amount of direct sunshine. Spending money on plants and placing them in spaces that seem good to the eye without taking into account their needs will only lead to their untimely death and heart break. I have only used plants that have been here for a while and have adjusted to the micro-climate in my balcony over time.
A sunflower or this hibiscus would look spectacular on my balcony, but they remain on my terrace where there is enough direct sunlight and warmth for them to help them thrive. The beautiful China doll or Radermachera sinica does well here in my balcony than inside our home. The lustrous shiny leaves which look almost artificial don't do so well inside our home. I have also had one of them put out pale pink trumpet shaped flowers a couple of years back.
My balcony also has anther sweet smelling vine locally known as the bread flower (vallaris Solanacea). This fragrance of which is indescribable and dream like. The flowers are not much to talk about, they are tiny bell shaped, white flowers, which are more often smelt than seen. The perfume could be a wee bit too overpowering for some over sensitive noses. However, this vine has grown tall and reached the second floor spreading its fragrance all around very mildly. I can never get enough of this fragrance in the evenings when it blooms. The beauty of all the flowering vines in my balcony is that they are in bloom for most part of the year. These have been carefully chosen to ensure that the area remains colorful and verdant throughout the year.
I have just gotten myself a few other varieties of Hoya sapling last month. While hoyas are expensive they are amazing once they are established and start to bloom. In our kind of weather they are in bloom from March to December and they put on a stunning display which my neighbors enjoy. I am sure you will understand what I mean when you see these images above and below. Even when they are not in bloom the thick, waxy, dark green leaves look stunning by themselves.
Although Hoyas are known as indoor plants I've found that they do tolerate a good amount of sunlight and bloom well where they catch the morning sun.
Bright, indirect light, adequate water and fertilizing is enough to keep these vines looking beautiful for years.
Watering when the soil feels dry, ensuring a well drained, but moist soil, and fertilizing once a fortnight can do wonders for your hoya vines.
Amazingly hoyas are comparatively pest free and can go on for years without any extra care. Once in a while you wouldfind the mealy bugs from other plants climb on to these, but if you are watchful a spray of neem oil and dishwash soap is enough to clean them up.
Since my hoya vines have grown too thick and heavy over the last four years I trim them just after they stop blooming to reduce the weight mainly and keep them from blocking my narrow waling path to the balcony. Every two node cutting could become a vine and can bring you a decent amount of money every season. I personally gift hoya saplings to my friends. I contemplate converting this hobby into an earning source very soon. This could be done not just with the hoyas but with every plant that can be grown from cuttings.
I have added a few ferns and English Ivy all around my balcony in hanging baskets. This adds to the dream like quality of my balcony garden. The cotton candy fern (nephropis exaltata) is surely a piece of eye candy which I can never get enough of. The soft, fluffy, fresh looking fronds brings the desired effect of freshness and beauty to my garden. They also add a lighter or should I say brighter contrast to the otherwise dark green hues of the garden.
I plan to add a few colorful flowers and maybe some coleus to my balcony to enhance the drama here. However, that would have to wait until the rainy season is over. For now this is how my garden grows; overflowing with verdant beauty, punctuated with some splashes of color here and there.
This tiny space in my home is my special place filled with peace and beauty. A lot needs to be done here, I am planing to paint most of the pots white for the sake of uniformity and contrast. I also need to rearrange plants as they grow and add some flowers which are getting ready in my little nursery of sorts. I have also planned on adding a few kokedama styled plants to my hanging plant collection.
This is my low cost upgrade to the balcony garden. The hooks and the hangers were made by me with a cutting player and some thick twine. I am not so good with macrame, so I kept the knots simple and neat. I have also used soda bottles as planters. Using a soldering iron I made some holes to plant cuttings. In a couple of weeks time will look like living chandeliers. If you looked closely you'd have noticed that I also used a broken ball as a planter. Hehe.
Most plants used here have propagated from the plants pruned earlier. Some have been divided since they have grown too large for the containers they were in. Thus my expense for this part of the garden has been next to nothing. Honestly, I hate spending tons of money on my garden.
I love this space as it is, it has a kind of rugged yet has a dream like quality to it as it just as in nature. I hope you enjoyed this tour of my balcony space which I decided to showcase for you in my post. Hope to see you soon with updates from my terrace garden in September when the rain gives way to a cooler and more conducive weather for the plants.!
Since I don't know anyone else who has not written here already I'd like to tag 
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Thanks for reading and supporting me! If you love gardening you need to be writing for the hivegarden community with the #gardenjournal, I wish I could be regular here if things go as planned I will be. 😂
Until then - Happy gardening!
