Balcony Makeover

When my fiance asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I excitedly responded that all I wanted to do was garden and write. I got to spend the first half of my day rearranging and cleaning the balcony, the second half writing, and the third half... wait, that's not right... nursery shopping and going out to eat! Oh, and for the ultimate birthday activity, I'm blogging and tweeting on #gardenchat at the same time!



I rearranged some of the furniture, filled a whole trash bag with garbage, and repotted a bunch of my plants. I even hung tillandsias from the ceiling with twine! You'll notice that the vriesea in the middle of the table is still blooming.


This unidentified vriesea's red flower spike has been gracing my balcony since fall and it's just now putting out its first yellow flower! It's mounted on a chunk of tree fern trunk along with rhipsalis, cryptanthus, tillandsias, easter cactus and an encyclia orchid.


Here's my newly created reading nook. Apart from the arenga engleri palm, all of the plants are epiphytic, meaning they grow on trees. On the white crates you'll find my "vertical garden", which is set flat for now to establish roots. I want to ensure that nothing falls out when I mount it again!


Containers of bromeliads and rhipsalis will keep me company in my reading nook.


I've also combined several rhipsalis planters into a galvanized steel bucket, and added a vriesea splendens in the center for drama. I really like the texture of the bucket as well as the way light glimmers off the edge.


With a balcony like this, who needs a "garden"? On a little sidenote, all of the plants I used are totally tolerant of full shade, as my balcony gets no direct sun whatsoever. I love my apartment garden.
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21 comments:

  1. I love this little staghorn hanging from the wall. What I want to know about, though, are the little hanging crate planter things in the first picture. Did you make those?

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  2. melissa:
    The crates are actually slat wood orchid baskets, available at most home improvement centers and some nurseries! I love them so much... They're great for getting circulation to the orchid's roots.

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  3. God, I love it too~~~

    I wanted to show you a really neat vertical garden my blog pal, Evelyn made for her balcony! You would love it...I'm going over to look for it right now...BRB!

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  4. Goody, I can't wait! Is it Evelyn from Australia?

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  5. Whoops, I posted my comment just as you posted yours. It IS Evelyn from Australia and I absolutely lover her creativity filled blogs. I just had to share that vertical garden on Stumbleupon too...

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  6. wow..
    your balcony garden is so clean & neat.
    Mine is like a jungle - just not able to maintain the neatness as the plants somehow find their messy trails and sorts with the rain and all.. just make me give up.

    Do try Episcia (Flame Violet) they are totally shade loving plant too. Also Tradescantia, Jewel of Opar & Begonia. Easy and hardy.

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  7. I love your balcony garden, too! You have really good design skills, Steve! Glad you enjoyed your day! You deserve it! :-)

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  8. My birthday is also coming up, and I had the same response! Wow it is all looking so neat and tidy, and I love the viresia bloom! Happy belated birthday!

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  9. I like the creativty you have to make your balcony garden a beautiful one.I like your balcony its so beautiful and good looking.

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  10. Great looking balcony garden, Steve. Love that arrangement in the galvanized bucket. Broms are so great for your area. I'm giving some thought to adding a vertical brom element to my wood fence. Seeing your orchid pots gives me a great idea.

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  11. What a great bday you had, Belated good wishes to you. I love the new look of your balcony garden. It really looks like a bit of paradise, and comforting too.

    FlowerLady

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  12. Lookin' good! I wish I had a balcony to makeover!

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  13. I just love your balcony! I want to enjoy a book there too - its very lovely!

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  14. I love your apartment garden too! Very neat, very green, so inviting.

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  15. What a fabulous garden! I love all of your epiphytes! What a great way to spend your birthday. Happy belated birthday by the way!

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  16. FANTASTIC! Looks fabulous! And low maintenance. Good job!

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  17. Your balcony surely has lots of treasures! Love the look of how all those broms, orchids, and other epiphytes come together. The birthday boy deserves having the third half of his special day! Happy Birthday!

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  18. What I nice little oasis Steve! I <3 the look of the galvanized pots too. Enjoy it!

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  19. Glad you had a nice day :) I can picture you sitting in that chair reading....your plants look nice.....
    check your Yahoo mail : )

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  20. i LOVE this, so inviting! gives me great greenery ideas too as the side of my balcony that get suns is filling up fast!

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