Name: gorgeoux
Location: London
Type of space: Balcony
Tell us about your outdoor project and how you enjoy it: We have drinks, dinners, and lunches on the balcony almost every day — our office is within walking distance, and we love spending a quiet while in the sun, enjoying our mixing and home cooking, watching the clouds speed by, spotting which new plant is close to bloom, and, often, solving a business issue or imagining our future home...Other than the large bay tree and the reviving chili plant, the herbs have only now started to reach the point where we can start using them, and we can't wait to cook with our own rosemary, lemon thyme, grapefruit mint, sage and chives. The Romulus vine spends its first summer here, so we'll see whether that leads to any tasty benefits at the end of the fall.
I also smoke on the balcony rather than indoors, enjoying our unique potted garden, smiling at passers by who always stop and stare, without fail, drinking coffee, sorting out my work agenda, reading a book or my RSS feeds. When the sun allows it (we finally have a brilliant, hot summer), I take my laptop out on the little pink table and blog.
My love picked the flat some two years ago partly due to its balcony, a rarity in London. He knew too well just how full of plants my balcony had been in Romania (you featured it back then) and how empty my life would be without green babies. He didn't say so, but I guessed, with the passing of time, and especially after the appearance of the pink table and blue chairs, a surprise gift from him accompanied by our first bubbly outside.
We then salvaged a few plants that were dying in a couple of old pots on the balcony, and started building, bringing in babies from many of our trips around the city and the country. On top of it some plants are gifts from his mother, others from my parents, some came from the Camden Council Give & Take day, or the odd flea market of the Cats Association in Foyle, a Cornish town. Time flew, and here we are, smothered in pots.
He calls our balcony the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for how it stirs people.
Recommended store, site, product or resource? Columbia Road Flower Market, The Eden Project (Cornwall), Marylebone High Street Farmers' Market
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This is beautiful. I love the happy little bird!
This is the exact size, shape and height from the street as my balcony! I never thought to put a table out there. This is such a happy little jewel.
My favorite so far. Teeny tiny, bright and beautiful.
So colorful! Quite lovely!
Laura
http://www.grafxnerd.net
I love the pops of color - just seeing this from the street would make me happy!
You're all so kind, thank you for your appreciation :)
@Alora That is a starling. It just stopped by... today. For one hour. Coming very close to me at times, and singing beautifully. Had bees and bumble bees and butterflies and colourful bugs and even a baby sparrow before, but this was much more fun. And I had just installed a bird feeder on the outside the other day, which was totally ignored :))
@ooh_food Dare to dream. Or get to work ;)
@Auburn Many thanks.
@grafxnerd It stays colourful throughout the seasons, with the Japanese maple, the vine, and a berberry bush bright red in the fall, or the rainbow hyacinths, tulips, and daffodils of the spring.
@As I was answering your comment, a lady just passed by, jerked her head back, and smiled widely :) It means so much more to be able to share its joy, especially when some flowers bloom on the exterior only. And the bougainvilleas are just coming back after a rough winter!
that is so lovely :-) makes me happy just to look at the pix.
Beautiful space. I love the pops of color too. I've debated about what I could add to mine for more color. So far I just have a large blue pot, but after seeing your small paradise I could go a bit bolder with more color too. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/outdoor/consider-your-outdoor-view-086331
What an exuberant, sweet little balcony! I wish I had one! And a bird visitor. Lovely.
great work!!!your an example for all of those who complain that they had a really small balcony and couldnt have a garden....love it..
I love it! The contrast with the blue chair is perfect! I had balcony garden at my last place: http://www.poweredbytofu.com/2007/12/04/75-plant-a-balcony-garden/ Now I'm missing my balcony!
i love this!!!
Ah, very cute! I love the mix of bright colors. What really made me smile is that your street looks familiar. I think I've walked past it on my own way home! :)
It just goes to show you that even a small balcony can host a lovely garden. What a joy!
What a lovely little space. You obviously get terrific enjoyment from it.
It's truly amazing to hear from so many of you! Thank you :)
@maike Your happiness makes ME happy.
@dmstudio Yours looks lovely. Maybe more blue pots and some in ochre, too, for a bold, happy statement? They go so well together: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/2700863719/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/2290755015/ (a year ago).
@Pixie Much appreciated :) A baby sparrow visits, as well: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/3573045810/
@ilovenature4ever Even to those without a balcony, it seems :) http://www.gorgeoux.com/2009/05/neighbours-got-flowers.html
@poweredbytofu I did have to work with the blue of the chairs, as they arrived first. Sorry to hear you're out of a balcony. I see you used to have African daisies, too :) Maybe you need a small/ midsized indoor garden? We had a large chili plant and other herbs living inside in a pot (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/2535919875/) but we had to pollinate with a feather to replace bees and get some fruit (!) In the past I had devil's ivy inside (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/621013985/), English ivy in tiny pots (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/621686582/), passion flower (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/620959669/), a fern (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/2307603111/) and mother-in-law's tongue (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgeoux/3384798153/), to name a few. Most of these are easy to grow and propagate. Good luck!
@tabithacat Many thanks :)
@isolde How amazing is that? We're close to BT Tower and Fitzroy Square. You can find the balcony on Google's Street View, in fact ;)
@junklover The size of balconies in London, when they exist, is indeed intimidating, and not in a good way, but I love myself a challenge. My previous balcony (http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/outdoor/outdoor-home-mironas-kindergarten-of-green-babies-025454) had better proportions, but I didn't do as amazing a job at it. Go figure.
@harbourbridge Quite so, and you should see how fun it is for guests who stay with us (my sister and her boyfriend arrive in just a few hours). Needless to say, it's where I do my gardening, as well, and I can certainly keep an eye on everything and quickly remove dead flowers or attack bugs. I'll miss that when I have a proper garden.
So lovely! It always saddens me when people have balconies and don't use them, so well done! But the bird looks to me a bit more like a thrush than a starling.... :o)
Love the color! What blue is that?
A great use of space - and I know exactly how you feel about your green babies! But agree with nik77 - thrush not a starling.
Hey "gorgeoux" thats so funny about Sandra and David,it does feel really good when you inspired others.That happend to me too I just move to a 3rd floor apartment and in the outdoor entrance I put a ficus with flowers aroud the trunk and I start my balcony garden too after a while I saw my Neighbor from across the building, that she put a small tree in her front door and when i go walk around the buildings I see other people balconys that they are starting to put more plants too...That brings a smile to my face :)
Adorable! It's so lovely to see bright colours and flowers on a central London balcony.
Have you thought of entering Camden in Bloom?
http://tiny.cc/CHsAP
I love walking past balconies like yours. Hurrah for blooming London ;-)
@nik77 Thank you, I also feel so many of my neighbours could use their balconies! Definitely a thrush, you're right, thank you again :) I'm still terrible with English names for birds and plants, having spent my life learning the Romanian vocabulary. Help appreciated, thus. Will go update my Flickr tags and blog post...
@blis_ful It didn't come with a description/ code, but I'd venture to say it's in between Danish blue http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Match-of-Dal-Worth-Paints-21-5D-Danish-Blue-p/mpc0048066.htm and Pantone 286 on this page http://www.speedline.fi/en/vakiovarit.html though it may seem brighter in the sun. Basically, the blue used a lot in Greece.
@frugilegus Thank you for your kind words, and voting for thrush :) We have a saying in Romania: if one person tells you to go to sleep because you're tipsy, ignore them; if two say so, go to sleep. No idea what weird connection I made with starling. VERY different bird...
@ilovenature4ever That is a brilliant story! Maybe let them know somehow that they make you smile? I have some photos of a sweet garden behind our building and plan to print some for the lady owner and leave them in her mailbox with a note :)
@Madame Is Thank you for your appreciation, and suggestion--I didn't know about Camden in Bloom, and not only that today's the last submission date, but their website is terribly slow. Will keep trying...
@CamillaC Many thanks, your enthusiasm is contagious :)
I love your color choices! So fun and energetic - but still within good tastes.
What an delight your balcony is. Now it is almost spring in Aus and I feel inspired to go to the plant market for some herbs and get started this weekend. Thank you.