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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.