I love looking at the images too, boomer.

As I said in another post, there are plenty of sites for landscaping huge yards and dealing with big homes.

There are next to none dealing with tiny yards or just balconies. And some balconies are so small, that they have just enough room for two pots. No wonder they don't do much, because they don't know what, if anything, will make a difference.

Balconies are probably the HARDEST thing to deal with. Why? Because here, depending on which apartment you're in, will determine what kind of sun you get, what kind of winds.

The people at the top facing south have a very different climate than those at the bottom facing north. And those facing east, near the top, get morning sun all across their entire apartment. All year (when there is sun). But *I* only get sun IN my apartment during winter (when there is sun).

So that one's next door neighbor, that is around the corner, can grow COMPLETELY different plants. The neighbor across the hall has a different climate on their balcony than I do on mine.

What people had done before was to post images of their spaces on Flickr, and I spent a lot of time doing one person's backyard. Like trying out plants and things that I would select parts of images and paste them over the image that the other person had posted. To create a mock up of a possible backyard look.

For your own patio, boomer, you could try searching for Master Gardeners in your area. Also hook up with Native Plant Societies. If it's native to your area, it will probably do well. And there are probably LOTS of things to choose from.

i agree, love the pics and would love to see more to help those of us with small outdoor spaces.

and maybe post some helpful hints a little earlier like April or March,even. that way we could start thinking about a plan and have something to look forward to while it is still cold and grey.
thanks!

Oh Maxwell, maybe you can hire TRUE BLUE to do her stuff as a blogger - it sounds awesome!

Boomer - I think "morphing" is what happens with gardens usually anyways! You start with some of an overall plan and then things sort of develop...

If I was to do the Apt Therapy feedback thing on your patio garden (hope that is okay- you didn't ask for comments!) I would suggest -

I think you have many styles going on (much like in apartment therapy, "find your style"). The wood and arbor and vines say natural, the planters say hmm, maybe southwest? The middle stone light looks asian style. The stars and lizard more electic, slightly southwest. The planter arrangement looks more formal style...

My personal rearranging would probably go something like - remove the hanging basket or fill it with plants that fall lushly over the edge (since the wire frame basket itself is turning into a focal point). Shift the two front boxes over outwards by about two feet so they extend out from the arbor (extends the view left and right after the eye comes down from the arbor following the wood color, also highlights the staged plants more). I would move the light - if you have two of them I think they would look good near the bottoms of the arbor posts (the single middle light kind of competes with the pots now). In the front middle put something low and slightly unobtrusive in the front, or a cluster of smaller pots that echo the big ones and lead up to it visually. I think I myself would prefer darker large planters than the existing ones (like brown-black), so that the eye doesn't stop at the planters, but incorporates the green behind it as part of the scene (borrowed view), but then you'd be buying new ones... I would also probably move some of the hanging items to distribute them around your patio, since it is looking a little busy (and I love hanging chimes on corners!), but that's up to your style. The wood colors and rose colored flowers tie into your rug very nicely! Actually, your area is so small, so thinking of it as a vignette might help...

Drip systems are awesome! But since you have such a small space, much like cables, you should be able to hide them more by putting the driplines around so that they run down the back of the pots, and run under or behind the stage, or on the arbor tuck them in along a post on the outer side so that they aren't seen as much.

I hope my comments were useful...
Isn't gardening fun! :)

Love the Crown Heights one -- great way to pack in wonderful plants!

Wow, these are so inspiring to see!

Holy crap, boomer, you don't need any help! That is LOVELY! You HAVE all the cool stuff. The hummingbird feeder (aren't they a blast to watch?). The wind chimes. The arbor. The hanging pot. The vines.

The purple stuff looks like stuff that smells really good. I don't remember the name. What is it called?

Try squeezing in a little allysum, because it smells like honey:
http://gardening.yardener.com/YardenersPlantHelper/LandscapePlantFiles/FilesAboutFlowers/FlowersAnnuals/Allysum

Cheap too, and I'd fill all these little pots with it. Of course, little pots means frequent watering. But you could sink some in around the large tree.

I love asking dumb questions, like "What is that?" and "Is this going to die on me?" when I would go to the garden centers. Because the plants aren't labeled like recipes.

Recipes might be labeled as being easy or inexpensive or reading through it, it might mention specialty tools.

Plants are labeled with a name and a price, but they don't tell you what bugs might show up, and the care instructions are too general.

So I'd try out small versions. Healthy small versions. Usually the education comes during the process of raising the young ones. Uh-oh, aphids! Uh-oh, white fly!

Looks like I haven't signed into my Flickr account since I was here a few years ago, but, here is a picture of my balcony from MANY years ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96179754@N00/131271087/

I never did find out what that tree was. It was something that started growing in the pot. I didn't plant it.

And that was an evolving, non-planned balcony garden too. I had cheap-cheap pots, plastic, gray, bland pots. But who can see the pots?

Meanwhile, a neighbor way back then, she bought all the cool pots. And nice plants. And never watered them. So she had nice pots with dead plants.

Ideally, I suppose, it would be cool to have the nice pots and the nice plants. But when they overflow that much, it wouldn't matter too much.

P.S. You'll be able to spot the wind chimes and the bird feeder. Hummingbird feeder must have been being washed.

Boomer, here is the Master Gardener site for your area:
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/metro/index.php

You think you just have a small patio, but what you are doing is really this:
"Creating habitat for life (biodiversity) to exist and thrive in urban areas."
(source, that link I just posted, ha!)

Life starts on such a small scale, but each one supports the next level, or adjacent levels. Things work in harmony.

And if you have questions, they have answers:
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/metro/plant.php

They have newsletters you can view online. They have a calendar of many things that you might be interested in attending.

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Looks like you have an outstanding Japanese Garden in Portland:
http://www.japanesegarden.com/

They have guided free tours year 'round.

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Here's someone who offers a service, but just check out these images, from Portland:
http://www.plan-it-earthdesign.com/portfolio.html

With a good section on local resources:
http://www.plan-it-earthdesign.com/resources.html

Definitely check out the Monrovia site. Oh, and I want those shoes!

I'm a big pelargonium fan, so I noticed the leaves of the one red flowered item in the black pot, being stellar types. See more pelargoniums here:
http://www.holtgeraniums.com/catalogue.htm

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JG, that was real nice, of you to suggest me blogging, but I'd rather not. I just want to pitch in, like you did too. The more, the merrier. I like LOTS of ideas. I like to read everyone else's ideas as well as toss in my own, if I have any ideas.

And it's GREAT for the person who is wanting ideas, because then that person can choose from many different people's ideas, suggestions, comments, and use the bits and pieces that they liked the best.

What I should try to do is get out and take some pictures of neighbor's balconies and patios, the ones with plants. First, though, I have to learn to use this digital camera. I have been hoping that I would absorb the knowledge on how to use it, by it simply sitting in a cubby two feet away. That hasn't worked yet.

So, I have to find my reading glasses AND the instructions, And have both at the same time, which could take days. Months maybe. ;)

Besides, I have been holding out for my own TV show.

YES! That's the word I needed to jog my memory, wallflower, this is the kind I used to have:
http://www.oakcottage.org.uk/eris/043a.html

Some birds will eat spiders, but mostly the spiders are there for a reason. There are flying bugs for them to eat, and the bugs are there because of the flowers or because there are people.

Look to see what is IN the spider webs. What kinds of insects? For instance, if there are mosquitoes, that means mosquitoes are breeding somewhere nearby in standing water. And that mosquitoes are being attracted to YOU and your area (food source).

But read more about spiders. It has helped me overcome fears of them. Learning the parts, learning facts, learning their habits, that all helps in overcoming dislikes. Really.

I could do without the close up view of the spider face on this link I'll post, but here is some text to consider if you don't want to see a close up of a spider:

"Spiders feed on a wide variety of insects and are considered beneficial in the garden because of their pest-controlling capabilities. Some of the common insects controlled by spiders include aphids, caterpillars, cucumber beetles, flies, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, plant bugs, and thrips. Because of their beneficial nature, garden spiders should be conserved."

And before posting the rest of the link, read this...:
"People often mistakenly blame spiders for bites caused by fleas, ticks, or mites. Most spiders don’t possess the mouthparts capable of breaking human skin."

This is a link to Wisconsin, but the benefits of spiders are universal:
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/wihort/landscape/gardenspiders.htm

The ones on my balcony railing only come out at night. And I'd go sit out there, on the concrete, and watch them repair their webs and wait. They wait. They must be very patient. Food certainly doesn't appear at my door, unless I call the pizza place.

Do you have the Hall's honeysuckle? Looks like this:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54044/

I'm near the coast and that stuff grows like crazy in San Francisco humidity, so I bet it would do GREAT for you too. I was even able to root a broken piece off the plants around here.

Dave's Garden is a good site to browse too.

I loved watching the goldfinches, they liked the thistle seeds, which are expensive. I used the sock feeder, as pictured here:
http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=10865

Things you have to think about when feeding birds. Squirrels are rodents, just a bit cuter with their fluffy tail than their cousins, the rats. And mice. They will all eat fallen seed. That's food for them. So, you want to be careful of what you put out, and be very good at cleaning up any fallen seed.

The feeder might be squirrel-proof, but your home is not mouse proof. And mice and rats are food sources for other critters, such as raccoons and skunks. Like I said, it's a chain and it all works in harmony.

TRUE BLUE -

The easiest, best way to learn a digital camera is to have someone show you! Really- slogging through the manual is *tough*! (And I am a techie!) Trying things out hands-on with someone there is the way to go... Hopefully you know someone who has one or uses one or is technically oriented. Even if they don't use the same kind of digital camera there are usually similar icons and ways of using it. Bring the manual along for the things that need to be looked up that are different. Then go through taking a few photos, looking at them, deleting them. Turning it on and off. :) Download photos from the camera to you computer. Try a few "modes", but don't worry about learning them all yet... Try zooming in and out...

Probably won't take very long, and the other person will probably have fun showing you...

JG, I bought the camera from my brother, who showed me how to do everything, which I promptly forgot when he'd go to the next step. He's in another country, so he won't be showing me anything now. I don't have much to take pictures of, or to show anyone.

But in the interests of AT and fellow apartment dwellers, it might be nice to get out and take a few shots of anything small scale, to inspire others.

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boomer, I am very familiar with black widows. We had oodles of them around our house. I've had them in my bedroom. They get the same treatment that other spiders do, and that its the cup and thing to slide under the cup, so they can go back outside.

They aren't hanging around waiting to attack people. They are like any other living thing, that seeks out food, water, shelter, and a place to raise their young.

So you do what you can do to cut back on the potential habitat, right? Things are often preventable, like you probably don't have or plan on having a wood pile. Ha!

And what kind of a moron does this:
"Never handle a black widow spider or poke your hand into its web." Um. DUH!

source: http://www.ehow.com/how_2065902_identify-black-widows-habitat.html

More black widow, including this quote:
"Nobody in the US has died from a black widow bite in over 10 years"
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/159-wild-things-bite-of-the-black-widow

Now, what is it that makes them a nuisance or pest? This is key to discovering our own inner fears and biases. They aren't wrecking your plants. As far as I know, webs don't destroy anything.

I always feel bad when I have to break a web to get down to tend my animals. There are many spiders. I've bent over and had one fall off my head and dangle by it's silk near my face. I just broke the silk strand with my fingers and then placed the strand and spider on a nearby branch. No screaming. It startled me. But I did not freak out.

But then again, I am a person who has sat outside with the animals and had a skunk walk up next to me and sit with me while eating the cat's food. I mean RIGHT next to me. so I could rub it and scratch it. It was a skunk KNOWN to me, it's name is Lucky. It was injured and I made sure it had food and water while it was healing up. But it's still a wild creature. That might freak out some people. Doesn't bother me at all.

Remember, as MattThePlantGuy was saying in the other thread about the flower arranging, that people's points of view often differ.

One person's "invasive" is another person's "thriving". I have suggested before that since the ivy around here is not native, wrecks trees, and seems to be dying off, that they should instead plant the Hall's.

If an area is going to be dominated by a species, I would prefer it be a delightfully scented flower.

And the ones in the wild don't get special food. They just grow. I'll take a look at a few in my area to see how they are doing. Some of the leaves DO get yellowish. Depending on season. Or maybe it's because of watering or temperature.

Love the new pictures. You have a LOT of plants. Is that a Japanese Maple?

As for the blue jays, there's a partial solution to the bug problem. I don't know which kind of jay you have:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay

We have primarily Scrub Jays in our area. But I did see a Stellar's Jay a few weeks back, kind of a surprise.

You have to decide if you want the birds there or not. They may swoop on you once they have youngsters. Then again, they may decide you are their best friend and follow you.

One pair of Scrub Jays at the community college I went to, the one started hopping behind me, as I was leaving a pond area. Very smart bird. Knew a sucker when he saw one.

This led to me sharing my lunch with he and his mate (or her and her mate). Which then led to me buying unsalted, raw peanuts and bringing them. Which was the ultimate from their point of view.

Within two weeks, the bold one would land on my hand and take the peanut from my mouth.

They are VERY smart birds. You have provided a food source, which they will defend. If you have a bird bath, they will enjoy that too.

You may want to move the glass lantern, simply because if there are cats (and I am a big cat lover, but I love the birds too), they MAY try to get to the nest, and that might mean they get excited and jump up on that ledge that is between you and your neighbors.

That is the million dollar bird condo there.

"Build it and they will come"

And so they did!

Good job with your Craigslist finds! Probably someone was moving?

I bet the jays WILL stay. They don't expend energy on nest building for fun. And it IS a perfect nesting area, with shelter. Plus, the young ones will be able to practice hopping from spot to spot.

I think that the planting and pots sets a good example for others. Now, maybe they won't be able to tend as much as you have, but neighbors may start asking you what you have growing out there, and if anything is "easy" that they could try to grow.

Not that my balcony was any artful arrangement, but it was the only one on this wall/section of the building that had flowers, lots of flowers. And people actually took pictures of the flowers.

I felt very self-conscious about that whole thing. But it does inspire others to try. I started with a couple small plants, and it expanded from there.

You might want to make out a list of what you have out there, so just in case one of your neighbors expresses interest, you could print out your list from the computer and circle or check the one they were interested in.

They can take that list to the nursery, and get not only the one they were interested in, but check out the other ones too. They won't have to pester you every few days asking for the name again, or for the name of another thing they like.

The landlord used to have a contest for best balcony. With real prizes. Like $100.00 off rent. Paying people, basically, for gardening. I'm sure YOU'VE spent more than that, and I certainly had done so too (over time), but it's a great idea for any homeowners or renter's group to do.

It gets people involved. It gets people talking or waving to their neighbors. Complements fly.

There are little tiny bulbs, usually out in December?, called Muscari. AKA Grape Hyacinth. You might consider them for low edging in pots.

Here's a blinding display of them en masse:
http://www.theplantexpert.com/springbulbs/Muscari.html

Good close up on the Wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape_hyacinth

You can see they start off looking very grass like, and clumpy from the Wiki page. The do naturalize, and they make more bulbs. Eventually, you may have to dig up some of the bulbs and you can then pass them on to your neighbors.

Good picture of the flowers after they go to seed on the Dave's Garden site:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/692/

Because they are small, it's one of those things you can press into service amongst the potted items for extra color and growth. Maybe around the base of the pots that harbor the woodier, more bush or tree-like plants.

This image is on a site that has sections for butterflies and hummingbirds:
http://www.lewisgardens.com/grapehy.htm

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I TOLD you, you have the million dollar bird condo. They don't have to go anywhere, they have food, they have shelter, and now they have building materials!

Do you have a water feature? A bird bath? A fountain?

If you have lights outside, I'm guessing you must have an outlet?

This one is made of planters:
http://www.bluegrassgardens.com/make-water-garden-fountain.htm

It doesn't have to be fancy pots either, the regular clay ones are fine, and I made something like that myself. Out of pots and saucers.

I used a Dremel to make holes and notches in the clay. Had no idea what I was doing with the Dremel, but I wore safety glasses and did a lot of "gee, I hope this works and chunks don't fly off the Dremel tool or the clay pot and embed in my flesh".

There are TONS of ideas for backyard do-it-yourself fountains, this one has water plants where the water comes out:
http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/46ezwaterfeature.php

There are kits, like this simple one to make the bamboo spout, and YOU choose the pot and the pots contents yourself:
http://www.birdsallgarden.com/sub.php?c=1606_BAbamKit

For it to be a birdbath, it has to have shallowness somehow, like with the rocks for them to land on and wide enough too.

======

The jays WILL get used to your presence, or they will freak out and leave. My guess is that they will get used to your presence. It's too good of a location for birds.

Short of bringing them shelled raw peanuts on a tiny silver platter and announcing "Room Service", they have it made. And you CAN put out a few shelled raw peanuts whenever you first go outside to putter in your garden.

They ARE smart birds, and they will associate your coming into the patio area with good food. Not too many peanuts as then many birds and the squirrels will start to compete for food with your own jays.

Be careful with the squirrels. What starts off as fun, good-natured interaction with nature becomes "killer squirrel gang attacked my child".

I did some searches on that, and read a bunch of articles on some parks, where the plan was to kill all the squirrels. They had become too aggressive.

Ever been around geese that are used to being fed? Those big beaks HURT when you don't have food and are just walking by. Ha!

There are some things you can do to attract wildlife, without providing a banquet. I don't know much about fruit and nut trees for your area, but the squirrels ARE eating something.

So one idea is to consider a "group tree" for the common area that provides something for the squirrels to eat, that cycles in nature and that people will enjoy watching without being over run.

And then people don't run the risk of being attacked (ha) or having your possessions broken, knocked over, at least by those acrobatic rascals.

======

I had to look up Heuchera. I did not know that name. I sure got a wonderful surprise:
http://www.worldofgardens.ca/per_avail.htm

There's yellow and bright LIME green and emerald green and purple. And that's the LEAVES!!! Multi-colored leaves. Leaves almost black.

Not all those links work, but I had NO idea of the variety. Look at this one:
http://www.terranovanurseries.com/wholesale/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=118

LOOOOK!

But I'm facing SOUTH. There IS no shade to move them to. Now, if I was facing one of the other directions, in the complex, I could probably grow those.

And I don't have morning sun either.

But I would love to have autumnal colors in spring. That would be cool. OMG, they have ferns in autumn colors too!
http://www.variegatedfoliage.com/P-Dryopteris_enthrosora_Brilliance.jpg

As well as being able to have those lime green hues:
http://www.variegatedfoliage.com/P-Heuchera_Lime_Rickey_web.jpg

Those two are from this page:
http://www.variegatedfoliage.com/perennials.html

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As you can tell, I get very excited. And I want them all. They won't work for my balcony, though.

Do you get disappointed when it turns out that something is not for your area? And how do you decide which plants to add to your garden?

I looked at all the pictures. You have lots of neat things to look at, nooks and crannies, and no matter which way you look, there's a new view. That's cool.

How is the bird feeder hung? It appears to be floating in space. If it is floating in space, I want one.

I saw the squirrel. Squirrels might eat eggs too. At my mum's old house, the squirrels would get into tiny bird's nests.

Your dogs like it too, I bet.

Is that a moss-covered dog statue?

I posted some links in another thread, which was a "good questions" thread:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/good-questions/sf-good-questions-recommendations-for-a-landscape-architect-045830

This one has a bunch of different ideas:
http://www.housetohome.co.uk/galleries/gardens.html?page=1&subslug=/galleries/gardens/urban

http://designawards.wordpress.com/2006/11/04/

The one I wanted to show you that was all container, at Arcadia Landscape, doesn't work now. Wah.

While you and I don't have the space that is seen in most of those House To Home pictures, the ideas that can be gleaned are things like the color and/or texture contrasts.

If you have a printer, you can print out the small images, like this (if this link works):
http://www.housetohome.co.uk/galleries/gardens/Small_lawn_with_abundant_planting_1513.html?subslug=/galleries/gardens/urban

Then take it to the nursery to ask them what specific plants are, if you don't know already.

There are things like this to get ideas from:
http://www.islandnet.com/beaconhillpark/graphics/311_Hanging_baskets_23K400.jpg

That's in Victoria. Couple more baskets here:
http://www.nwpr.bc.ca/parks%20web%20page/horticulture.html

I'm picturing something like that, overflowing flowers or leaves, on all three tiers of your bamboo corner shelf. Because you have it, and it's HARD to get height in planters.

A lot of the time, to get height in a potted garden, that means giant pot and giant plant. Which does take up precious space.

Three pots of that neat ivy that you have in the fluted base urn planter next to the bamboo shelves would be neat. And it would eventually make a wall of ivy there.

Is that an Azalea bush on top? That is in a big planter and that can get pretty big itself. With a lot of spread and can be covered with color.

This is what is fun about gardening in planters. You can move them around. I used to do that with some of the seasonal plantings. Like "Uh-oh, too much sun, wilting, I'll move this over here behind that." No digging required!

I am dizzy from watching that video! Poor little squirrels! Don't they get dizzy?

I wanted to know if it was an azalea on TOP of the bamboo shelves.

There are rhododendron forests here, in Golden Gate Park. It's amazing. They sure do seem to like the dampish weather here.

Yeah, I know what you mean about looking at websites and then not being able to find that exact plant. But you can get ideas, so if you liked the look of the bright green leaves on that grass plant, you could look for something that has bright green leaves that will grow in your area. You know, like color contrasts.

Or look for plants that have similar forms, so maybe you can't get that specific grass plant, but you can get a variation.

I posted in that balcony thread too, did you know that June will be Gardening Month here on AT? So that there may be a lot more things to get ideas from. And more people with questions or pictures!

I used to spend a lot of time over on BHG, they have a Gardening too, check it out:
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/

There is an online tool called "Plan a Garden" that you can play around with too. There's a bunch of stuff on Container Gardening, like here:
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/container/plans-ideas/season-containers/

I like that idea of putting a larger stone in the container. There's a whole section on container gardening:
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/container/plans-ideas/

Now I'm sure there will be another trip to your nursery. Maybe I shouldn't have posted those links. Just remember, you have to be able to get out of your condo and into the patio area, without the use of a machete, compass, and experienced guide.

I've seen some beautiful results from planning. And from not planning. And I've seen horror stories from both too.

Like I noticed a few years back that someone had planted roses along their front path. The standards, the usual 36" or so high. And they were planted RIGHT NEXT to the walkway on each side.

Um, the walkway was maybe 2 feet wide max?

And this is about what one will look like after it sends up it's shoots:
http://www.rosemagazine.com/articles04/tree_roses/

In other words, they may have planned to have a walkway surrounded by roses. But what they will get is a walkway blocked off by roses.

My dad made the same mistake, wanting to plant roses right next to the house, so that the fragrance could be smelled indoors. That's a fine idea.

What really happened is that they virtually covered the window, could not be pruned properly, because they were one-sided, as the side planted RIGHT NEXT TO THE HOUSE was flat.

Hello? When it says it has a reach of 4', believe the tag. Likewise was the lilac I got for my mum. That too was planted TOO CLOSE to the house. The plants reach for light and lean out. It's not attractive and it's not good for the plant.

I like that you took in your pail to have it planted. That's a very good idea. They know what grows and how big. You now have a layout of those plants in that pail. For similar sized containers, you can duplicate that grouping. You might try slightly different varieties or colors.

We KNOW you have camera. So, how about taking a picture like once a week of your new plants? That way when Garden Month officially begins, you'll have a couple pictures already (one now, one in a week) and by the end of the month, people will be able to see how it's grown and filled. That might encourage them to try out some plants too.

OH! I checked the Hall's this morning, and yes, it does have some yellowing leaves. Those are primarily at the base of newer stems. The newer stems are using the stored energy of the older leaves to make new growth and flowers. I gave it a bit of water.

I brought in a broken branch, it is already wilted, but not completely dried out. It probably won't root, but, it didn't have any chance to do anything hanging up there with the rest of the branches and not even close to the ground.