Trip to plant nursery

Happy birthday [when is it?]
I do the same with my brother, take him plants or go to his local nurseries.

you have a present that will last for months and the fuchsia for years.
I am aiting for the bulbs to die back so I can get my bedding out in the next 2 weeks too.

Happy Birthday,Balcony,although it may be a belated one :o) What a lovely Birthday present from your son,and you are going to have a wonderful display with the Calibrachoa's .I have been buying these for the past two /three years,and they such good value,and go on well into Autumn...no need to deadhead either,what's not to like ? :o) They do have a trailing habit,so your Lobelia will contrast nicely with them.
I love the vibrant Geranium too,and all the Fuchsias,and Strawberries as well ! Wow, I bet you are one Happy Dad :o)

Happy Birthday from me too! A great collection there! You’ll have so much gorgeous colour on the balcony this summer!
I have to agree on the last 2 - beautiful flowers, especially the last one! Your balcony will look spectacular! 🎂

Wow Balcony, you'll be expanding onto your neighbour's balcony at this rate! Looking forward to photos of them in thier full glory in a few months! I love the blue Calibrachoa
particularly.

Your balcony is going to look amazing, you chose well, that to me is the best present one can receive, you are going to be one very busy, happy gardener planting all those, I'm looking forward to seeing them all in situ....

Thank you all very much for your birthday wishes! 👍

About 3 years ago my son did the same thing & I bought dwarf shrubs to put in my three white troughs on the balcony floor. Unfortunately it was the summer of 3 months of great heat (for the UK!) when we had several days in a row of temps into the high 30C (about 90F) & weeks & weeks without hardly a cloud in the sky. So the three plants I bought all died before the summer was over. I just hope the same doesn't happen again this year! (But who knows with the British weather & climate change!🤷‍♂️). My birthday was yesterday!(Three score & 11)

What a nice present Balcony. Loving all those Calibrachoas also known as million bells. The clue's in the name. I managed to overwinter a couple of mine for the last few years but there are obviously lots of new colours looking at yours. Happy birthday.

Thank you for the birthday greetings! 👍😃

Yes, I know they are also called 'Million Bells' but they don't seem to be easy to get a hold of. My son took me on a 25minute trip to the nursery where I bought them.

He had grown some in a hanging basket outside his kitchen door last year & I was very impressed by them. When I asked him last year if he could get me some he told me he had bought his a few weeks before but that it was probably too late to get any more. I didn't get any after all! 😞 Covid-19 & the shutdown also made it much more difficult to get hold of plants last year.

One thing I was ignorant about was that they are not nearly as cheap or as easy to get hold of as Petunias. I was used to buying Petunias, Lobelias & other summer bedding plants in places like supermarkets, Wilcos or the stall in the market downtown so I expected these to be as easy to get as the others. Can't think why they are not much more widely available. I know breeders' rights have to be taken into account but it hardly seems that's the main reason why they aren't more widely & cheaply available.

You have lots of nice plants there and your balcony will look very colourful this year.
You'll be pleased with the Callibrachoas, they always flower well and can be overwintered too.

Thanks for that info, Hywel! I thought they were just annuls!