Evolution

Goodness...everything looks much greener & more vibrant...even the lawn...all that rain hmmm?!

It's wonderful how you can grow such a lot in a small space. What a difference in the 2 photos :o)

Thats got the WOW factor Balcony,I love it.........

Amazing difference - everyone who passes by must do a double-take! I would be standing there for a while taking it all in - such a lot of fantastic colour. Great job!

That just looks WOW..... :~))

That's a fabulous display Balcony, bet that causes lots of people to stop and admire. Can you see out at all ? - not that it matters when you can look at all those beautiful plants instead.

Thank you all for your great comments! I thought you would all like to see an update of how my balcony has changed. I've also found a way that will allow you to get an even better look at my balcony - Bernieh you can look at my balcony for as long as you like as - just copy the following URLs into your browser address bar & you will be able to see them FULL SCREEN!

Lily2 we can see out very well though the only thing to see is the road with a row of houses on the other side. It doesn't make the flat seem darker, except, perhaps on dark, rainy days. The balcony is in front of our living room so I only need to step outside to immerse myself in a "jungle" . The balcony faces south west & from about 11 a.m. till the sun sets we get whatever sun is going!!!

The wall with the two pouches of Busy Lizzies faces west so it gets more sun than the rest of the balcony. We have the whole front of the flat, from waist high, full of windows so the flat is very light all year round.

Fluff, the "lawn" is a square of grass in front of the balcony that also goes alongside the west side of the building. The council looks after the maintenance of the gardens & keep it all looking nice & tidy. On the otherside of the path there is an "L" shaped flowerbed which the council gardeners plant up twice a year with bedding. I also have many photos of the changes of the bed over the 8 years we have lived here! (See my blog on council gardeners)

While I was on the balcony watering this afternoon a couple passing by couldn't help but tell me just how great the balcony looks! :)

I'm not really surprised B. that is one impressive balcony. I think you have more there than I do in my 15 X 30 foot garden.......... Do you want a job??? The pay is rubbish but the tea breaks are good Lol :~)))

Thanks, ... but no thanks! Tea breaks sound tempting though!!!

Have you tried out the web address above? You only need to highlight them, copy them & then paste them into your web browsers address bar & hit the forward button.

Wow, Thanks for those links they were great. :~)) Its stunning up close, no wonder people stop and stare ! ! !
Just one question though......... How do you water them?

How do I water them? Easy, I keep 15 or 20 2lt mineral water bottles which I use to water all the pots & baskets! The bottles are refilled after every watering session, which is usually most days during our summer. During hotter weather other years I've had to water the baskets twice a day but this year I bought water absorbing crystals & mixed them in with the compost in the baskets. The compost came from recycled tomato grow bags from last year! I now only water once a day & if the weather is cooler or it rains more often I water less frequently.

Just lately we have had some pretty heavy showers, sometimes thundery, & the basket have been saturated to the point where the water poured out through the hole in the bottom of the baskets! When we get really heavy rain like that it really pours of the 6 balconies above ours. Normal rainfall just bounces of the foliage & very little gets to the compost. Each basket has 5 Fuchsias in it plus 5 or 6 Lobelias &, in one basket, a tomato plant with tomatoes!