this year's garden

It is already the first official weekend of summer, and I realized that I never told you about this year's container garden. Well, there is one. And it's my best yet, if I do say so myself. 

Things started out a little rough. You may recall my post about starting seeds. Well, of all those dozens of little sprouts, two have survived. They're some variety of pepper, but in all the insanity and disorganization (I do not recommend labeling your seeds with generic non-sticky Post-its), I'm not sure which. Maybe we'll get lucky and they won't be the same. Nevertheless, I learned a few things in the process -- most importantly, I think, is that when the editor of Birds & Blooms offers you her spare grow lights, you should take them even if you have a south-facing window. Anyway, I humbly accepted a very robust tomato plant from my dad and purchased two other peppers from the garden center, so we won't go salsa-less this summer (perish the thought).

Once my ego recovered and my thumb started to regain a little tinge of green (and it finally warmed up), I made a few more trips to the garden center. Now we have three herb planters (with a few flowers mixed in), two hanging flower baskets (with a few herbs mixed in) and one pot designed to attract butterflies (no luck so far). Here they are:

Herb planters, clockwise from top left: cilantro,

Tuscan Blue rosemary, chives, Opal Innocence nemesia, mint,
sage, purple viola, Lanai Royal Purple verbena, Italian parsley,
Greek oregano and Angelface Purple angelonia

Butterfly planter, clockwise from top left: Graffiti Purple

pentas, Bandana Pink lantana, fuchsia portulaca, yellow viola
and portulaca foliage

Hanging basket no. 1, clockwise from top left:

Aromatica White nemesia (yeah, really a dud so far),
Supertunia Citrus petunia, Electric Lime coleus, Landmark
Yellow lantana, lemon thyme and Bandana White lantana

Hanging basket no. 2, clockwise from left:

Superbells Saffron calibrachoa, Dark Opal basil,
Superbells Coralberry Punch calibrachoa, Sweet Georgia
Deep Purple sweet potato vine and fuchsia portulaca

Looks like the colors of the year are yellow, purple and pink. Wonder what that means? And what have you planted this year?

PS: I got the idea for these photos from a spectacular book about container gardening, Continuous Container Gardens by Sara Begg Townsend and Roanne Robbins. I've been working with Roanne for an article I'm doing about winter containers...she's fantastic.

in full bloom

There are only a couple of weeks before Ian and I move into our new apartment. One of the most exciting aspects of the space? A balcony! (Not a fire escape but an actual it's-legal-to-display-things-there balcony.) We've decided to do a little container garden featuring ornamentals, tomatoes, and herbs. My dad gave me three tomatoes he started from seed, and we also got one -- plus a baby rosemary plant -- in last week's CSA box.

Last night, we made a trip to Stein's to buy the flowers. I'm quite satisfied with the results (and am well aware that I've packed a lot in here...it's worked in the past, so we'll see what happens!). Here's what we've ended up with:

• Saffron Superbells Calibrachoa: A vine-y plant with little yellow trumpet-shaped flowers with a burgundy circle around the center 
• Bloodleaf: A purplish-green plant sans blooms
• White Geranium: A flowering plant with fuzzy, ruffly green leaves and groups of white flowers
• White Madness Petunia: A plant with sticky, prickly leaves and white trumpet-shaped blooms (and don't ask me to give you seeds...the tag prohibits unauthorized propagation)
• Magenta Madness Petunia: Same as above, except with (yep) magenta flowers
• Tuscany Burgundy Verbena: Another vine-y plant with clumps of deep burgundy flowers with white centers

Can't wait for the plants to fill in! Have you planted anything this year? How's it doing?

a pop of color

When we were on our apartment search last spring, one of this apartment's features that we couldn't stop thinking about was the great view out the bedroom window. Instead of a cement wall or someone else's living room, there's a courtyard with a number of mature trees. It's like having a backyard (I say "like" because we don't have access to it).

Something about me that you might not know: I love gardening. Love it. And none of our apartments here have been conducive to such a hobby. Until this one. All summer, I'd been talking about putting some flowers out on the patio (aka fire escape), but we couldn't get out there since our old, nasty air conditioner was bolted in. But last weekend, everything changed. Our super came to put it out of its misery. It's true that having anything on your fire escape is against code, but once I was able to stick my head out the window, I could see that all our neighbors already have a pot or two out there. And, when it comes to having things I love (you know, like a fire-escape garden or a hedgehog within the five boroughs), if everybody jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, I'd be right behind them.

So, today we headed out to the farmers' market to get a few mums. It was quite an adventure (really, I could have fallen and died, you know).

The patio -- before. (What a view!)

Me, climbing out the window to start my project.

The photographer at the ready just in case the fire escape were to collapse.

(It didn't.)

Putting the mums in their new home.

Making sure nobody was going to fall over the side.

Relieved that I didn't fall to my death.

My first New York garden!

The patio -- after (and what I'll see every morning when I wake up!).

I could tell the mums were enjoying their new home on the patio so much, I thought I'd let Sprout play outside for the day. (He is our 3-year-old runty grapefruit tree that we started from a sprouted seed I found in my breakfast one day.)

I'm so, so excited to have the opportunity to grow something! Stay tuned...you may recognize the Thanksgiving centerpieces.