Anyone fancy a little garden tour? I started this way before awakening as a zombie so it's really just what I felt like at various points in time, haha
First up are my two smaller rosemary plants. Just repotted them today. The one on the left was likely gonna be outcompeted by a much larger rosemary plant I've got, so I needed to do this. The one on the right is actually around the same age as the largest plant, so I repotted it to another pot with... well, it wasn't great drainage when rain is heavy, tbh. So as you can see, it's REALLY struggling. I have not seen the leaves perked up since repotting, so I'm really hoping this new pot (glazed terracotta instead of plastic) doesn't keep the roots so... wet. I'd say damp or moist, but I dumped the plastic pot's dirt out to let it dry and reset for the next plant, and it was, like, on the verge of being mud. Anyway, that drooping rosemary feels so... zombie to me. Potentially brought back from the brink of a slow, angonizing death... feels familiar
Next up for little plants is my pot of marigolds! I'm really happy and surprised with how well they're doing! Look, there's even a teeny baby starting to sprout! I really, REALLY hope these flower in the fall, but I'm not sure they will. All the same, they're still nice to have :)
Next up is my big boy rosemary!!!! I think it's almost big enough to harvest sprigs from, which is really, really cool! My dad said he never had luck with growing rosemary from seed, but here I am! I'll have to bring this guy into my apartment when it starts to get cold, but that'll be fine. I love him :)
These three are my little strawberry plants, from another plant that I bought a little late into the spring season. I think it was struggling really hard, tbh, but it had three tendrils out that wanted to form roots, so I put these little pots under them and let them. Frankly, I don't think these little guys are gonna survive for much longer. They're certainly trying! But I think it's just been... too wet. You can see it on the leaves, the way some of them have brown, shriveled edges. Next year, no strawberries
These, however, will be my pride and joy! Ignore the carrot photobomb, these are my THIRD round of beans! Peas, mostly. They're one of the few vegetables I eat, and super duper easy to grow, so I highly recommend them. They're also SO stupid ToT one of them curled a tendril around a piece of straw instead of the trellis ToT It's ok, though. My previous two, one of them decided to grow taller than the trellis itself, and I had to latch it onto the tomato cage I got for my bell pepper plant (which, like the strawberry, struggled very hard to survive). Because of that, I actually decided to plant a pea seed at each point that the cage connected to the ground, but only one has sprouted so far. That's alright, I clearly have enough to give me plenty of snacks. The sweet burst of a pea between two molars is great
Finally for single plant highlights, this is. My lettuce. That I accidentally let go to flower. Whoops. They get way taller than I thought. It's still editable, but the bitterness is way too intense to each, even drowned in ranch dressing. I've grown quite fond of this thing, and normally this would make the idea of removing it rough, but the idea of cutting it down, chopping it to bits and burying its remains in the soil to nourish the next season is oddly comforting?
Anyway, here's most of my balcony! The red pot is what the droppy rosemary used to be in, there's a carrot by the door (both carrots took me by surprise! I planted seeds, but eventually didn't think they'd actually sprout, and I don't know how it got in that pot?), then some mini roses that keep blooming- super pretty! And then there's the mint plant I have a love-hate relationship with. Just two months ago, it was 4 inches across. Beware the mint. This is actually a chocolate mint plant, but I can never taste the chocolate notes. Makes for excellent tea, though! Behind that is an empty pot I tried to grow too much lettuce in and had no drainage, and then a bucket for excess water that I'm able to drain. On the other side, we have my poppy plant, it has at least one more bloom in it and I hope to harvest some seeds, since I used them all and that was the only one to sprout. Then I don't know that flower, haha, but it's very pretty. The three strawberries, of course, and then my pot of wildflowers! These are probably my absolute favorite plants on my balcony right now, haha. Gorgeous things that have never caused me trouble! Behind that in the blue pot is a grape tomato plant- I actually give the fruit to my dad- and my sad bell pepper- you can sorta see the pea there! Once the tomato dies back, I'm gonna go ahead and put the roses in the blue pot to give them some extra space. I think I technically have four roses? But their leaves are so intertwined that I won't bother separating them. They're doing extraordinarily well as is, anyway
And then, uh, the drawer of dirt.
I just needed to dry it all out in something tbh.
So that's that. I'm gonna see about maybe getting some more marigolds and mums for fall. Maybe some lion's mane mushrooms, too, as someone so kindly recommended! I was a bit skeptical because mushrooms seem so... unsuited for my balcony? I need to look into it more, though, because they seem surprisingly easy to start, and I can make plenty of shaded spots with other plants, or even just fabric. Yeah, that white thing? Well, my beloved-beloathed pea plant was wilting really bad from the sun, so I tied that to the tomato cage and the railing to give it some shade, and it worked like an utter charm! That pea plant even survived a nearly 100°F week-long heatwave! So I'll see about trying mushrooms!
I also saw some plants at the garden store today called Angelwings. They looked very soft, and they were almost a complete stark white. Since people often say, when someone passes, that they become angels, I may get that, too, when I get the chance. Fall in my state has gotten pretty warm, after all...
And I'm gonna get some mums, too, :)
