spring balcony garden 2013

Last weekend, we bought a bag of compost at the Union Square Greenmarket. I thought it was a good time to lay down some nutrients for the plants as they were beginning to come out of the soil, sprout new foliage, and buds. The seller advised us to apply a half inch of compost to each planter.



A week later, there were visible improvements to their development and growth. The tulips shot up some more. The planter with hyacinths and crocuses are more lush and green. The new growth of the irises are also doing well!





I also pruned back the mini rose bushes though left some tall stems because I could see potential growth. They too got a sprinkling of compost, which seemed to help with their foliage. Lots of new bright green leaves. I also didn't notice anymore black aphids. I had sprayed all the roses neem oil based solution.



Unfortunately, it's not all goods news. We lost a bunch of 'Pauline' dwarf irises last weekend and I believe it is due to a couple of factors over watering and/or the pot sitting in water, and apparently, they needed to be planted closer to the surface. I noticed the green shoots looked dry with yellowing tips. When I tugged on them, the shoots easily pulled away leaving a hole where it sprouted forth.

A couple of bulbs have not shot through the soil, which has me concerned. These are the Florentine tulips, delicate yellow tulips, and coral lilies. After searching online for other people who have experienced or have knowledge of growing these particular flowers, I learned that the florentine tulips may need a bit more sun and the coral lilies comes out later in the season. Well, I hope that is the case and I will see something in the near future.

The Japanese maples and peach tree loved the compost. The Beni Hime JM is doing especially well! It's leaves are bright pink, almost fuchsia, and like delicate feathers unfurling. It's really quite a pretty sight!



The buds of the peach tree are showing their blushing pink color. They are ready to explode open! I'm looking forward to these blossoms opening soon!



It won't be long until the garden will be filled with color and sweet fragrance from the flowers.

preparing for winter and spring

I ordered some bulbs from Brent and Becky's Bulbs:

tulipa 'Paul Scherer'

Crocus 'Jeanne d'Arc'

Hyacinthus orientalis Fairly White

Iris-dwarf 'Pauline'

Brent and Becky's Bulbs are one of few vendors who sell bulbs in small quantities, and the prices are reasonable too. They have a great collection of flowers to choose from especially for tulips and irises. My orders arrived relatively fast so I was pleased. The bulbs are carefully packaged in plastic netted pouches with labels of the flowers which can be used as a garden label to remind you what you've planted. It came with clear planting instructions, and I got a catalog too!

When I finally got around to planting them, I layered some of the bulbs . I planted the bulbs in one of the Root Pouch containers. I layered the bulbs so the container will hopefully continue to flower from early spring into summer. I learned about this from a YouTube video that explained layering bulbs in a container.

I also tidied up the balcony. Most of the tomato plants have been tossed. Only Root Pouch containers filled with potting mix remain. Empty Root Pouches will be tossed into the washing machine.

The mini rose bushes are doing very well and continue to grow and produce flowers. Despite their growth and flowering, they continue to be plagued by green aphids. I am diligent about brushing them off the rose buds, which seems to be where they like to cluster or at new growth. I also spray the bushes down with an organic product that also contains neem oil. It seems to be more effective in ridding the mini rose bushes of the fungal infection it was having. The aphids don't like the spray and eventually die but return.

I noticed one of the galore punk strawberry plants have produced runners. I plucked them off and planted them in separate pots with used potting mix. One runner had small roots while another had longer roots. I have two pots with strawberry plant offshoots. Looking forward to next spring.

photos of the flowers used in this post is from Brent and Becky's Bulbs.