The Balcony Flowers

We have a very small balcony. And on the balcony there are three flower baskets. Since nothing can be hung from the balcony railings, we placed the baskets on the back of the chairs using zip ties. So the baskets face out away from our view. During the winter we turn the chairs so the baskets face the living room. That way we can enjoy the Christmas decor and greens. In the spring and fall we change out the flowers to whatever is more seasonal. The spring/summer are more annual in nature; in the fall/winter pansies and violas are planted. And of course there is always ivy for trailing plants and spikes for something tall. We also have a small miniature rose plant in a pot that my husband has nurtured for the past two years. This past winter was pretty brutal and we didn’t think anything would survive the almost below zero temps! As the sun begins to warm the balcony - especially in the afternoon in to the sunset - the brown stems of winter are slowly turning green with a bit of green leafy additions. I cut back the spikes but they didn’t survive. But the ivy is doing well and the violas are doing much better than the pansies. It’s just so wonderful to see any sign of life. But the biggest surprise is the miniature rose. It too is doing well. One of these days we will refresh the baskets. We always had gardens in our Midwest and Capitol Hill homes. This is just enough to keep us occupied.