Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Sat May 20, 2023 2:52 pm Post subject:
All the lilies are above ground now and they're growing fast!
Like most plants they grow towards the light which in my case is outside of my balcony and that's not where I want them.
I've added some stakes to pull them inwards and a sunscreen to dim some of the light which seems to help keeping them a bit more straight.
If they get tall enough, and by the looks of it they will or at least some of them, I will have to guide them around the strawberry planter.
I had a piece of wood left from making the support for the strawberry planter that fit nicely under the planter against the wall.
IMO it looks a bit cleaner now and as a bonus it added some extra space on which I placed a small bowl with a couple of stones
that I filled with water for bees and other insects.
I re-seeded some of the orange cosmos now that I know the correct orientation of the seeds and that appears to have been successful.
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the Lilies are already quite a bit larger now and the bottom of the screen has been raised to let in more light for other plants
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it's alive!
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 9:46 am Post subject:
now that you mention it, I am not sure where that key actually came from, I might have found it a long time ago.
Digitalis is getting ready to turn into a bee magnet (still saw some mason bees today)
It looks like it's going to be a yellow one but it might turn into white.
Usually the snapdragons are also starting to flower around this time but it appears that I have killed them or rather it
It did have a lot of new growth earlier in the year but because that's always a bit thin I cut it back and I guess it didn't like that at all.
I originally sew them in 2017 thinking it was an annual plant but they kept coming back. There might have been some self-seeding going
on but they definitely didn't start from seedlings each year. Last year there was only 1 plant left with dark red flowers which I already
started some new (white) ones this year. I wasn't counting on it dying though, I just wanted to add some new ones.
I am not sure how big these will get and they might be actual annuals. I do remember where I got the seeds of the first batch from
so might get some of those again next year since they did very well.,. or maybe a different variety.
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 4:44 am Post subject:
I sat down wit some sedums to have a closer look and clean them up a bit (most photos where taken before cleanup).
I really like the colors and gradients on them. Some of them did catch the attention of aphids but I can't blame them
for wanting to suck on some juicy sedum.
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 5:34 am Post subject:
Solanum dulcamara (Bittersweet/climbing nightshade) is doing great. I am trying to keep it in check a by trimming of parts
(some of which I used as cuttings) and tying it down so it doesn't just grow upwards and hit the ceiling. It responds to this
by creating a lot of new growth. It's also producing some bigger leaves than usual (or maybe I am just paying more attention to it),
I measured one to be 15cm and that's just the leafy bit without the stem.
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look at the size of those leaves
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it really wants to grow upwards
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20230528 - Solanum dulcamara - 09.jpg
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according to bees, these flowers are full of the good stuff
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20230528 - Solanum dulcamara - 08c.jpg
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there's new growth appearing everywhere along the stem, or should I call it a trunk. (note: the thicker one in the center of the photo is just a dead branch I use for support)
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 6:07 am Post subject:
I am using the grating from my greenhouse to guide the lilies. These 'Golden Splendour' ones are getting quite tall already.
The 'Mister Pistache' ones are taking it a bit slower and are much thicker. All this growth is from about 3 weeks.
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bugpatrol
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 11:19 am Post subject:
guess what, I got more plants
The ferns aren't doing much anymore, maybe they dried out too much or they're just too old, but it creates some vacancy.
To be honest they've always been a bit too large for my balcony anyway, I do like 'em though so maybe I'll look for a smaller variety.
The 'pot of weeds' was also meant a placeholder and I created even more space by removing one large pot with peppers.
That was more of a bonus pot and there are still 21 pepper plants left at the moment which is plenty.
so, what did I get this time:
Aruncus aethusifolius a dwarf Goat's Beard with cream-white feathery plumes. The foliage should turn bright red/orange/yellow in autumn.
Calamintha grandiflora Large-flowered calamint with pink flowers. I've been trying to grow this one from seed last year and this year without any luck.
Corydalis 'Porcelain Blue' Fumewort with very intense aqua blue flowers.
Cyclamen hederifolium Of course I had to get myself one of these mandelbrot leaf beauties.
Lamium maculatum 'Anne Greenaway' small Deadnettle variety, with green+yellow leaves and purple/pink flowers.
Solidago 'Golden Dwarf' dwarf Goldenrod with plumes of yellow flowers. Mine came with bonus spittlebug.
Primula bulleesiana Primula or Primrose is also something I've been trying to grow though that was Primula veris aka Cowslip.
They often sell Primulas at garden centers but that's usually Primula Acaulis which are small plants with thick leaves and large flowers.
This bulleesiana one grows a stalk with rings of small flowers which is more similar to the primula veris but the flowers are different.
I don't know what the color will be as it is sold as a mix of red/orange/yellow/white/pink/purple so it could be any of those.
I am hoping for red since that's a color I don't really seem to have much of, apart from a Calibrachoa. I already have a lot of yellow and white
so it's probably going to be more of that.
These should all be perennials, if I don't kill them, and most of them attract pollinators.
There probably won't be flowers on all of them this year but that's something to look forward to next year.
note: the links are to various sites, mostly direct images
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probably the best looking one of the bunch.
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20230527 - Calamintha grandiflora - 01.jpg
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releases a very nice minty fragrance if you ruffle the leaves a bit
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20230527 - Corydalis 'Porcelain Blue' - 01.jpg
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doesn't look like much yet. I do like the darker color and the shape of the foliage
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20230527 - Cyclamen hederifolium - 01.jpg
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These pretty leaves are probably going to die off in summer and in autumn the flowers should appear first.
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 12:03 pm Post subject:
I've always been stacking pots to gain some height so the plants can get a bit more light but it's a hassle and you can't stack very high.
I was wondering if I had something else I might be able to use and I found a (temporary) solution. I already have a plastic tote on my
balcony that I use for composting and I had some wood slat cutoffs that had just the right size to cover it. I might make something
dedicated and sturdier in the future but this will do for now.
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 12:26 pm Post subject:
And here's what it looks like now after transplanting and shuffling things around a bit. I actually didn't even
have to empty the pots with the ferns and the pot of weeds yet. I did place the Geranium robertianum in a
seperate pot as I quite like it and had a spot for it. It's an annual/biennial so will probably only last this year.
I am not sure about the placement of the Corydalis and Lamium yet, there might be too much shade in that spot.
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Platycodon seedlings (bottom right) need a bit more time before they can be transplanted
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 1:45 pm Post subject:
Earlier today while I was taking photos a crow came by to grab some food so I got some shots of it as well.
It's always nice when they drop by if am on my balcony, they're not a big fan of me pointing a camera at them
though, which is understandable.
Friday there were quite a lot of crows flying around. I am not exactly sure what was going on but I suspect that
a lot have been raising offspring in the past weeks and they got to leave their nests en masse for a meet and greet.*
They are usually territorial but they didn't seem aggressive, more playful. It actually reminded me of how dogs
play with each other. I could be completely wrong though.
*edit: fledglings are probably too young to already behave like this but there were definitely a lot more crows
around than usual.
Whatever it was I enjoyed the show and was able to capture a bit of it.
I also spotted some sparrows on my balcony recently. They are not uncommon around here but I never see them on my balcony.
It appears that they also enjoy peanut butter and the first time I saw them it was a female accompanied by two males, one of which
was still young judging by it's clumsiness trying to land.
I managed to capture a bit of low quality footage of the female at a different time. https://youtu.be/0qnKDTlomXw
Another bird I recently spotted that I hadn't seen before on my balcony was a crested tit.
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:00 pm Post subject:
Today I spotted a jackdaw on my balcony that stopped by a couple of times to grab some peanuts.
It also spotted me and they have very striking eyes.
I do see them fly by and gather on a small field nearby but I never saw one on my balcony before.
I think this is now the complete list of the birds I've spotted on my balcony so far:
Parus major "great tit"
Cyanistes caeruleus "blue tit"
Lophophanes cristatus "crested tit"
Erithacus rubecula "european robin"
Passer domesticus "house sparrow"
Corvus corone "carrion crow"
Corvus monedula "western jackdaw"
Pica pica "eurasian magpie"
Columba palumbus "common woodpigeon"
There might have been other birds that visited that I haven't spotted yet.
A Eurasian jay would be nice, I do occasionally see them around here.
There are still some buzy mason bees flying around and I was wondering why they seem to prefer the bottom right tubes.
That was somewhat revealed today when I looked at it at just about the right time.
They are not the only ones building nests in tubes at the moment. Tube wasps have joined in on construction and are making use
of the bamboo trellis. It's better not to think too much about what is going on in those tubes.
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do you see it ?
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camera focused on the wrong thing
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:23 pm Post subject:
I gave the Bowl of Petunias* a bit of a haircut to get denser plants and to give the calibrachoa more light.
It always feels a bit sad to cut all those pretty flowers off but more of them will appear in a week or two.
*I was calling it a hanging basket, but after watching this video I don't think it's worthy of that name.
I do have 4 actual baskets that I would love to fill, maybe I'll try something more elaborate next year.
Foxglove flowers are now changing from a creamy white/yellow to white/pink. I spotted a couple of flower buds
on another plant today so there might be more of those flower spikes appearing in the near future.
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:53 pm Post subject:
I ended up repotting the Corydalis and Lamium, They might do ok in deep shade once they are a bit more established
but for now it gives me better control over the amount of sun they receive.
I also planted out the snapdragon seedlings.
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lamium in its own pot in the bottom right corner
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Corydalis at the top (together with a fern that appears to have some life left in it) Snapdragons at the bottom
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 3:12 pm Post subject:
I managed to snap some blurry photos of the Jackdaw. It's a lot more skittish than the crows but still doesn't fly off instantly when it sees me.
Maybe it has to be extra cautious when trespassing on claimed crow territory.
I also captured a bit of the feeding frenzy that's now occurring with the great tit fledglings.
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 709
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:50 pm Post subject:
The climbing nightshade is filled with bunches of little purple flowers and by the look of it there are many more to come.
Usually it attracts the attention of bumblebees but it wasn't until today that I finally saw/heard one. Even the foxglove doesn't
seem to get any attention. Of course my balcony isn't at ground level and might not bee the easiest thing to spot for insects
but I don't see them much anywhere, which is rather disconcerting. Then again everything seems to be a bit behind this year.
The Phacelia and Buckwheat are also starting to flower and both of those will usually attract a lot of (bumble)bees as well so
I'll keep my eyes open.
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20230608 - Phacelia tanacetifolia - 04.jpg
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I'll try to get some better photos
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2023 3:18 pm Post subject:
The Calamint is getting more and more flowers and the Dwarf Goat's Beard is also opening up further.
Both add to the current color scheme of creamy white/yellow, pink and purple.
The Henbane is doing its typical grow~flower~grow~flower~grow,.. thing again.
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5825 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2023 3:41 pm Post subject:
I spotted a Nicandra physalodes sprouting between the Phacelia and Daturas. I Haven't grown these in the past couple years because they always get so huge
and overshadow everything else in the container. This time I transplanted it to it's own, much smaller, container which might help to keep it a bit more under control.
I think it's also in a better spot there and might add some beneficial shade to some of the plants during the hot summer months (it's already getting too hot for comfort).
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Nicandra physalodes in the foreground
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some of the solar lights. a bit difficult to get a good photo of them.
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We're in winter, here, so no flowers for me apart from your photography.
