taking stock

I have been keeping up with the plants, just not the blog for a few days. Nasty little headcold attributed to that- but short-lived thankfully- and I give a nod to my Rosemary plant for that again!

The main thing that's happened is that I threw out most of my makeshift planter boxes. Kept the large one with Peas in it, another sown with Carrots (coming up a few little feathery things now) and two small ones that now have Cosmos and Summer Savory planted in them. I realized that I simply don't have enough sun for the proper vegetables, so don't need all the planter boxes and they take up quite a bit of room. Plus they're really unattractive. And since now my balcony garden will shift its focus from feeding me to visually pleasing me, I want to get rid of the ugly stuff.

I moved all these Green Beans that were growing vigorously, but leaning quite a bit towards the sun, into individual pots where they can be shifted closer to the light.

I migrated all my sad Tomato and Pepper plants, plus a few basil and marigolds, to my friend's sunny backyard deck.

Here's an overview of the space, from left

to right

and a patched-together pan view.

It's become quite a bit more populated over the past few months, with all the seedlings I've started and some overwintered plants moved back outside! Let's see if I can make an accounting of exactly what I have growing out there:

Apple tree, dogwood tree, boston ferns, two autumn ferns, chocolate and regular mint plants, cosmos, miniature roses, marigolds, stevia, four pots of garlics, english thyme, lemon thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender, two kinds of lettuce (in three containers), two borage plants, six swiss chard, three dill plants, one perhaps-dead resurrection plant, hibiscus in a pot, a reviving mum, summer savory, green onions, nasturtiums, cilantro, chives (which are starting to bloom!), six bush green beans, echinacea, ten pea plants, a handful of carrots, three sturdy little broccoli plants, one struggling little celery, two basil plants, young mimosa tree, tithonia, a potato growing in a bag. And a ginger in a pot that hasn't come up yet. Whew! That's a lot for a small space!

So it's not quite what I had planned at first, but I'm still pleased and now picturing a garden of flowers, pretty foliage and herbs (next year, when I have my focus right from the beginning).