A Balcony Garden?

I had an interesting conversation with an American this weekend. I said I loved the flowers at a specific place and started taking photos of them. The person responded that I should plant some flowers myself to enjoy here at our flat.

We live on the 3rd floor.

Plant some in front in your entrance area anyway.

The entrance area is cared for by/belongs to someone else.

Plant some on your balcony.

We have a grapevine that covers our balcony that blocks most of the sunlight. Plus, I'd have to find the dirt, carry it up to our flat, buy some small pots and then find the flowers, etc.

(All of this IS do-able, of course, if I could find shade loving blooming plants that fit in a 3 inch pot.)

Well, just find some pots and plant some flowers!

So, this morning, I look out at the balcony, all of 2 feet wide, with bars all around like a cage, and my sheets and pillow cases out there, blowing gently in the breeze from one side to the other, the grapevine covering most of the bars, the railing all of 3 inches wide, all of the sticks/linoleum/boards I had collected to make triangle-shaped shelves each summer across the 2 railing corners thrown away by an over-zealous housekeeper who stayed here 2 years ago while we were in the States - and I just kind of laugh to myself. It's a slightly hysterical laugh, I admit.

I throw up my mental hands and say - you gotta live here, you gotta walk 10 miles in my shoes - and THEN you can tell me what I can and cannot do, am able or not able to do. I've lived in this flat for over 10 years and I've tried a number of things, including trying to grow ginger out on the balcony and trying to keep a sun/shade loving houseplant alive out there with the a/c unit blowing hot air on it all summer.

I gave up and love the grapevine instead.

Sigh.

I really did like those flowers and I liked taking photos of them, and I like looking at them on my computer screen.

The balcony, however, will remain flower-less.

Two more of my house plants have died due to the neglect they got last year while we were gone. I've just put the planters out on the balcony in a corner with the other ones. One of these days I'll give them all away or throw them away.

I've given up for now.

I am going to have a large garden in heaven.

I hope.

On the other front - one of the female guppies committed suicide while we were gone this weekend. Finally found her poor dried out lifeless body this morning, hiding in one of the designs on the carpet. There are a whole bunch more tiny guppies in the pond with the remaining male and female, tho, so maybe she had just 'had enough' of mating and motherhood? :) ha ha!