How about a gardening thread?

[bossybaby]

	Quote:	itsjess
	I have no idea what the flowers in the flower boxes are, they just looked pretty In terms of edible things, I have rosemary, chives, basil, lettuce, and strawberries. The hydrangea is something I've wanted since moving here, but it will definitely need a bigger pot!

Good start! Give us a closeup shot and we'll tell you what's in the boxes. To the edibles...add some thymian? Here's how to tell that your hydrangea needs repotting:

https://www.gardenguides.com/change-...geas-5991.html

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	itsjess
	Excellent points on the pet-safe advice - little miss labrador will gobble up anything she can find, so my next task is to buy some storage boxes for the fertilizer & potting mix! So here's where I am - I'm all settled into my new apartment and have started peppering the balcony with some greenery! Check it out Before - balcony is a bit bigger than I thought, approx. 3.2m squared Attachment 142241 After (or really in-progress, since I intend to add more!) Attachment 142242 I have no idea what the flowers in the flower boxes are, they just looked pretty In terms of edible things, I have rosemary, chives, basil, lettuce, and strawberries. The hydrangea is something I've wanted since moving here, but it will definitely need a bigger pot!

It looks lovely.
The flowers in the pots look like either geranium/pelargoniums or begonias but it’s hard to tell from that photo.

[itsjess]

	Quote:	bossybaby
	Good start! Give us a closeup shot and we'll tell you what's in the boxes. To the edibles...add some thymian? Here's how to tell that your hydrangea needs repotting: https://www.gardenguides.com/change-...geas-5991.html

I did see some nice looking Thyme plants at the store, but I'm not really sure that I would use it. What do you cook thyme with?
Edit: actually I can probably answer my own question if I check out the cooking thread!

Here are the flowers in the flower boxes - it's still not a great picture, I'm well overdue for a new phone

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	itsjess
	I did see some nice looking Thyme plants at the store, but I'm not really sure that I would use it. What do you cook thyme with? Edit: actually I can probably answer my own question if I check out the cooking thread! Here are the flowers in the flower boxes - it's still not a great picture, I'm well overdue for a new phone Attachment 142255

I have thyme in a pot, it has very pretty purple flowers but I never really cook with it, it’s not a herb I use at all as I’m not keen on the flavour of it.

They’re Bizzie Lizzie or Impatiens to give them their proper name.

[bossybaby]

They are indeed impatiens, aka Touch-Me-Not. Some contain alkaloids, but I don't know if their concentration is enough to worry about--after all, some impatiens are used in folk medicine.

Thyme is wonderful with potatoes, pork, beef, chicken, and fish. I put it on almost everything. Every time I walk by my plants, I run my hands through just to smell that lovely scent. I can post a recipe next time I post in the cooking thread.

[itsjess]

Just a quick update for you all - I'm having lots of fun with my little balcony garden!

It's fascinating how expressive the plants and flowers are - they quickly demonstrate if they're unhappy about something! Last week we had a few extremely hot days in Basel, and the hydrangea looked awful - the flowers were all droopy and wilted and almost shrivelled up. I did a quick google search and decided I had not been giving it anywhere near enough water, and within 24 hours of a good drink, it was all back to looking healthy and proud again!

The impatiens were also struggling with the heat, I think. As long as I water them most days they seem to be okay. They probably weren't a great choice, as they're on the edge of the balcony so they receive full sunlight, but i'll keep them going as long as I can.

I did end up buying some thyme after all, and made some lovely roasted veggies with it (plus fresh rosemary). And I've been using the basil to make fresh caprese salads which is a real treat - tomatoes here are AMAZING, I'm used to the small, semi-tasteless ones in the UK. These giant juicy ones are great!

[bossybaby]

Great to hear it, itsjess! Your impatiens should really be in the shade most of the time; only some varieties can take sun, and then not at noon. Thyme, OTOH, thrives almost anywhere. Hydrangea is very thirsty and very hungry. Be sure you feed it high-phosphorus food to promote blooms. I used to get 15-30-15, but I don't think you can get those high numbers in CH. Just choose the one with the highest middle figure.

Thyme is wonderful with roast chicken. Just bung a handful in the cavity along with half a lemon, roast at 200C for an hour. Yum. Leftovers!

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	itsjess
	The impatiens were also struggling with the heat, I think. As long as I water them most days they seem to be okay. They probably weren't a great choice, as they're on the edge of the balcony so they receive full sunlight...

Maybe next season put a couple of small tomato plants in this area. They tend to grow well on a balcony and if yours is getting that much sun, then you'll have fresh tomatoes for sure!

[ennui]

My first poblanos. This year, I bought plants from Beat Hueberger in Zurich.. got them in May. I have poblanos, jalapeños ans serranos, and one other whose name I forget, poblanos have lots of fruit, serranos are doing well..lots of blooms on the rest

[bossybaby]

	Quote:	ennui
	My first poblanos.

OMG, I haven't been able to cook my carnitas for a year because of a poblano shortage. It's essentially meltingly tender shredded pork shoulder. The sauce is made of a saute of poblanos, red bells, and green onions to which you add Jack cheese, cream, cilantro, and S&P. Serve with warm tortillas, lime, avocado salsa. Oh my ears and whiskers.

[ennui]

Yes, I make my own version too. It’s lovely stuff.

[bossybaby]

After 6 weeks away, I returned to a nice surprise and a nightmare of wisteria. I had left all the potted plants out to catch the rain (no watering system), and luckily the weather was cool and rainy. Only lost a basil plant. The Cafe au Lait dinnerplate dahlias went nuts. They are 10" across and range from yellowish to, well, coffee with cream. The pink one is Cafe au Lait Rose. The Casa Blanca lilies also performed well. Hydrangea paniculata is 6 feet tall! Cutting garden is also coming along, with more dahlias in bud. It looked like fall the past weeks...

[Pancakes]

	Quote:	bossybaby
	After 6 weeks away, I returned to a nice surprise and a nightmare of wisteria. I had left all the potted plants out to catch the rain (no watering system), and luckily the weather was cool and rainy. Only lost a basil plant. The Cafe au Lait dinnerplate dahlias went nuts. They are 10" across and range from yellowish to, well, coffee with cream. The pink one is Cafe au Lait Rose. The Casa Blanca lilies also performed well. Hydrangea paniculata is 6 feet tall! Cutting garden is also coming along, with more dahlias in bud. It looked like fall the past weeks... Attachment 142507

Wow. Those Dahlias are HUGE! I had some in my garden earlier this summer, but the slugs ate them. The slugs were so bad this summer (here, at least) because of so much rain.

[curley]

Ahh, the gardening thread ..... what a depressing season. My tomato plants look like after Chernobyl (no they're not poisoned they just look it), the few tomatoes that actually ripened (meaning didn't rot on the plant) were rather tasteless. My salad just stopped growing weeks ago. Not rotten, standing there like freshly planted but tiny and the message I get from them seems "we are on strike". Don't blame them really.

So all there was/is this summer are the herbs (except the coriander, which died on my almost immediately as if to say "you gotta be kidding".
The flowers were nice but I didn't have many, only the ones that survived the winter.

I started this 2019, great success, lots of fun. 2020 everything was late (no shopping possible when there was the time to do it), success was mediocre. 2021 complete disaster. 2022 I might just not bother.
Except for the herbs. They're great to have fresh each time I cook and they seem to survive anything.

Well, what can I say. Thanks to the farmers "aus der Region" who kept me fed and alive. You guys are right, we can't do without you.
(I know I just upped the taxes as they will demand a raise in subsidies )

[bossybaby]

@ Pancakes: Interesting. The slugs here were non-existent in the dry spring. They started to appear in early July, but when I got home last week it was not so much the slugs that had wreaked havoc--it was little green grasshoppers and lily beetles. I love Cafe-au-Lait because it blooms very late and is self-supporting. Can't recommend it enough.

@ Curley: I despair of ever getting a good tomato in this part of the world. The closest I've come is the Portuguese-grown ones. I don't know where all the tasty tomatoes from warm countries are going. Chernobyl...chuckle.

[curley]

	Quote:	bossybaby
	....@ Curley: I despair of ever getting a good tomato in this part of the world. The closest I've come is the Portuguese-grown ones. I don't know where all the tasty tomatoes from warm countries are going. Chernobyl...chuckle.

Actually my 2019 tomatoes were a dream. And last year Migros had tomatoes "aus der Region" which were of all kinds of colours (no separation in the crate) and they tasted like my 2019 tomatoes.
They were a new thing but unfortunately this year I got them only once.

[bossybaby]

About a month before we left for Portugal, I planted two twiggy bare Souvenir de Baden Baden roses, one in a pot and one in the cutting garden. So it's been 2 months, and they were already blooming when I returned. Wow. Bravo to Kordes roses; every plant I've ever bought from them has performed beautifully--big strong plants!

[bossybaby]

The basil monster has been tamed. Results: 6 x 250g jars of pesto for the winter! Dahlias and roses rioting; they will enjoy these coming days of warm sunshine. Hortensia is ready to dry, so I made a wreath.

[bossybaby]

These pink mophead hydrangeas were old when we got to This Old House...they must be 50 years or so. They've always faded away in late summer to a nondescript pale tan. This year for some reason they turned bright lime green with pink highlights. Meanwhile, they have new blossoms coming--unheard-of. Anyone have an idea why?

[swisspea]

I have a mulch question - I would always mulch everything, as I come from a country where we have wet and we have dry.


Here in switzerland, I'm not seeing that people mulch the gardens - is there a reason ? are they just lazy ? Is it pointless ?



I've inherited a very old depleted garden... and everything looks so much cleaner with a fresh layer of bark mulch on top...