The Garden

[klangumsetzer]

Beautiful, PhOBoS: such variety!

I really like Tagetes. My grandmother always had them in her garden.
This year I grew Linnétagetes from seed but they have a hard time competing against the Phacelia and the Borago.

[PHOBoS]

ah the Linnétagetes look similar to the "disco red" ones I grew but larger. I used to consider marigolds to be typical bedding plants that
are a quick way to add some color but the flowers themselves didn't do a lot for me. Until I started growing some of the single flower
varieties which I like a lot better. I do love the classic daisy style flowers that you see with a lot of plants in the Asteraceae family.

I can imagine it being hard to compete with the Borago if I look at how large they grew here last year. They completely dominated the
planter they grew in, smothering anything else. Nice plants and the bees loved it but a bit too large for the limited space I have.

[PHOBoS]

while the plants are starting to fizzle out I thought it would be a good time for a bit of DIY and prepare for autumn/winter.

First thing I did was repair the "roof" of the bird feeder. A couple years ago, 2018 to be exact, I glued pine cone scales to it
for a more natural somewhat fairy tale/enchanted forest look. I used hot glue at the time which worked ok but over the years
a lot of the scales had come off. I think mostly due to birds pecking at them looking for insects and the hot glue wasn't the
best quality to begin with.





This time I used wood glue which did take more time but should hold up a lot better. I didn't have much pine cones to work with
and they seemed to be lot tougher so the coverage isn't as dense. I used some small scraps of wood, which I painted, for a nicer
edge at the front.

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[PHOBoS]

Something else I added some paint to is the ladybug motel. I wanted to add a bit of color without having it stand out too much
so I mixed greens and blues with hints of pink and purple. I also changed the interior. When I got it last year I put some loosely
packed straw in it, which might have been ok, but since ladybugs seem to enjoy crevices I got the idea of applying a harmonica
fold to some cardboard and placed that in there.

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20250824 - ladybug motel - 01.jpg
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[PHOBoS]

Made 2 insect hotels from a couple of small fruit crates. I have been meaning to do something with them but didn't know what,
although I did use one of them before to grow some moss. The angled corner supports were protruding and I could have cut
them short but that would make the crates shallow and more likely to topple over. So I extended the sides and made them deeper.
which also makes them sturdier. I got a piece of mesh to cover the fronts and went on a short hike to get some extra materials to
fill them up. (pine cones, twigs, small branches and a couple pieces of bark).

I didn't want to make compartments with different materials but mix everything a bit more naturally together. The first one I put
together still ended up having things more separated and half way through started to turn into a bit of a diorama. For the second
one I first cut up some larger pieces, drill holes in them and then treated it more like a packing puzzle.

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20250825 - insect hotel - 02.jpg
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[blue hell]

Ah, so the insect hotel is not a bird feeder anymore I see

At mom's place the woodpecker would find, or try to find at least, insects in the block of wood - which made for some interesting 'ghost knocking' for a while.

[PHOBoS]

The flowers on the Goldenrod aren't just yellow but have quite a bit of white on them. I haven't been able to identify it yet,
maybe Solidago 'little lemon' which is a dwarf with yellow/white flowers.

The snapdragons have produced yet another flush of flowers, these just don't give up. They will have to come out once the springbulbs
go in but I'll re-pot them and try to get them through the winter.

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20250904 - Solidago - 04.jpg
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20250908 - Verbena bonariensis - 02.jpg
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20250915 - balcony - 96.jpg
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20250915 - alpine gutter - 02.jpg
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[PHOBoS]

Cyclamen has woken up from its slumber.

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20250915 - Cyclamen hederifolium 'Album' - 01.jpg
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20250915 - Cyclamen hederifolium 'Album' - 02.jpg
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[PHOBoS]

grow your own food

wasn't expecting any strawberries this year but there might even be more if the weather doesn't get too bad.
I also planted the ends, or I guess the beginnings, of some spring onions and they seem to be taking well.

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20250920 - Fragaria ostara - 02.jpg
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20250916 - spring onions - 01.jpg
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[PHOBoS]

Finally found a suitable hanging planter for the Carex oshimensis 'Evergold'. Ordered a beige and an orange one since I wasn't
sure what I would like best and also didn't know if the orange would be more of a terracotta orange (it is) or bright orange.
I think it works well in the beige pot and I used the orange one for the Festuca glauca 'Compacta blue' so it has more root space
and it looks a more consistent. I quite like these pots so while they are available I ordered a brown one as well and I think that
should make for a nice trio. I'll probably use it for the Armeria pseudarmeria 'Ballerina Red' which hasn't been very happy in the
current metal photobox planter.

I also got another birdfeeder. I already had an acorn shaped one for peanuts and now I have one for regular birdseed as well.

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20250921 - hanging planters grass - 01.jpg
Description:	both planters are the same size, but the orange one is hanging a bit lower and further to the back.
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20250921 - birdfeeder - 03.jpg
Description:	I am not sure if putting peanuts in it was the best idea, might clog it up too much but I hope the birds can just peck them out.
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20250921 - balcony - 97.jpg
Description:	The wall is starting to fill up nicely. I did reorganize things a little bit so the ivy will have to re-cover some bald spots.
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[PHOBoS]

There is already some new growth appearing on a couple of plants.

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20250921 - Solidago 'Golden Dwarf' - 01.jpg
Description:	This one did great for most of the year, though it never flowered, but then it started dropping leaves and dying off. Looks like there is some life left in it so I might end up with 2 different goldenrod plants next year.
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20250921 - Verbena bonariensis - 03.jpg
Description:	The Verbena was getting covered in mildew so I cut most of it back and I am glad to see it is starting to regrow from the base. Note that not all the parts that have been pruned back were done by me.
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20250921 - Eryngium planum 'Blue Hobbit' - 08.jpg
Description:	I cut it back after flowering, though there wasn't much to cut back and I wasn't sure if it was going to make it. Looks hopeful but we'll have to see if it will survive the winter.
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20250921 - Erysimum linifolium - 08.jpg
Description:	The Erysimum has also been regrowing quite a bit but I also took some cuttings. It's a short lived perennial and the stems turn woody pretty quickly so you end up with a bare bottom part. It's a readily available plant but cuttings are free.
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[PHOBoS]

Added another Brunnera or 2 actually.

When I picked up the birdfeeder I had a quick look at the plants. I wasn't planning on getting anything new at this time of the year
until I noticed that a lot of the plants that are sold throughout the year (so not the the seasonal ones) now had a 50% discount .
Got another standard Brunnera macrophylla because the one I already have was looking a bit sad, so now it has a friend.
The other one is a Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' which I found tucked behind some other plants. I initially didn't really like
the Jack Frost but that was mostly just due to over exposure as it is quite common.

I also got a foxglove, though on closer inspection it might be a lot more than 1 in a single pot, and a fern but I should have paid
a bit more attention to the label of that one because it's one that could get quite large.

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20250921 - Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' - 01.jpg
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20250921 - balcony - 99.jpg
Description:	the larger leaves are from the Aconitum vulparia. It hasn't flowered yet this year and I doubt it will but it appears to be doing alright.
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20250911 - Digitalis purpurea 'Gloxiniiflora' - 02.jpg
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[PHOBoS]

more food,.

Of all the super hot peppers the only one that grew some actual fruits is the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion which has 2 peppers on it.
Don't see any on the other ones but that's often what happens. If they flower it's usually too late in the season, even more so
now that I want to empty out the planter somewhere in the coming weeks to make room for the spring bulbs (which I am expecting
to receive today). I will try to over winter them but I haven't had any success doing that before.

The Fresno peppers on the other hand have been producing a bunch of tasty peppers and are now growing a second batch.

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20250924 - Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 01.jpg
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20250924 - Fresno - 01.jpg
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[PHOBoS]

The 'Carnevale di Venezia' Morning glories have started flowering.

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20250923 - Ipomoea purpurea 'Carnevale di Venezia'- 02.jpg
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20250929 - Ipomoea purpurea 'Carnevale di Venezia'- 06.jpg
Description:	this might be a different variety but it should be a mix of both blue and pink striped ones and it is possible to get some without stripes.
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[PHOBoS]

I have some Hellebores

Didn't buy these but got them from a lovely lady who every year has this stunning display of gorgeous yellow hellebores.
Knowing that they do self seed and because she had quite a lot of them I blatantly ask if could have one. She told me I
could come and dig one out whenever I had time for it and 5 minutes later she was also showing me the rest of the garden.

I had some time the next day so carefully dug around a large leaf trying not to disturb things too much and ended up with
a small clump. Once home I could brake it up and it appears that it contained 6 plants in total. 2 didn't have any leafs and
the others are fairly small. Note that what you see is last years foliage, they are currently still dormant. I don't know yet if
any will take, apparently Hellebores don't like to be transplanted, but I was welcome to dig out another one if it doesn't.

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[PHOBoS]

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20251010 - Brachyscome multifida - 06.jpg
Description:	The last photo before I removed it from the planter. I did repot it but it's not a hardy plant so I don't expect it to survive for very long. It's currently still flowering though.
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20251010 - Calendula officinalis - 07.jpg
Description:	These are still flowering. I think next year I will sow them in the container I use for the Phacelia. Starting with the Phacelia in early spring, after they've gone over I'll sow Buckwheat and after that the Calendula.
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20251010 - Fagopyrum esculentum - 01.jpg
Description:	This Buckwheat seems to have some pink flowers. I don't know if it has anything to do with the temperature since they've always come up white but I'll try to save some seeds for next year.
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20251012 - Fragaria ostara - 03.jpg
Description:	I got another strawberry, it was very tiny though. This one has also been repotted and is looking very healthy at the moment.
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20251018 - Cyclamen hederifolium 'Album' - 04.jpg
Description:	I am not expecting any flowers on the Cyclamen as those should appear before the foliage, but the foliage is what I mainly grow it for anyway and it does look stunning.
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[PHOBoS]

bird interlude

A Robin showed up which appears to be a seasonal bird, at least on my balcony.
I did see one a couple of times in Spring but not during the rest of the year.
Of course I am not keeping an eye on my balcony 24/7 and also not very early in the morning
so It might have been visiting more often.

Another bird I saw return today is a Great Spotted Woodpecker which I was able to capture on video.


throughout the day there are a lot of sparrows, blue tits and great tits.

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20251024 - Erithacus rubecula - 01.jpg
Description:	I managed to get a quick shot from my webcam
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[PHOBoS]

SPRING BULBS

Last year was the first year that I decided to plant spring bulbs. Although not all of them came up it turned out great and I am happy I did.
It provided a lot of color very early on in the year when I usually don't have a lot going on yet and thereby extended the growing season.
It also kept me more active on my balcony later in the year since I had to tidy things up a bit to make space for them.

So at the beginning of June this year I put in an order as soon as it was possible and I received all the bulbs a couple weeks ago.
Some of the bulbs are the same I grew last year since I really liked them, some are more or less replacements and there are a couple
that I didn't grow before.


Narcissus 'Arctic Bells' a small, creamy white, early flowering daffodil with cone shaped flowers, which should have multiple flower stalks per bulb.
I got these instead of snowdrops. I do like snowdrops but I replanted last years bulbs in the pot with the dwarf willow tree (which I am pretty sure
is actually dead now) so hopefully those will come back. The Narcissus are already starting to show some green shoots.

Iris reticulata 'Alida' the same ones I had last year and they were some of the earliest flowering bulbs. I had a look at some other Irises
but I just really like these.

Scilla bifolia 'Rosea' I am not sure if I've seen these before, they remind me a bit of hyacinths but much smaller. Apparently they are
fairly drought tolerant so if they do ok I might replant them in my alpine planter.

Narcissus 'Jetfire' a small daffodil with backwards pointing petals. I got these instead of the Narcissus minnow that I had last year of
which hardly any flowered. I am pretty sure that was because of a lack of sunlight though.

Tulipa 'Scarlet Baby' Lovely small early flowering bright red tulips. Had these last year and they did great.

Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica also appears to be a bit hyacinth like but smaller and the flowers are white with a light blue stripe.

Anemone nemorosa a white Anemone. I didn't have any luck with the Anemones last year but apparently they like moisture and it's best
to rehydrate them before planting. Last year I had corms which still looked a bit bulb like but this year I received rhyzomes which look like a
bunch of twigs. I planted these in the pot with the dwarf willow tree as well (also likes moisture) and while I was digging around I had a look
at the snowdrop bulbs from last year which are still looking ok.

Narcissus 'Anfield' The same large daffodils I had last year. They were big, bright yellow and kept flowering for quite some time with
multiple flowers per bulb.

Tulipa 'Purple Purissima' I got these as a replacement for the Tulipa 'Sweet Sixteen'. I did like those but because they were fairly small
they got somewhat overshadowed by the large daffodils. The color was also pretty pale. These are larger and a darker pink which should
contrast better with those daffodils.

Muscari latifolium a broad-leaved Grape-Hyacinth to add some extra color between the yellow daffodils and and pink tulips. They are
fairly small though so I am not sure how well it works out but because of the broad leaves they might be able to carve out a bit of space for
themselves.

Allium moly (yellow), Allium cowanii (white), Allium unifolium (pink) I got these as a replacement for the Allium zebdanense.
I was planning on getting those again this year because I really liked them (they might have been my favourite of all the bulbs) but at the time
that I placed my order those were not available yet. So I got these 3 different colored Alliums instead which I planted all in one pot.
fun fact: those 30 bulbs cost exactly as much as 10 of the Allium zebdanense bulbs.



I also kept some of the bulbs from last year but since I am not sure if they will flower again this year I ordered new ones.
As I already mentioned the Snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii) were replanted in the pot with the dwarf willow tree.

The Muscari aucheri 'ocean magic' were left in their small pots, tucked away and ignored for the rest of the year, but when I emptied the pots
out to plant the Narcissus 'Arctic Bells' I found out that they were very much still alive. So I replanted those in the pot with the Buddleja.
There were also small tulips in those small pots but I believe only one of those actually flowered and most of them didn't even show up so
I am pretty certain that the bulbs that were still alive are indeed the Muscari. (time will tell).

I kept the bulbs of the Tulipa 'Scarlet Baby' and also the small Narcissus minnow bulbs and replanted both together in a planter
that's hanging from my railing (the one I use for the Phacelia).

I also kept the bulbs of the large Narcissus 'Anfield' which had multiplied quite a bit and planted them in a large pot. I did have to do it in
2 layers with the largest bulbs in the bottom layer and the smaller ones in the top layer. Those small ones probably won't flower and maybe
non of them will and it will likely get very cramped in there.

I did find some bulbs in another pot when I emptied it out which might actually be the Allium zebdanense but could also be the Hyacinthoides
non-scripta aka english bluebells. I planted those in a small pot to see if they will do anything.

I think I also still had the Iris reticulata 'Alida' bulbs. At least I recall that I planted some bulbs earlier in the year in the pot that has the
Verbena bonariensis + Solidago + Agastache. I guess we'll have to wait until spring to see what everything is and what has survived.

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springbulb selection 2026.jpg
Description:	the colored borders indicate bulbs that are planted together.
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