Wintering balcony geraniums

The pelargoniums of our balconies, often wrongly named geraniums, require very particular care if you wish to have the chance to see them blooming again the following spring. They are not very hardy, and wintering will be necessary for their survival in most of our regions.

At the end of October, when the days get shorter and the cold weather becomes more penetrating, clean your plants by doing a drastic pruning. Do not hesitate to cut back the stems, even if they are still flowering, up to 20 cm from the base of the plant for the ivy varieties. Keep only one third of the height of the stems of zonal pelargoniums and large-flowered species. Don't be afraid to do this: this pruning will make your plant all the more vigorous when it comes back. Moreover, it will be an opportunity for you to offer cuttings to the neighbors, which is always a pleasure!

At the same time, check your plants for pests and diseases. Cut off any damaged or diseased parts and burn them so that they do not contaminate the compost. Be careful, after this operation, disinfect your tools with alcohol so as not to spread the diseases, and if a plant is too sick to be sacrificed, soak its pot in bleached water and rinse it before using it again.

Once cleaned, install your pelargoniums in a cool but frost-free place: a garage, a well insulated garden shed, or better still a slightly heated veranda will do perfectly. Be careful though: the room must have at least one window so that your plants receive a minimum of light to survive, otherwise you will have to install artificial lighting.

Remove all the cups that could maintain a harmful humidity at the roots level and stop watering. Watering will only serve to keep the plant alive as it enters its vegetative resting period. One watering per month should be sufficient, but be sure that the foliage does not wilt. A lack of water is preferable to an excess during this period.

When the weather is fine and there is no risk of frost, you can gradually bring them out into the light, so as not to burn them. Once again, clean the yellowed or diseased parts and repot them in a special geranium potting soil mix already containing fertilizer. Remember to provide good drainage at the bottom of the pot and water after repotting to settle the soil and prevent air bubbles from forming.

Your pelargoniums will then be ready to start a new life for an ever more flowering spring!

Please note that ivy-leaved pelargoniums are often less resistant than zonal pelargoniums. More light will be beneficial to them.

Miniature gardens, an invitation to travel

A corner of the balcony, a table on the terrace, a sideboard in the living room, a window sill... A few square decimeters are enough to invite plants and miniature decorations in your home and create real mini-ecosystems where gardening talents and artistic sense are combined.

Imagine

Imagine a humid tropical landscape with lush vegetation, the semi-deserts of South Africa covered with succulents, the garrigue and its paths leading through low walls and olive trees, the mountain cliffs with alpine plants in the smallest crack.

Can you imagine booking your plane tickets? Yes. But you can also keep your slippers on, move to the lounge, on the bay window side. On its curved plateau, surrounded by ferns, selaginellas, the ficus is a bit dull: a tropical shower with a sprayer will be welcome. A few meters away, new climate, under the south-facing veranda, succulents are blooming in a miniature scree. The terrace will protect a Mediterranean space, on its rocky plateau, bordered by a low wall, an olive tree will offer its shade to a 2 cm long bench. A toothbrush will be enough to clean it. For the mountaineers, a small piece of garden, a corner of balcony, will welcome a lauze where will develop miniature pines, saxifrages, androsaces, sedum.

Miniature ecosystems

It is possible to create miniature gardens featuring plants and decorations to represent any type of landscape or ecosystem. A fundamental principle not to be missed: choose your climate, tropical, Mediterranean, alpine... Which will correspond respectively to the heated space of the house, the veranda or terrace well exposed, a shaded outdoor space or an alpine greenhouse.

Another fundamental principle: the choice of plants. Each one must be adapted to the chosen environment, a fern from the Amazonian forests will not withstand the rigors of European winters, and conversely an alpine saxifrage will not withstand the heat of our interiors...

Third fundamental principle: small plant will become big... It is essential to know the development of the chosen plants to maintain a harmonious balance in your landscape. An aloe vera will hardly have its place in a semi-arid garden of 20 cm in diameter...

Last principle: respect the fundamental needs of your ecosystem, i.e. water, temperature and luminosity which must correspond to the mutual living conditions of your plants.

An easy maintenance, generally

Easy... by the size of the tools. Small tweezers to clean plants, fine scissors to contain them, a sharp knife to cut the roots of unwanted guests, a 2-liter watering can, a sprayer, and a seat at garden height. Properly cared for, plants will continue to grow, more or less vigorously depending on the species. It's up to you to choose, to prune, to limit, to favor one or the other, to perpetuate the same balance, to move, to cut. In short, to make your garden live.

But everything can fail, and your tropical garden can turn into a deplorable mineral desert. Once you have chosen your location, near the living room window, far from the heating, and selected your plants, Ficus retusa, bromeliads, selaginellas, you can start watering. It must be copious, like a good tropical rain. In between, you will have to keep your substrate slightly humid, with a dry environment, regular sprays will be welcome. So for each environment, semi-arid indoor or outdoor, alpine, Mediterranean, the maintenance will have to meet the specific needs of your ecosystem.

An original creation

Once you have mastered the technical requirements, it's time to be creative. Composing a miniature garden is similar to designing a painting: strong points, vanishing lines, volumes. Foliage and flowering colors. All in three dimensions. And there is also a fourth dimension: time. The plants change with each season, blush in the cold, bloom one in the fall, the other in the spring. To create with the living by offering the conditions of a perennial growth is to open a new door, a journey, at hand.

The power of plants, the gardener and the imagination

By listening to his plants, the gardener learns continuously, and offers them the best growing conditions. They then take over, grow, bloom and reseed. The dialogue is constant. Grouped together in a miniature garden, the plants will also interact with each other, sometimes competing with each other, but also helping each other, cooperating. And to harmonize, with imagination, in a reduced but abundant space. 

Some plants:

• Tropical gardens : Ficus retusa, Ficus benjamina, Ficus pumila, Selaginella, ferns, ...
• Mediterranean gardens : Crassula sarcocaulis, Delosperma, Sedum, Sempervivum, Bergeranthus, ...
• Semi-desert gardens : Cacti, euphorbias, caudex plants, ...
• Alpine gardens : saxifrages, androsace, armeria, Cotula hispida, Pratia pedunculata, ...

Winterizing a potted petunia

In summer, the many varieties of petunias never cease to embellish terraces, balconies and beds. To prolong the pleasure from the following spring, shelter your perennial petunias during the bad season.

Prune shamelessly

Petunias and especially the drooping varieties of Surfinias tend to form long, branched stems that are not very aesthetic and do not flower as much over time. They will start again the following spring. This pruning will also allow the plant to regain its strength, you will be surprised by the beauty of the foliage and the number of flower buds present.

You can therefore prune all the stems to about ten centimeters from their base without regret. Take the opportunity to remove all the dead stems at their base with a small scissor. Place all this plant waste in the compost.

Clean the pot

With a small fork, scratch the surface of the substrate to collect all dead leaves and other plant debris. If the pot is made of clay, brush the sides with a stiff brush dipped in warm water and white vinegar to remove lime scale and moss that may hide pest eggs or larvae. To clean plastic pots, a sponge soaked in the same mixture will be sufficient.

Also clean the cup and let it dry.

The choice of the room

The chosen room should be slightly heated but frost-free because the petunia is not hardy, i.e. it does not resist to negative temperatures. A temperature between 10 and 14 °C will be ideal for wintering. If the room is not very bright, it is not very serious but it should be well ventilated.

Wintering petunias in pots

Before putting your petunia in the wintering room, make sure that the plant is free of parasites. You can prevent this by spraying the plant with nettle manure. If the plant has parasites, treat it and then quarantine it before bringing it in. Parasites tend to reproduce happily, well protected from their predators and the weather, so be extremely vigilant!

Once your petunia has been winterized in the shelter, only water when the soil really dries on the surface (about every 10 to 15 days). Never leave water in the cup, the plant is in dormancy, its growth is slowed down and it would risk to rot by excess of water. For the same reason, stop all fertilizing.

After wintering

When the frosts are no longer to be feared, repot your petunias in a rich substrate and add dice of slow release fertilizer. Take them out to the garden and gradually reintroduce them to full sun. Start watering them regularly, especially if it does not rain.

Winterizing citrus fruits in pots

Citrus fruits are rather fragile plants that can only be grown in the ground in regions where frost is not a problem. Everywhere else, it is recommended to grow them in pots in order to winter them in a frost-free area.

When to overwinter potted citrus?

After a beautiful season spent outdoors and in the sun, citrus trees have put on new leaves and sometimes flower buds that it would be a shame to see disappear under the first frosts. Depending on your region, it is advisable to bring in citrus fruits as early as September. In some regions of the South of France and in very sheltered gardens, you can wait until mid-October if the weather remains nice and warm. Generally speaking, as soon as the temperature drops below 10°C, it is better to bring them in. You will only take them out again when there is no risk of frost.

What operations should be carried out before overwintering citrus trees?

Before bringing in your citrus pots, check the foliage for diseases or parasites. To do this, look carefully at the back of each leaf where mites or mealy bugs can hide. Also inspect the top of the leaves to rule out the presence of fumaginia, which is often a companion of aphids.

If a presence is detected, treat the shrub before overwintering it because in an enclosed area, the risks of propagation are much greater.

Prune the dead branches if there are any and shorten the too long stems if you do not have much space in your premises.

Where to winterize citrus trees in pots?

The chosen room should be very bright and if possible well ventilated but without cold draughts. It must be frost-free. A veranda, a winter garden or a greenhouse will be perfect for this purpose. In the coldest regions, a heater should be installed to maintain the temperature at a minimum of 5°C.

How to care for overwintered citrus?

Water your plants only when the substrate has dried a few centimeters and never let water stagnate in the saucer. A watering every 10 to 15 days can be sufficient during this rest period, it will be necessary to adapt to the temperature of the room. In a heated greenhouse, a more consistent watering will be implemented.

Remember to air your premises often, especially in hot and sunny weather. If your citrus fruits are placed behind a glass, for example in a room of the house behind a bay window, think of turning them of 1/4 every 10 days to preserve a harmonious growth. Beware of the midday sun behind a south-facing window, which should be mitigated by blinds so as not to burn the foliage.

Forcing tuberous begonia

Already present on the balconies of our grandmothers, tuberous begonias are a sure value. To speed up the recovery process and obtain flowers early, it is necessary to give them a little treatment.

Precautions and preparation: the keys to success.

The tuberous begonia, as its name indicates it, have a tuber which constitutes the reserves of the plant. This one enters in dormancy during the cold season.

This begonia, native of South and Central America, is a cold one which does not support the too fresh temperatures for him under our latitudes. It is thus advisable to take some precautions and not to rush it to ensure the success of its culture.

The bulb must be wintered with the shelter of the frost and the dry one in order to preserve it in a perfect health. A soft restart will have to be implemented in spring, before being able to install it definitively in a pot in the shade and with the shelter of the great winds.

Afterwards, this easy plant will only require a limited maintenance and will bloom profusely for many months.

When and how to proceed?

It is a question of "waking up" the tuber in dormancy a little prematurely to obtain an early bloom.

• At the end of March/beginning of April, take a box and fill it with a very light mixture composed of half sand and half peat or potting soil. Add charcoal powder to limit the appearance of any cryptogamic diseases.
• Tamp the surface to smooth it out.
• Water the mixture so that it is moist but not completely soggy.
• Place the tuber, rounded side down, with the concave part from which the shoots should emerge facing the light.
• Bury only the rounded part so that only the upper side of the bulb emerges.
• Place the box in full light and warm.
• Water the substrate from time to time so that it never dries out completely.
• As soon as the first shoots appear, move the box to a cooler but still very bright place. The temperature should be around 15°C.
• When all risk of frost is eliminated, around mid-May, gently remove the tuber with its root ball and install it in its final pot filled with good compost.

Next steps

Once well installed in its container, place your begonia in half-shade, or in the shade in the warmest regions, and water it regularly but without excess. Cut off the faded flowers as you go along and add some liquid organic fertilizer once every ten days to the watering water to see it bloom for a long time.

As soon as the first frosts arrive, bring your pot in a frost-free place and wait for the leaves to wither completely to winterize the tuber in a dry place.

Flowering a balcony

A balcony in the city can easily be transformed into a little plant paradise: from the abundant jungle to the refined Zen style, you must take into account a few major parameters in order to obtain an optimal result with a minimum of worries and maintenance.

Exposure

The exposure of your balcony is a major factor to take into account. The choice of plants will depend on it. Indeed, a balcony facing south that will receive full sunlight throughout the day will benefit from conditions particularly suited to heat-loving plants such as Mediterranean plants and cacti. A shaded, north-facing balcony will welcome plants that like coolness.

Space

The lack of space should not scare you: by exploiting the verticality with trellises and suspensions, you will gain space.

Maintenance

In the city, time is often limited and even a small garden on a balcony can require long hours of maintenance. If your time is limited, choose resistant plants that require little maintenance.

Choosing plants and structuring the space

Start by dressing the walls to set the scene: with its foot in the shade, a clematis will illuminate a wall with its starry, multi-colored bloom.

Honeysuckles like sun or half-shade depending on the species. They will quickly colonize the trellises and perfume the balcony with their sweet scent. Similarly, on well-exposed balconies receiving a few hours of sunlight a day, a star jasmine will be perfect and will spread its powerful fragrance to the interior of the apartment. Fans of foliage will install a Virginia creeper that will blaze with flamboyant colors in the fall or a variegated ivy that will cover the wall all year long.

English baskets and other hanging baskets also allow you to exploit the smallest vertical corner of the balcony. Install Violas which, from October onwards, will develop cascades of small, brightly colored flowers until the first hot days of summer. Once they have finished flowering, replace them with Surfinias associated with white Lobelias or Ivy-leaved Geraniums in the sun, and with drooping Begonias and other Fuschias for shady areas. These plants will also work well in window boxes and planters properly attached to the balcony railing.

Make the most of corners by installing tall rectangular planters: black bamboo will do wonders there. Another possibility is to combine dwarf roses in the foreground with gladioli in the background, although the colors should match!

On a small table, recreate a small country corner in an old pewter basin. Daffodil and muscari bulbs can be placed next to perennials or grasses. If your balcony is in full sun, create a collection of cacti: installed individually in zinc planters, they will give a graphic touch to an already modern terrace.