West Facing Balcony

18 years ago

Hi All,

I Live in Dallas and the summers here can be verry hot.

My second floor balcony faces west and from about 2 P.M.

to sunset it really cooks out there. My apartments are

three story so there is some shade but not much.

My space is pretty small only measures about 12 by 7

feet.

Any suggestions what to grow?

I have 3 window boxes i hang from the railing, Had begonias

in them last year. They did pretty well. Tryed a tomato

plant(patio) didn't do so well. Lavander did ok.

Guess I'm looking for more ideas.

Have any suggestions?

Hectate

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Comments (7)

jeannied
18 years ago
The hot sun sure can do things to plants if they are not sun-hardy. What I mention here I have no idea about how hot a sun they can stand but they are sun-lovers for your zone.

Crape Myrtles....come in dwarf sizes all the way up to trees
Ligustrum
Primrose Jasmine
Texas Sage
Burford Holly
Chinese Holly
loquat
Flowering Pomegranate
How about a Japanese Yew in a container
Pampas Grass....cut it back to suit
Pygmy Barberry
Dwarf Abelia
Cotoneaster
Plumbago.....everytime I see that word, I think of an aching back

The big thing still to consider on balconies is the wind.
If your apartment is open to winds of sort, it could play havoc with whatever you put out there. Winds dry soil up much faster than any sun that might be high. More water would definitely be required.
kitchen_phoenix
18 years ago
I'm glad you asked this. I live in Virginia, not as as dry as Texas but our summers can really bake the hide right off of you! I'm starting a veggie container garden this year and we face due west with NO shade.......NONE. I'm putting in some beans, cucumbers, some hearty heirloom tomato plants, peppers.......sun loving plants and I'm praying our abundant sunshine isn't too much of a good thing. I'm thinking about maybe building something like a trellis which can be moved to offer some protection from the sun if it gets too intense after 4:00. Maybe you could put in some dwarf sunflowers? Nice color and you can feed the birds during the winter!
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You may want to go with plastic pots to keep the weight down and go as large as possible. I tried a few commercial bagged mixes before settling on Foxfarm Ocean Forest mix. Your biggest issue will be watering. I assume you don't have a spigot outdoors but you can attach a hose thread adapter to a kitchen sink and run a hose out to the balcony. The hotter it gets the more watering you will need to do and lugging a big flower pot back and forth is no fun as I learned last season. I am right on the coast so I was lulled into a false sense of security with the spring and summer fogs last year but got a rude shock in late summer and fall and had a hard time keeping up with watering. I grow all ornamental plants. Started out with a focus on hummingbird plants and have shifted to succulents to help keep down my water use. It may be too late already for peas in your climate but it may be worth a try anyway since the nights are probably still cool. I love my little balcony garden but I can't wait to have a yard again. Good luck!
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I do this every year. Watering in the morning and evening through the hotter months seems key. Try to keep the pot itself shaded so the soil doesn't heat up too much (especially if you have a glass sided balcony). Make sure they get some fertilizer from time to time too (use one for tomatoes/peppers). If you find it gets too sunny in the hotter months you could always create some shade with a light sheet or gauzy fabric, say a meter high, that would give it a touch of shade when needed. I've not done that myself, but find my tomatoes have never minded the harsh heat of summer too much. If you have the room, I'd really encourage you to try some peppers too - they especially love the sun and heat. I've been super successful with both jalepenos and bell peppers. If you like eggplant that's another one who loves the heat. The only things I've had real trouble with in the heat are some herbs. My basils and oreganos have become fried - this year I kept them inside the whole time and they're still going now. Let us know how they do! :)
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Hi Alynne, http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0717412931490.html?8 I believe your fig has some water stress and may be some rust as well . Have a look on the above link where the subject is discussed in detail. On your first above picture the tree is showing new green buds which means coming growth. Please have a look on a bigger tree in the back of your fig. Their leaves seem to carry rust and/or brown spots and this may have contaminated your litle fig.. that is a possibility. As for the variety, IMO to say 'same as fig Newtons' is not an ideal way to identify a fig tree....this can be any fig!.. not serious. Not aware of the comm. names of the potential treatments in your area, I would advise you to find on your Ag shop, professional advice on how to attack the problem. If you can bring a sample of the sick leaves to help and to correctly identify the problem and suggest treatment Francisco
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Lydia, I grow dozens of foliage plants in containers in west facing afternoon GA sun which has to be very close to your conditions. Variegated Asiatic Jasmine is beauiful, evergreen (well...green, white & pink), and seldom flowers...can be grown on trellis or as groundcover for your Bay Tree as it would not mind dryish conditions. Variegated Hedera helix would also serve..no flowers. Other hardy in z8 foliage plants I've used alone or as groundcovers under larger plants: Asparagus plumosa or Saxifraga sarmentosa (the Strawberry Begonia flowers but easy to clip off), Lygodium japonica "Japanese Climbing Fern". The herb Ruta graveolens has flowers but easy to clip off, otherwise just lovely blue frilly foliage). Likewise Purple Fennel with dusky purple foliage. Hardy Z8 perennials Tanacetum 'Isla Gold' has frilly chartreuse foliage. Centaurea gymnocarpa 'Colchester White" has white-silver beautiful cut foliage...I have it underplanted with Dichondra 'Silver Falls'(nonhardy but I carried over inside). Young Eucalyptus cinerea trees can be grown as shrubs with silvery-blue foliage. For a large plant: Cordyline australis Red Sensation is a red/purple leaved phormium lookalike which is hardy for me. Hibiscus coccinea 'Texas Star'foliage is lovely reddish-green even if you clipped the flowers off. Likewise the colorful-leaved forms of annuals: Ricinus (Castor Bean) like 'Carmencita'...just clip flowers. Alternanthera dentata Rubiginosa' with deep scarlet foliage & stems has tiny flowers but haven't noticed any bees..but then I'm only outside at dawn and dusk when weather gets above 80 degrees F. Strobilanthes 'Persian Shield' has lovely purple/silver leaves. The Black Taro loves full sun if kept moist, even loves pot sitting in a few inches of water. Likewise the colorful forms of Canna: Tropicana, Pretoria etc. and you could clip flowers off. I know there are more...I'm waiting til daylight to go out & water. May add more later. But there are a lot of gorgeous foliage plants with colored leaves, frilly lace-like or big & bold. And lots of them are hardy... some evergreen so we can have nice container gardens even for our short winter months. I hate to spend money on annuals when often I can find a hardy plant for the same garden effect, especially in our zone...and have the fun of seeing it return bigger and better each year. josh Here is a link that might be useful: Variegated Asian Jasmine
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whytephoenix
18 years ago
The heat is a ***** but the real problem is often drought. Aim for bigger containers (12' at the smallest) and you can try tomatoes again. Anything smaller than that will have to be watered like crazy.

For the window boxes, you might try purslane, portulaca or ice plants - all blooming succulents. They do well even in south Texas (RG valley, grew up there) so they should do all right for you. You could also try bouganvilla, which is gorgeous and tolerates heat and drought and will shade the rest of your area. (You might have to protect it during your winters, though.)

A lot of mediterranian herbs will flourish in your space... rosemary, lavender, oregano, possibly sage and thyme too sinse your area is dryer and has colder winters than us on the coast. Basil will take sun and heat, but it is a thirsty plant so take note.

best of luck!
eviestevie
18 years ago
i also have a west facing balcony. asparagus fern and vincas work really well. those have been my two favorites for the west side.
vinelover
18 years ago
I have a west facing balcony as well. I live in California and everything used to bake in the afternoon sun. Watering became real tiresome. So I got rid of everything and got one plant. I got a variegated bower vine and I am letting it spread.
Whirly Gigs
6 years ago
Argh, i have the worst problems... My
balcony faces west and i cant even enjoy sunset because another buliding blocks in front.. I probably only get crazy drought hot sun
that starts from 1PM to 3PM. My morning glories never bloomed, even if they tried they dont fully opened.. I dont get any morning sun, only noon! And sometimes plastik or rubbers melt, and my feet burns when i step the floor... I have no idea what im going to plant now. But strangely a group of Johnny jump ups germinated, lol
Ty (Tempe, AZ - Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 13)
6 years ago
I have a west facing balcony in Tempe, AZ, but there's a solid wall on the south side of it and a solid overhang. I've had an elephant bush (portulacaria afra) that withstood the west summer sun just fine and grew like a weed. I now have a variegated one that is a lot more sensitive to burning, but I hang it behind a pillar on the north side of the balcony now. I also have a string of bananas (senecio radicans) hanging on my balcony, but it hasn't been through the full direct summer sun yet so we'll see how it does. My Aloe and Plumeria seem to handle it ok too surprisingly.

Most of my other succulents don't seem to like being in that direct summer sun for more than a couple of hours though. I learned the hard way burning a Congo Aloe, Stacked Crassula and Golden Sedum on my table which gets direct sun for a few hours. I think I might have to resign myself to a squatty Cactus of some kind for that spot.

West Facing Balcony

Comments (7)

jeannied

kitchen_phoenix

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whytephoenix

eviestevie

vinelover

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Ty (Tempe, AZ - Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 13)

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