Annuals that you can keep deadheaded would be my choice.Herbs would do good and they smell so wonderful.I have seeds!
Petunias, geraniums, Marigolds,things like that. Sorry you had to leave all you garden stuff behind. I can send you some seeds! getting some started ones might be an option for you, If there is a local nursery near by come spring!!! Hugs to you!!!!

Daisy, I feel your pain - I am in between houses, living in an apartment with a small deck - had to leave my garden of 13 years behind. Aquawise has good thoughts. Myself, I would have to have snapdragons (they take a bit of time to come to bloom, though) and rosemary. Rosemary is a fussy germinator, but I've had success with it. Easier annuals would definitely be petunias, poppies, marigolds.

Check out Pvick's page - she lives on a balcony in NYC and has an unbelievable wintersowed garden!

Snapdragons, dianthus, and salvia are must haves, and they don't get extra large so they would work on a patio.

Have you seen the photos posted by pvick? Her entire garden is on a city balcony and it is lovely.

If gardening makes you happy, you should try to make it work on the balcony without limiting yourself to one or two plants. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: pvick's WS Collection in Gallery

I would recommend viola's or pansies. They start out small but bloom early and with a bit of shade and water each day I had them blooming from spring till frost. I love those plants. I also was able to collect hundreds of seeds from my one little bowl for next year. That way you can stock up for that future garden.
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Here was my little pot. I intend to cover over it with plastic and winter sow the seeds that fell in the bowl too.

Perhaps you should also try growing vertically? Utilize your balcony walls if you can? To maximize growing area you can use hanging baskets and growbags, just hang them on the walls or over the railing. Also tiered plantstands are great. You can grow a lot more than you think! lol. Check out the beebs site, they have a great gardening page...www.bbc.co.uk/gardening Found an article on 'growing bags' as i'm interested in using some this year, just type 'growing bags' on the search box. You can also make your own, just google it. As for plants to sow i would also suggest some long blooming annuals and herbs. Hope this helps. Btw, i do love your city, not to mention its wonderful parks and gardens.

Another suggestion would be a pot of Alyssum. It will do well with partial shade, smells wonderful, easy to grow and a fast bloomer. Deadheading will offer blooms over a long season.

Mary

Here is another pic of pvick's balcony to help give you some inspiration. I know she also gives away a lot of what she sows. In my opinion there is just something so therapeutic about planting seeds even if I don't intend to grow them all in my own yard. I guess your choice of flower will depend on how much sun you get. I planted red impatiens in hanging baskets on my covered back porch and it really brightened up the space.

-StLGirl

Here is a link that might be useful: pvick's balcony

If you have balcony rungs to twine through, I'm currently enamored with Thunbergia (black-eyed susan vine/clock vine). Try some climbers to maximize those balcony rails!

Deanna

Plants (started from seed) that do great for me in pots and are a little bit different are:
Melampodium - blooms all summer into fall, no deadheading
Impatiens Balfori - blooms and blooms
Profusion Zinnias (all colors, many flowers in little space)
Purple millet and/or red Perilla for color
Plain old rainbow mix coleus, pinching it back often to create fullness.

Good luck!
Nancy

You didn't say if you were looking for flowers only, but while I have yard space, I have grown my cherry tomatoes in pots for several years now. My small porch has a better exposure for them than my back yard & the deer don't come onto the porch. A single self-watering planter of 18-24" square, planted with 3-4 indeterminate plants has yielded over 1000 fruits in our zone 5 growing season! Yes, I kept track one year! I've found the consistant moisture of the self watering planters really boosts the production & cuts down on splitting fruit. And nothing lifts the spirits like the taste of a freshly plucked Sungold, still warm from the sun!

Thank you all. After reading all messages I have started feeling better. My balcony is only 7 feet by 3 feet and no grill. Still I Think I can accomodate few pots and hanging baskets. It is south facing and apartment has two south facing windows also.

My plan is
spring: some autumn sown pansies, wallflowers, bulbs
summer: petunia, salvia, marigold, alyssum, black-eyed susan vine, tomato
autumn: 1-2 plants of dahlia, aster
will buy some begonias for the windows as well.

looks like a lot for that space, but when there is will there will be some plants and flowers!

Just so you know you can winter sow the petunia, salvia and alyssum now and they won't sprout till later when things warm up. Although alyssum sprouts quite early and surprised me last year but those would all be small for awhile.

thanks dear. i need to first make a trip to store and garden center to get seeds and soil. i am following the best petunia/impatiens thread to find a good variety.