You amaze me - really!! I'm rather speechless. You are still gardening on your balcony, right? Or did you happen to purchase some property?

Just beautiful!!

Absolutely love your Coleus!!
Just beautiful PV

Vera

Can you please come do my house?

Gorgeous!!!

Well, o.k. You are NOT filling your containers with ashtray sand, are you? No wonder your garden looks so much better than mine.

I LOVE that aster! Wow! I'd love some seeds. I have an aster that is just coming into bloom right now (pictures later, I promise) but it is a totally different color. That one is astounding.

As always, your plants are amazing. I've got 5 acres. Space...I got. Water? Not so much. But wow. Look what you are doing with your balcony!!!

Very nice, I am so amazed that you pack so much into your balcony. That pink aster is so pretty! The coleus too, nice combination of leaf shapes and colors. You are better at combining leaves and colors in your little spot than I am with half an acre! Well done!

PVick I always love your pictures. All your plants are the picture of health and beauty. Hope your first frost is way off so you can enjoy them for several more weeks.
Tina

PV: You do have a beautiful place up there in the sky!

Who said frost? We're still setting heat records, 91 degrees today. Too hot to do anything out there. All I'm getting done is a little seed collecting and watering perennials. Too hot!

Karen

Very nice! That coleus is amazing - I've never seen that one before.

Glad you posted your photos here. I admit to being one of those who never think to visit the gallery...

:)
Dee

Hi PV *waving*
your pics are beautiful! that salvia is too much! I only got 3 little plants this year- so much heat, no rain-
but I am sure going to try again next year. I did have several salvia "coral nymph" come up voluntarily, and even they attract the little hummers :)) The red would be like a lighthouse by the sea to the little 'dudes'-
love the coleus too!
thanks,
Linda

Enjoyed seeing your flowers. I always check the gallery and have seen all your photos this year. Your garden balcony is a wonder. Thanks for sharing.
Bobbie

Glad you all enjoyed! I'll be a nudge - those of you who don't visit the gallery - DO! There are some great pics from folks over there, and fantastic testimonials to WSing!

Tiffy - thank you for the great compliment! LOL! Yes, I'm still gardening on the balcony. When I finally get to garden in the ground, I'm not at all sure I'll know what to do.

And Karen's right, who said frost?? It's 80° out there now, and very humid. The poor plants don't know whether they should go to sleep or stay awake. I had cut back my butterfly bush last month, it was looking so ratty; now the thing is growing like mad and actually blooming again!

I'm betting that the coleus that's catching your eyes is the gold/green one - it's called 'Diane's Gold'. Now that my "shade garden" has turned into a full sun garden (does that this time of year), it's more golden than ever! And all of the coleus in that pot have had a great growth spurt in the last couple of weeks. Go figure!

The pink asters are new to me (I misspelled her name - it's 'Alma Potschke'); she's done pretty well, considering the neglect she's had to endure. There's another aster, a "blue" one, but what flowers did emerge are growing thru the railing - hard to get a picture. My asters always look like mini palm trees - no foliage on the bottom of the stems, only up top with the flowers. Can't figure what I'm doing wrong. And I've never had any luck collecting seeds - anyone have any advice on that??

As for the Yvonne's salvia, I can't sing it's praises enough! An absolutely gorgeous plant. I'm willing to lose some stuff out there so I can grow more of her! Next year, for sure, she'll get a bigger pot - the roots are growing thru the bottom of the pot she's in.

There's one more set of flowers out there that I'm waiting on - red mums! Lots of buds, should open any day now. More pics to come!

PV

Beautiful - simply beautiful. Sometimes I think a smaller area is better - for me anyway. My gardens are so spread out (acre plus) that I sometimes miss the compactness and punch that a small garden can deliver. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the nudge to visit the gallery more.....

Lynne

Love all your plants. I especially love that aster. I too decided to post here instead of the gallery. Almost all my plants are from winter sowing. I take photos daily of my plants. I won't post photos here when the forum gets "busy".

dem_pa

pvic - You know I am such a fan of your plantings, but this year you really topped it!! Everything looks wonderful - you are so good at those containers plantings.

Did you pinch your perilla? Mine are like six feet tall... or are there smaller varieties?

Keep up the great work! (You are lucky - no rabbits up there!!)

Carrie

Hey Carrie! This perilla is 'Magilla'; I think it has another name too, but that's what I know it as. When I first saw it several years ago, I thought it was a coleus, but this is a coleus look-alike that can take full sun and doesn't need pinching. It just keeps that full look all by itself. So no, I didn't pinch it. Here it is when I planted it out about two months ago -

{{gwi:441932}}

As you can see, there's some wandering jew 'Purple Heart' in the pot, as well as some fiber optic grass (which was totally overtaken and has since died). The green coleus is 'Brooklyn Horror' - very aptly named! The wandering jew is still there, just overshadowed, and now a nice stripey color from all the shade it gets. I've got seed for other varieties of perilla, but haven't tried them yet. This one has never set seed for me, so I have to keep it alive from cuttings every year.

PV

Lovely as always PV.
Ron

Wow! Your garden is beautiful! All my potted plants are looking ratty by now.I love that aster. For some reason my aster didn't do well this year. I always love seeing your pictures!
Joann

PV
Nice...that Perilla "Magilla" is cute! :-)
Seeing your pictures always encourages me to get busy with the large planters.

L

Wow, there is really a plant called "Brooklyn Horror"? How cool!

:)
Dee

Funny how we are each attracted to different plants...I especially love the dark coleus in the mixed pot...and I think your asters are a spectacular color. I thought my purple asters were goners, but neglect brought them back to bloom for me this year.

Mary

That one is called 'Malabar', Mary. When I first got it, I wasn't too fond of it. I've since changed my mind ....

{{gwi:441934}}

PV

Lovely plants and you done such a wonderful job with them. Thank you for taking the time to share those with us. Folks would not belive those were planted outside in winter sowed fashion.

Do you keep records of when you planted the coleus seeds?

ML