Hi KraZbuderfly, I have a balcony something like yours, cocked to slightly face northeast, slatted, but on the end. The end faces west and the other end is blocked. I have an overhead balcony too, limiting the light somewhat. I've lived here for 5 years (6th spring), so have had lots of time to experiment. Still experimenting! LOL Currently I have: Perennials Climbing rose (on west end) Peony (just planted last year, but it's coming up now) Pink carpet hanging rose (both roses were planted last year) Columbine Hosta Astilbe Pansies Ornamental grass Fern (no sign yet this year) Great Blue Lobelia (no sign this year) Vines 3 clematises Morning glories - planted indoors, ready to go out if they don't die first from planting too soon, last year they did fine I grew a Sweet Autumn clematis for three years but got tired of it and wanted something else. Shasta Daisies (treated as an annual so I could plant the peony) Water Garden This did well the first year because I had the right plants in it. It's declined every year since. This year we're going to clean it out and only put things in that will grow in the shade, like water lettuce, water hyacinth, a tiny bit of duckweed or Spanish Lace. We haven't decided what else. Herbs I'm not much for veggies, but do grow a little parsley, chives and some feverfew in a self-watering pot. I've grown a lot of other herbs that have done well. Here's this year's pot: The feverfew came back from last year. The parsley is a little small, so will replace it. Chives are doing fine. Bulbs Snowdrops Puschkinia Tulips Daffodils Lilies (Asiatic and Orientals) Annuals Last Year Torenia Sweet alyssum Coleus (I have Glennis coming) Plectranthus Mimulus Verbena Blue Moon lobelia (does great every year) Here's what it looks like so far this year: We look west to the mountains with Denver in the foreground. I know what you mean about some things not succeeding because of something you did. I let my mimulus dry out last year, same with astilbe. But I'm DETERMINED this year not to let anything dry out!! I have a few self-watering pots, and they're the greatest, but then I don't think they need as much watering and I forget to fill the reservoirs. It's a lot harder in August than it is in June! LOL Hope you'll post some photos too. Here's two of last year: East End This is fun! I hope you've got high speed access. I didn't realize how big these photos would be. Sorry... Judith

Update on blackberry winter survival (three weeks later)… Uncovered Plants - Black Satin (no winter damage). These were low to ground so maybe some snow protection. - Triple crown (some winter damage) - approx. 20% die back). Seem to have handled the winter fine but some dieback, primarily on the thinner canes). - Ouachita (some winter damage) - approx. 10% die back). Almost no dieback…surprising because I thought they would be less hardy than other erect varieties. - Kiowa (significant winter damage - approx. 75% die back). At first I thought these had overwintered well, but two of the four plants didn’t leaf out and the other two were significantly damaged. This variety has had some health problems over the last two years with (2 of 6 previously dying). Since this year’s crop was a loss and I have had problems with this variety in the past, I decided to replace them with a newer, thornless variety: Von Blackberry. - Prime Ark 45 (significant winter damage - approx. 50% die back). Honestly, some of the dieback may be from the primocane fruiting sections from last fall, but what is left seems to be growing well now. I think I’ll make these a primocane only crop after this season. - Wild Treasure Trailing. In ground planting - left uncovered and plant died back to ground. Potted planting (covered) lost most of its cane length. Given space and effort, not sure this variety is worth keeping. - All raspberries were uncovered and nearly all had no noticeable winter damage. I even had a blackhawk black raspberry and two double gold raspberry plants in pots just sitting in the open and both plants are growing really well and blooming. - I did have two canes on the Cascade Delight raspberry that died during the winter but I believe that was partly due to exposed roots from some soil erosion in their raised bed. Covered Plants. - Black Diamond. I decided to give it a reprieve and let it grow again this year but spray it for cane borers. I had to remove all of last year’s growth due to cane borers but this year it has three times as much growth (e.g. canes) and looks healthy. There’s already a 8” of growth this season and that’s a lot for this variety in my climate. - Siskiyou. No winter damage. Both plants look good and have been putting on amazing growth (well, at least amazing compared to my previous attempts). These second year plants each have 5 or more canes and the cane diameter has doubled since last year. The primocanes are already about ½ inch thick (e.g. diameter) and about 12” in length so far. Yeah! Last year’s growth is getting ready to bloom. - Kotata. No winter damage and the plants are growing new canes. I have 2-3 new canes per each plant and there’s about 6-8” of growth so far. Less vigorous growth from these plantings. - Thorny Boysenberry. The non-potted plants suffered the trifecta of cold weather, cane borers, and voles, so I have maybe 10% of the canes from last year but they are getting ready to bloom. I have had problems with leaf spot on these but I gave them a good lime-sulfur spray treatment this spring, so hopefully this will help. New growth has been outstanding with the cane diameter doubling, much like the Siskiyou blackberries, and there are 8-10 canes per planting with 12-18” of growth already. I’m going to do a better job of protecting these in the winter this year. - Marionberry. I lost about 50% of the cane length from the overwintering period but have learned more about what not to do while preparing them for winter. Plants seem fine but not as vigorous as Siskiyou or Boysen but more vigorous than Kotata. - Loganberry. I lost about 75% of the canes on these from cane borers and the cold. These may be the least cold hardy of the trailing berries that I own. The primocanes are growing vigorously though.

Thank you Karl, Deanna and Karen. That's what I was afraid I was going to hear. No, the rep's not guaranteeing anything, I'm sure. lol. I already over-winter about six now. I guess I'll be planting a couple of pots! BTW Karl, will you be coming to the National convention? My garden's on tour and we've had every pest and pestilence possible this season(in spades). April brought a cold snap that killed some of my 14 yr. old Japanese maples, not to mention what it did to the roses. The Jb's were legion and now we're in the midst of a heatwave of almost a month of 95+ degree temps. I'm in a quandry of whether to spray for bs this round or not. My new bably leaves are getting crisped just from the incredible heat. Got any suggestions? ~Good gardening, ~bb

VJ, Here's what works for me. We are essentially growing roses under identical conditions. Get paper leaf bags at Home Depot or Lowe's. They come 5 bags to a bundle, 30 gallon capacity each bag, and a bundle of 5 is $2.12 at Lowe's here, cheap! Each bag is 36" tall and, when open is 18" in diameter. From each bag you can get 3 winteization collars. Measure down every 12", and cut across the bag. Just cut the bottom off of the bag. Each bundle makes 15 collars. Although the bags are paper, they are double thick and will easily last all winter. The 18" diameter of the collar can be a bit wide, so to make a less wide collar fold over the side. My average size hybrid tea collar is 12" high and 14" in diameter. To get this size fold over a collar 7" , crease it, and staple the folded part in several places. The staples will hold all winter long. The collar will now be 14" in diameter. That diameter is usually sufficient. Huge, mature hybrid teas that need winterization may need the original 18" unaltered collar size. Put the collars on your roses after a few light frosts. 17°F. or lower kills most hybrid tea canes. I usually winterize my roses in November, before Thanksgiving. Just watch your weather pattern every fall. Early frosts mean winterize sooner. Do not winterize too early, let the roses get some light frosts. The best winterization material I have found is fine pine bark mulch, but not too fine. Postage stamp sized to Wheat Thins or Cheez•Its sized pine bark mulch is the best size that I have found. Pine bark mulch does not get soggy. Soggy mulch is the kiss of death, and is worse than no mulch at all. Soggy mulch rots the canes. Soggy mulch to avoid: garden soil (especially clay type soil), hardwood mulch, sawdust, vemiculite, most leaves (even oak leaves), grass clippings, manure, compost, straw, i.e. anything that holds water when wet will induce cane rot. Try hard not to prune any canes at the season's end. Let them be, all the way to their tips. Gather the canes together and tie them with soft ripped rag strips if you cannot easily get a collar on a rose. Those tips are your roses' thermometers that report to the bush the weather conditions. Cut them off, and the bush can make premature dormancy breaks, much to the bush's detriment. Place your mulch into the collar slowly, wiggling the collar so the mulch settles in properly. Fill up to the top. You will use an amazing amount of pine bark mulch. This same winterization mulch will be your rose bed covering mulch next year. Next spring in mid-March just wiggle off the collars only. Leave the mulch in place. it will spill away a bit, but now looks like a beaver lodge. Over the next couple weeks, slowly, every few days, tease the mulch away from the crown of the rose. A little more every time. Watch the weather carefully. Spring frosts reported? Hold off removing more mulch for a while. Soon all the mulch will be spread evenly throughout the bed, dressing it up beautifully. When you get closer to the rose's center/crown, be careful removing the mulch so that you do not break emerging shoots. A gentle water spray will help move the mulch away easier when close in to the crown. You can prune your roses just after the forsythia and large daffodils have reached their peak of bloom. What to do if after the mulch is removed and there is a late spring, killing frost? Put 5 gallon buckets over the big roses, over night or as long as the temp. Is 32° F. or lower. Use 2 gallon buckets, or bottom cut out gallon bottles: milk, iced tea, distilled water, etc., over the smaller roses. Remove all those covers as soon as possible when the frost is over, especially if the sun is shining, or the new shoots can cook! Moses