the Clematis look amazing, and it seems someone clearly has priorities how to use the balcony space ...

my C viticella is producing buds at the moment, looking forward to it!! have a great start of summer

Yes, balconies are for growing flowers.

How beautiful!!!

Just lovely! I wish I could grow those perenials in pots here….😉

Sherry

Really impressive!

Sherry, you certainly can. For the first couple of years I used to bring the clematis and roses indoors and keep them in front of mostly east/north facing windows. Some of them even bloomed sporadically. Then I decided it was more efficient to leave them outdoors and then this year I lost 3 if the roses to freeze thaw cycle..Well, there are other plants that will take there place.

Linaria, aren't the viticella late flowering? My group three are just starting to leaf out. You must be in a warmer zone. In fact, because my balcony gets limited sun, most plants bloom later than they would in a sunny location in my zone. However, ai am not sure if having them in pots warms them up sooner than those in the ground.

Those clematis look outstanding! Just beautiful.

Thank you. The HF Young is in it's 6th season (from a big box store bag) so it needs to earn it's keep. It has good genes and gave a dozen bloom s it's very first year. I am waiting for it's adjacent honeysuckle (harlequin) to start opening those buds. It is it's second season and it is full of buds. It had only handful flowers last year but it appears to be on a good track. I got the Westerplatt from HD a couple of months back in a 3 quart pot for $14. It looks like a winner. I have a few other clematis that are real laggards but hey everything can't be perfect.

Update

The color is lighter, more like move than blue

Mauve*

I love it...it's just beautiful. However did you capture the deep blue color? I have been taking lots of pictures of a potted Rhapsody plant and potted Fujimusumi ...both are such gorgeous colors in person and both end up purplish in my camera. Do the bees find their way up to your balcony?

Erasmus, I refuse to spend time figuring out the high tech camera on my phone. I would say the real color is closer to the ones in the middle that are a bit shaded and have a touch of purple. The blue captured by the camera looks more like the artificially dyed orchids that have gained currency for some horrendous reason! I do get honey bees, bumble bees, an occasional hummer but right now it is mostly the yellow jacket s prowling around. I guess when my annuals start blooming, the bees will have more motivation. But

Just saw a hummingbird flit around and taste a bunch of flowers in a hurry and leave - calendula, dianthus, clematis, dipladenia. The hot pink dianthus appeared to be its favorite.

Wonderful balcony garden @getgoing100_7b_nj !

Your clematis in particular look amazing. So floriferous and healthy!

I noticed that nest-shaped coco fiber thing (on the left in your fourth pic). I'm not sure what those are called but I've seen them at my local garden center and I'm curious about them. How do you like them? Pros/cons?

Yes, the clematis are stars of the week! The coco fiber liners are meant to be used with metal frame hanging baskets or railing planters. They are pretty airy and good for plants susceptible to root rot. I used the one you see in the picture to transfer the fuschia from the plastic hanging basket it came in for the summer. Fuschia s succumb to summer heat, especially if they are in plastic. A terracotta pot or a coco liner keep the roots cooler via evaporation of water . My fuschia did survive the summer and I now have a few dozen fuchsias propagated via cutting s from the four plants in that basket. The coco liner potted plants would dry out quicker, so if it is hot or windy, it would need more watering. I also use fibers from the liner for potting up some of my Orchids that like to be evenly moist but not wet...

Stunning! How beautiful! Thank you for sharing with us!

:)

Dee

What a fabulous retreat you have created on your balcony. That gives me so good ideas. Thanks for sharing.

It's going to be 86 tomorrow and 93 the next day. I feel sorry for my poppies that are only starting to bloom sporadically, and the sweet peas that will have the first flowers tomorrow! Every year I resolve not to grow these cool weather annuals and then....

Meanwhile, poppies hunkering down in a shady corner know nothing about the upcoming heat, joined by a peony. :)

Dragonfly; first blooms on rose, nicotiana, osteospermum and strawflower.

Almost getting to peak show. There are still plenty of poppies, nicotiana, strawflowers yet to start blooming. Three clematis that I separated and repotted this spring are probably not going to bloom this year. One of them, a group three actually had all top growth wilt and die! The roots were still alive last I checked but it's not looking good for the Venosa Violacea... Still, it looks and smells really good right now.

Enjoying your spring to Summer balcony garden with you! Thank you for sharing! Wonderful pretty flowers.

Thank you. It brings me so much joy.

Fantastic balcony pics!

Wow, you have really made that space very beautiful and special. I was looking at that blue chair and thinking how nice to sit and see and smell all those amazing flowers! Well done!

Thanks! I call it my balcony cottage garden ☺️ considering how anything and everything grows without any color scheme or organization.

More color