No Winter Vegetables, but More Flowers...

So, this afternoon's trip to the local garden centre didn't 'bear fruit', so to speak. With no winter seeds in stock and October only two weeks away, I've had to turn to the Internet for a selection of winter seeds – more to follow on this at a later date.

The trip wasn't a complete waste of time however, as I returned laden with some more bedding plants to replace withering window boxes. The main focus of the London Vegetable Garden's central window box is the rather splendid 'Celosia Caracas', more commonly known as Coxcomb or Prince of Wales' Feathers:


Surrounding this fine floral specimen, I have planted some Sweet William plants (Dianthus Barbatus). Hopefully these will bloom nicely over the coming weeks and add a vibrant display of colour to the London Vegetable Garden balcony.

As for the flowers I planted a few weeks ago, the chrysanthemums are starting to swell nicely and the bedding pansies are starting to grow bigger, although show no signs of blooming just yet. The plants that my girlfriend's father sent down in August have also taken on their own lease of life, with beautiful flowers starting to blossom – if anyone can identify what type of flower / plant this is, I'd be most grateful!

Autumn Colour...

Last autumn / winter, I planted some pansies in window boxes and pots which lasted through the bleak mid-winter months and added some much appreciated colour to the London Vegetable Garden balcony. Now that we've entered September, I've spent some time gearing up the botanical side of the London Vegetable Garden for the coming months.

I managed to track down some cheap bedding plants which included mixed pansies and chrysanthemums (Regal Cheryl). As you can see from the picture below, they are in their infant stages at the moment, but hopefully once they've grown, they'll add a splendid range of colour to the London Vegetable Garden balcony.


These beautiful plants have a higher spread and height than pansies, so I have made these the focal point, planting in the centre and rear of the pots, with pansies dotted around in between and at the front. Hopefully, these will grow nicely together!


The balcony also has a wooden table on which I have moved the tall plants to the back, with trailing ivy at the front. This acts as a natural green 'curtain' to cover up my gardening tools, compost etc. which are located under the table! In front of this we have a vintage plant stand with pots growing in and then the chrysanthemum / pansy pots at the front. I'm hoping that when these plants flower, the whole effect will look like a staggered wall sloping down from the back to the front.


More to follow...

The Root of the Matter...

I'm not sure whether this thread bears any interest to followers of the London Vegetable Garden, but for the budding botanists amongst you, here is an update on the spider plant!

The other week, I took clippings from an overgrowing spider plant and while I potted the majority of these cuttings in soil, I left one in a glass of water to see whether it would grow. Well, it's been perfectly happy over the last two weeks and it's been interesting watching it grow some new roots, displayed here:

I plan to keep this plant in the water purely to see how long it keeps growing like this. Watch this space!

Bloomin' Marvellous...

Two urban gardeners. Two Cobra Lily bulbs. One London Lily-Off Championship 2009. You know the score – it's Grumblegarden's Charles verus myself. Here's the latest snap of my Cobra Lily, that looks set to flower despite being only six inches in height! Is the London Vegetable Garden set to win the world's first official 'Lily-Off'? Can Charles come back with anything more impressive than my botanical beauty? Stay tuned folks!

Flowers and Foliage...

The London Vegetable Garden is split firmly into two camps; vegetables and flowers! Whilst my enthusiasm for container vegetable growing threatens to overrun the poor balcony, my girlfriend ensures that we have a botanical balance in force!

Throughout the year we choose a variety of cheap bedding plants for window boxes that generally last anywhere up to three months. These hardy flowers would last longer in the ground, however in containers they quickly grow too big for their environment. Take a look at the before and after pictures – taken two months apart:


Another feature of the London Vegetable Garden's flower display is an array of plants in containers. My girlfriend's father very kindly sent down some new plants from his beautiful garden this weekend. As gardening author Bob Purnell states, one of the benefits of container gardening is your ability to move and re-arrange plants to create a stunning display – this is certainly a huge advantage when pottering about on such a small space.


The London Vegetable Garden project may be about the vegetables, but I'm certainly grateful for my girlfriend's insistence on a certain quota of flowers; it certainly makes the balcony an attractive and a colourful place to work on! The versatility of plants and flowers in pots in containers is incredible – and allows urban gardeners the chance to build some impressive displays.

Blooming Asiatic Lilies...

Whilst growing vegetables on the balcony is the primary focus of the London Vegetable Garden, regular readers of this blog will also know that I have various flowers on one side of the balcony. In an attempt to appease my girlfriend, who has noted that our little balcony is being overrun with tomatoes, runner beans and pots of soil, I have made a concerted effort to ensure that my gardening includes botany, as well as horticulture!

A little while ago, I added some Asiatic Lilies to a pot of bedding flowers and their surge in growth has been huge. They were planted as bulbs that had already grown to plants about six inches high. Since then, they have grown to well over a foot in length and have had to be supported by some small canes. Their expanding heads have been threatening to bloom for about a week now and it was this morning that I was met by this beautiful sight:


There's still about twelve more heads waiting to bloom, so I'm hoping for a continuous array of lilies over the next two weeks or so.

Awash with Colour

Just thought I'd add a quick blog entry showing how the petunias are faring - half of the London Vegetable Garden is currently awash with colour thanks to these bedding plants. I highly recommend keeping your eyes open in supermarkets or garden centres for some bedding petunias. In the space of a few weeks they've grown spectacularly and make a real impact to any balcony or garden. You could even pot them on a windowsill.

No Vegetables Today, Just Flowers...

There's an age-old adage that there are two sides to every story. There's a lesser well-known adage (but one that's equally relevant) that there are two sides to every balcony and this doesn't exclude the London Vegetable Garden!

Whilst I'm promoting the use of any urban space (however small) to grow vegetables and raise awareness of becoming a bit more self-sufficient (why should we give Tesco all our money?), the truth is that container gardening extends beyond bags of beans and pots of peas.

The photos in this entry show the other side of the London Vegetable Garden. Whereas the much publicised half contains pots of compost, seedlings, canes and grow bags, its twin represents my more botanical inclinations.

The modest display you can see in the photos represents a continuing project that's lasted over a year. Whilst the main bush-like plants and ivy have been a constant on my balcony, I've had the pleasure of adding and changing seasonal plants and flowers over several months.

Over winter, we had some beautiful pansies that lasted right through until a few months ago, which have now been replaced by some vivid petunias. As Bob Purnell explains in his superb book 'Crops in Pots', one of the most attractive features of container gardening is the ease in which you can move plants around to create varied displays that make a real impact in your garden (or on your balcony).

For balconies, one of the easiest and most space-effective ways to get started is to purchase a few window boxes. They make an immediate impact without taking up any ground space. On the London Vegetable Garden, we have one in the middle that's full of floor-length ivy now, turning a concrete balcony into more of a living garden.

For more ideas on container flowers and bedding plants that are easy to use, visit your local garden centre or check out the BBC Gardening website.