A View In To Your Brain – Top Searches on Life on the Balcony

You see that search box over there, near the top of the sidebar on the right? You all have used that little box to find information on Life on the Balcony 4,505 times. That’s a lot of searching! Here’s what you’ve been searching for, and posts that are a good match…

The top thing on your mind happens to be my favorite color of plants. 148 people have searched for Black Plants!

• Awesome Black Plants for High Impact Containers – I came up with these plants that are easy to grow in a container and feature black leaves or flowers. To be clear, “black” when it comes to plants usually means very dark purple or red, sometimes a very dark chocolate.
• Review of ‘Black Plants: 75 Striking Choices for the Garden’ by Paul Bonine – When I heard about Paul Bonine’s Black Plants: 75 Striking Choices for the Garden I was very excited. I love black plants.
• A Simple, Yet High Impact Container – I am so excited by this combo. Since I grew so many ‘Spitfire’ Nasturtiums for the GROW Project, I’ve decided to incorporate the fiery red-orange of the flowers into my overall scheme this year. I’m going to for black, red, and yellow balcony.

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The second thing on your mind is everyone’s favorite fruit/vegetable: Tomatoes. You all searched for them 93 times! Quite frankly, I think I failed you guys in the tomato department. I have written about them, but not nearly enough to quench your thirst for tomato knowledge, I’m afraid. I’ll do better next year!

• What Type of Tomatoes Do Well In a Container? – In my always humble opinion, I think you should look for three things in a tomato if you’re a beginning gardener looking to grow some red deliciousness on your balcony or patio
• Tomato Chutney Recipe – If you’re still swimming in tomatoes, you might really like this recipe. I made it last weekend and served it atop friend polenta rounds. It was delicious!

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Another popular topic seems to be Strawberries. 59 people searched for this delectable berry. I think this is another topic I’ve not fully covered, and will write more about in 2011.

• Create a Hanging Salad Bowl – How to create a hanging basket with everything growing in it that you need to make a strawberry and spinach salad.
• 5 Beginner Crops to Try, Even if You’re Not a Good Cook – A list focused on easy to grow fruits and vegetables that you can eat raw, so no cooking required!

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57 people searched for info on Balcony Privacy. Sorry that privacy is a problem, here are a few posts to help!

• 5 Plants That Will Help You Regain Your Privacy – Inconsiderate neighbors may use their balcony as a place to store their junk, or you may have a great view into the apartments in the next building over. Whatever the case, you may want to create a little privacy on your balcony, and I know of five plants that would do a great job helping you do that.
• How to Grow Your Own Privacy Screen – When planning on making a privacy screen on your balcony, you have four things to consider: The amount of light your balcony gets, the amount of headroom your balcony has, planter boxes, and the evergreen plants that will work in the first two situations.
• Creating Privacy on Your Balcony, Part One and Part Two – Who wants to look at the junk on their neighbor’s balcony? I certainly don’t. As I see it, you have two options: screen the eyesore out with a physical object or screen them out with plants.

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Lots of people love their Compost, as 31 of you searched for it. If any of you have experience with vermicomposting, shoot me an email. I’d love to feature a guest post on the topic.

• Composting on the Balcony – Some people believe composting is a messy, smelly job not suitable for balcony gardeners. In truth, it’s no messier than regular gardening and the smell is easily contained.
• Different Perspectives on Fertilizing – I recently Tweeted about fertilizing container gardens and asked for feedback about what other gardeners do. I received many different responses.

What are you searching for? Maybe I can help!

You Might Also Like:

1. How to Grow Your Own Privacy Screen
2. 5 Plants You Can Use to Add Privacy To Your Balcony
3. Do It Yourself Privacy Screen