From the category archives:

Herbs

Post image for Three Things You Should Know About Growing Lavender

The votes are in, and it looks like I’ll be growing tomatoes and lavender in my Smart Pot comparison test. Many thanks to everyone who voted. I’ll be planting the Smart Pots in the next week or so, but in the meantime I’ve been rereading The Bountiful Container chapters on each plant–it’s my go-to guide on growing anything edible in a pot. Lavender is pretty easy to grow, but I thought I’d share a few tips gleaned from The Bountiful Container. Next Thursday I’ll share what the authors have to say about growing tomatoes.

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Post image for Creating a Cocktail Garden on Your Balcony

I had planned a post for today about ironic animal statuary. Alas, that post will have to wait for another day. Yesterday I saw a great idea for a garden mentioned on Twitter, and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share it. @FromFarmToTable tweeted that she’s reinstating cocktail hour come spring and invited people to share what they’d plant in a “cocktail garden.” To me, a cocktail garden should be two fold: contain plants to be used in cocktails, and be pleasant to spend time in during cocktail drinking hours.

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Thumbnail image for Are You a Total Veg Head, Flowers-Only, Or Somewhere In Between?

Are You a Total Veg Head, Flowers-Only, Or Somewhere In Between?

January 21, 2010

I don’t know about you guys, but I have been giddily flipping through all of the seed catalogs I’ve received of late. It’s always hard for me to decide how many flowering and foliage plants to pot up versus how many vegetables, fruits and herbs. That’s part of the reason why I like edibles that [...]

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Carnival: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Edible Container Gardening

Thumbnail image for Carnival: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Edible Container Gardening January 18, 2010

I am so excited to publish the very first Life on the Balcony Blog Carnival! Thank a million times over to all of the people who participated. Without further ado, I give you a plethora of great posts on edible container gardening for your reading pleasure…

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Thumbnail image for 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning Your Container Garden This Year

10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning Your Container Garden This Year

January 15, 2010

This is the time of year when everyone goes crazy with seed and plant catalogs. Who can resist gorgeous photos of vegetables and flowers with equally tantalizing descriptions? It doesn’t help that the catalog deluge hits mid-winter when people are feeling a little cabin fever. But if you want to have a happy, healthy container [...]

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Thumbnail image for Keep Your Mind Out of the Gutter – But It’s OK to Garden in One

Keep Your Mind Out of the Gutter – But It’s OK to Garden in One

January 12, 2010

I’m excited to publish Life on the Balcony’s second guest post from Janet Luke. Janet is a Landscape Architect who has a Masters degree, with Honors, in Environmental and Resource Planning. She has a passion for sustainable design, edible landscaping and permaculture. Her website–Green Urban Living–is inspiring many urbanites to grow their own food, keep [...]

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Thumbnail image for How to Read a Seed Packet: What You Need to Know

How to Read a Seed Packet: What You Need to Know

January 10, 2010

Growing things from seed is incredibly rewarding and fascinating, not to mention fun. But there are a few things you need to know before you get started. And if you buy good quality seeds, you’ll find everything you need to know on the seed packet itself. But you still need to understand what the info [...]

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Thumbnail image for Hot Plants for Gardening Hipsters: Edibles

Hot Plants for Gardening Hipsters: Edibles

January 5, 2010

Yesterday, I trotted out some of the coolest up-and-coming ornamental plants for the gardening hipsters out there, and also for the rest of us that aren’t as cool, but still like beautiful plants that no one else has yet. Today, I have a few vegetables that will surely turn heads as people spy you tending [...]

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Thumbnail image for Join the Innaugural Life on the Balcony Container Gardening Blog Carnival!

Join the Innaugural Life on the Balcony Container Gardening Blog Carnival!

January 1, 2010

Have you ever heard of a blog carnival? It’s when one blogger requests that other bloggers publish posts on a certain topic and then the carnival host(ess) publishes a post on their blog with links to everyone’s submissions. For example, Keeper of the Home hosts a blog carnival about organic gardening. I thought I would [...]

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Thumbnail image for Basil Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Basil Mashed Potatoes Recipe

December 10, 2009

This is a Basil variety called ‘Pistou.’ It worked really well in my strawberry pot. The plant stays nice and compact, perfect for tight spaces.
If you have a really bright window, or you live in a mild climate like mine, basil can be grown almost year round. Though there are limits. December-February in Southern California [...]

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Thumbnail image for Grow Rose Scented Geraniums Inside This Winter

Grow Rose Scented Geraniums Inside This Winter

November 29, 2009

It’s not really possible to grow roses indoors. I had a client that insisted on having a white tree rose indoors and even with bright light from a south-facing window, the rose was always stretched out and weak. Even worse, it was impossible to control the aphids, who loved the warm indoor air and lack [...]

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Thumbnail image for A Couple of Things I Forgot to Mention

A Couple of Things I Forgot to Mention

November 20, 2009

I think I forgot to mention a couple of things that I think LOTB readers will be interested in. First, if you’ve held off on trying out the Soil Scoop for yourself, aHa Modern Living has provided a discount code (balcony) so that Life on the Balcony readers can receive 10% off. More details in [...]

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