floradania 35/2013

Article: The late summer view from the balcony

A balcony expands your home by several square metres, and creates space for relaxation and contemplation. The balcony is a unique oasis in the middle of the bustling city, where you can get plenty of fresh air and create your very own little green oasis 

Urban Gardening
Urban gardens and small green oases are shooting up these days in the urban landscape, giving the city a completely different lush, green look. And if you look up, you can also see a whole lot of greenery in the vertical direction, because the balcony has never been more in focus as an extra recreational space for the home. 

A pot garden in the city
If you have a balcony, this gives you the opportunity to enjoy the late summer with plant arrangements that can complement and enhance the balcony’s functionality. 

A spacious balcony with pots planted with various late summer flowers is of course always a delightful and beautiful feature, but who says that a pot garden should resemble the terrace? If there is room, of course, you can always imitate the pot garden, but a smaller, narrow balcony can also look decorative without taking up a lot of floor space. 

Peaceful blue oases 
If you live in a modern building, blue or white flowers can be a good choice to emphasise the simple style. You could for example plant blue asters with plants in the same colour range, such as Lavandula, Capsicum or Hebe, with their blue flowers. Place them in dark-coloured window boxes or pots, so that the overall expression is calm, stylish and aesthetic. 
You can supplement the black base with grey baskets to soften up the slightly minimalist look. Here you can easily use green plants or plants with a greyish expression, such as Sedum, Orostachys or Echeveria, which emphasise the overall look and give edge and character. 
Cyclamen outdoors 
Cyclamen is available in a variety of colours that can match any colour scheme. Many people mistakenly think that Cyclamen is only a houseplant, but actually it thrives extremely well outdoors, too, where it can keep on going right up until the first frost comes. 
Enjoy the view 
Greet the late summer from the balcony, and enjoy the view from the sheltered side. And if there should be a shower or the wind starts to blow, you can always move inside to the other side of the balcony door – the view is just as good!