If there is no summer then at least my balcony can look like it

Today’s weather was rather ok to be honest. No rain and even some sunny parts. I helped a friend moving house and it got quite warm. So having been busy in the morning already this afternoon I decided to take the chance of a complete rainfree day to finally get my balcony back in shape: the last radish plants had outgrown their pots. Some of the spring flowers where ready to be thrown out and I had a bunch of petunias waiting to be planted.

Preparing the balcony for spring

As the weather forecast said that spring was on its way now and just opposite of IKEA is a great garden center, I just couldn’t stop myself from doing a bit of a shopping spree there. I got some primroses and hyacinths and lots of soil so in addition to the two heavy packages with the dresser I also carried 135l of soil into our appartment on saturday. Yes, I could have waited for Michael to do that on sunday but I was just too impatient and did it myself. Now this is a way to do some sports without going to the gym…

Winter on my balcony: finally cleaning up

Today I did something I should have done months ago: I cleaned up my balcony (not planting though, it is just too early in the year to opt for spring flowers outside yet). As it tends to happen with unused spaces we were starting to pile empty bottles on it every now and then. What ever needed to go out of sight for a while, was not  sensitive to rain and found no other space in the flat which is with 65sqm not really that big, was stored at the balcony. And all the flowers were just not looked after. Many autumn plants had died already in the short cold period when we had snow in early December. Others like the chrysanthemums liked the unlikely warm weather (today we are at 9°C) and started blooming again.

My balcony has the autumn looks now

Since one week autumn is really here. We had rain and down to 10°C and I’ve been wearing my new winter (or at least autumn, I haven’t decided yet if it is thick enough for winter) coat. So I thought, I could give my balcony a autumn make over too as long as it is a bit sunny.

At the balcony

We have a saying in Germany that goes like this: “Warum in die Ferne schweifen, wenn das Gute liegt so nah.” And this is exactly how I feel today: why looking for things far away when the good stuff is so close.

After some preparations last weekend this Saturday welcomed me with some excellent spring weather: sun, 18-20 degrees. Just exactly the right weather to bring some spring to my balcony too.

I had bought some flowers already last week and when I went shopping this morning I bought some more. And after a hearty breakfast I went outside, just wearing pants and a t-shirt (what a great feeling to be with bare arms and feet again), and started planting. Unfortunately some stuff on my balcony didn’t make it through the winter but now it looks quite planty again and honestly, there’s nothing better than having a cigarette, sitting on my garden box, looking at my balcony (ok, not smoking would be healthier, but hey, stopping to smoke is on my list for next year…).

So, where ever you are, I hope the weather is nice too this weekend and you just enjoy the time where you are!