Gardens and plants are an essential part of my life. It's possibly because I am a Virgo - an earth sign - and I need to be digging in the dirt from time to time.
There are many things in life that I could do without, but a garden of some sort is absolutely necessity for me. Having had my own garden and my own landscape design business it was rather difficult to move into a small apartment with only a tiny balcony. One of the first things I did was buy some pots and some plants to make my own little green space amidst the concrete jungle. I inherited a ficus benjamina that was on its way out and a sad looking aloe ferox - I guess you can’t expect too much else from a rental apartment. So what did I buy first, an azalea, and some ivy geraniums. Then came the jasmine and some herbs - rosemary, thyme, mint and lavender and a pot of lipstick pink impatiens. And then there was the orange striped gazanias that are totally amazing in the sun. I transplanted the ficus into a bigger pot and with its new lease on life it has sprouted many new leaves and is looking rather lush and healthy. I am slowly transforming the balcony into a little oasis. I encourage the little sparrows and doves (baby dove in the dish of crumbs - nickname "greedyguts") every morning by putting out crumbs for them and they also have their own splash "pool", and more recently I have even had butterflies visiting! Might not quite be the garden I had before but all great projects have to start someplace.
Well its almost 2 years now that we have been in the apartment, and the little garden is doing really well. Of course we have had a few fatalities - the azalea didn’t make it, there was too much wind. The Impatiens died due to a combination of root rot and cut worm. The jasmine has doubled in size and is doing well, I bought a bougainvillea for an extra splash of colour… the herbs are doing well and the geraniums never stop flowering....
