Porch Gardening

[Cat]

So, I lament my lack of land owner ship, so I can only "garden" on my porch....I have the usually surplu of tomato plants ("Mr Stripey" is my faveorite...its supposed to have stripes!) , some hot peppers, and a few flowers.

What does anyone else have on their porch? I was thing of getting more plants, flwoers or edile ones .


I'd love to get more house plants as well, but I do not trust the cats (I wouldn't get toxix ones, just...cats....and dirt......not good, though I have heard orange peels and coffee grinds can keep cats away)

[draggar]

Herbs - I'm sure basil will do well in the summertime in your neck of the woods.

Rosemary does well, too (it doesn't need a lot of water).

Scallions should do OK, too.

Cucumbers (if you have place for them to "crawl").

[AdminAssistant]

I don't have a porch. And none of my windows get a decent amount of sunlight - good for my electric bills, bad for growing things.

[taxguykarl]

Mostly herbs, especially chives and herb family members as they spread like you won't belive.

[Kiwi]

we have herb pots, I do one for each region planting the main herbs I need to make that regions dishes.

We have an italian pot with purple basil, lemon thyme and flat leaf parsley

greek pot with oregano, rosemary and tarragon

and I just planted a asian style pot with mint (thats potted seperatly within the bigger pot), sweet basil and garlic chives

when Im cooking a meal I just bring the pot onto the counter from the balcony

[protege]

Right now, there's a dying palm tree on my porch, along with several geraniums. Have to keep those outside...otherwise the kitties will eat them.

[spark]

I have the obligatory tomatoes. I'm also growing strawberries, which do well in containers. Peas, chard, summer squash, some herbs, beans, carrots, catnip, sorrel, irises, bananas (I got dwarf varieties and they still need a really big pot) and of course my carnivorous plants... Lots of stuff.

[RootedPhoenix]

I have about forty bajillion herbs on my balcony. I just keep watch on the cat.

[sms001]

I have to second the herbs suggestion. Adds a LOT to almost anything you cook. We did let the critters overtake one as their own once growing season was done - seemed like a good compromise.

[lupo pazzesco]

I have a patio garden!

Let's see, at current count, there are 2 tomato plants, 1 bell pepper plant, cucumber plant, watermelon plant, canteloupe plant, zucchini plant, two strawberrie plants, two aloe plants and 4 herbs: basil, dill, chives, and parsley.

Not much in the way of flowers. Just a gardenia plant that I THOUGHT was squished, flattened and killed by Hurricane Ike, but it bloomed earlier!! See attachments.

nothing like fresh basil with homegrown tomatoes and a little mozzarella cheese. (The real stuff, from a specialty market. YUM!) drizzle some olive oil and balsalmic over it, and nice, refreshing dish.

I'm a bit worried. My plants aren't doing so well this time around. I mean they're growing, but they're not fruiting, which they usually are this time of year. My cherry tomato plant is taking over EVERYTHING, and a lot of them are starting to wilt! I don't know what to do. HALP!

<Ahem> Methinks I'm spending some time on the patio with my green babies tonight once it cools down a bit.

[spark]

I have to second the herbs suggestion. Adds a LOT to almost anything you cook. We did let the critters overtake one as their own once growing season was done - seemed like a good compromise.

That is made of adorable! *squees at kitties*

[lupo pazzesco]

Kitty of cuteness!! <melts>

Hrm, now I'm tempted to go out and take more piccies of the garden area I've created on my patio...

Just finished watering and sweeping and weeding. Blasted grass seeds still get blown in, and lead to needing to week potted plants. Grr. Less weeds than an actual vegetable or flower bed though, so that's a bonus...

[spark]

I hate weeding. And even though my "garden" is all pots I have to do it a lot. Cottonwood season just ended, and the fluff got everywhere, and not little seedlings are trying to come up in everything. Argh.

[RootedPhoenix]

!!!!!! THAT'S what that fluff is!

Good stinkin grief IT WAS EVERYWHERE. Uggh.

[spark]

I didn't mind cottonwood fluff when I lived in the desert, it was just part of the natural order of things. And it was only a problem near water, up on the hill where we lived we didn't get too much and of course it won't root and sprout in dry ground.

But where I am now it gets everywhere and then it sticks to everything and then it starts sprouting, and augh! I think if I'd left them alone my outdoor carnivorous plants (which are on the small side and of course very slow-growing) would have completely drowned in cottonwood seedlings!