Happy New year! and the best gardening for 2011!

One very interesting thing I discovered here in japan, is that seals are a very big thing. They are very used, mainly as signatures, but I have seen them applied in many other ways.

So, since I was trying to make an identity for my garden and the blog, of course I could not be left behind. I looked around but having them made was too expensive for me, so decided to make one myself. I browsed around some stores and they had a lot of do it yourself tools and material for making them. It was very easy and cheap enough.

My little garden in japan seals!

To make them I just printed the image and pasted to the seal rubber temporarily for reference, then I carved it with a little knife cutter. I did two of them with different designs that go together, that way I was able to have two colors on it. It takes some good alignment and to wash it every time is used, to keep the inks to stain each other. The result is a bit rough, but I like it. I already use it for the mint labels I gave away to my friends at tokyoDIYgardening.

What do you think?


Now on a different topic, how about another blog carnival for starting the year?
I think most of you are having a new year resolutions post. So I think it would be a good idea to put them together.

Just a post about what do you plan on doing at your garden this next year, maybe about one particular plant you want to have, a renovation you will do, a special patch you will grow, a new gardening technique you will give a try, or any other project you have prepared for this new year.

I think between 15 and 20 of the month will be great, what do you think? Please let me know on the comments.

Happy new year!

And so we reach the end of another year! I hope It has been a great year for everybody.

Keep posted, I have so much more planed for next year, many projects and ideas I want to try.

Happy New year, Wish you the best for 2011!

Bauhinia blakeana ~ The Hong Kong orchid tree (香港蘭)

I am back from my trip to Hong Kong! It was a really nice trip. I got to eat a lot of great food, tour around, see a lot of things and experience a different Christmas from what I know.

Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

On my wanderings around the city I was lucky enough to find one of the Orchid trees that are the landmark of the city. The Bauhinia blakeana (Chinese: 洋紫荊) is the floral emblem of Hong Kong. It appears in Hong Kong coins, the flag, the coat of arms and it even has a statue made in its honor.

Hong Kong orchid tree

Here is a little of what I found about the tree

The Bauhinia blakeana, or Hong Kong orchid tree (香港蘭), is an evergreen tree from the genus Bauhinia, It has large thick leaves and purplish red flowers. It is very fragrant, orchid-like flowers around 10-15 cm across, and blooms from early November to the end of March. It is sterile (does not produce seed), and is a hybrid between Bauhinia variegata and Bauhinia purpurea. The tree prefers a sheltered sunny position with good soil. Propagation is done by cuttings and air-layering.

Hong Kong Flag

The cultivation of this tree originated in Hong Kong in 1880, intensify in 1914 with some heavy planting around the city, and then spread world wide from there. It is said that all of the cultivated trees derive from one cultivated at the Hong Kong Botanic Gardens.

It is a very beautiful tree, no wonder why they choose it as their emblem. Any landmark/emblem plants from your cities?

Tulips Sprouting in winter!

We had a rainy and cold November here in Tokyo, but this December has been a bit more mild. This had some benefits for my little garden. For example, the seedlings are growing nicely, the strawberries got some strength and some of the flowers are forming new buttons for a winter bloom. But, the weather has caused one more surprise.

My tulips are sprouting early!

While I was watering the plants the other day, I noticed a little green head poking out of the ground . One of the tulips decided to sprout! Now, being a first time tulip grower, of course I got a bit worried. They were not supposed to come out until next year. So I went on-line and check what I could do. It seems that is not that of a big deal. It happens some times, the leafs might grow and if they are strong they can survive, or if it is too cold they will go brown. But, if everything goes ok, the bulbs will not be affected and will still grow one more time in spring and bloom nicely.

For now all I can do is cover the little green sprout and wish the cold will stop its growth. At least now I know that they did not got rotten, and they are growing down there. Patience is key, I just have to wait and hope for the best.

Also, the other day while going to the garden center I saw some very beautiful autumn tulips for sale there. I was tempted to get some, but I know I would not have the space. Maybe next year.

Autumn Tulips from japan

On a different topic. I will take a couple days for going on a short trip to Hong Kong. So I will not post any until late next week.

I hope you all have a very nice holiday. Merry Christmas!

Gardening in japan Tokyo-DIY-Gardening

Living in a far away country I have had to deal with the language barrier many times. I am still a beginner in Japanese and had much more to learn. Because of this many common activities, like going to the store or getting directions, can become a daunting task. So when I started growing my little garden in japan one of the aspects I had to consider was how to overcome all this cultural differences. I could see everywhere profs of how important and beautiful gardening is in here, they have astonishing gardens all around and a very inventive and special approach to the art of gardening. I definitely wanted to learn from them.

Spring sakura in a garden in Japan

Fortunately, gardening has become a bridge for me to reach out to the new culture. I have a lot of fun trying to communicate with people and asking them about this plant or this growing method. Some days the only time I get to speak Japanese is when I visit the garden center or a little gardening shop (not many nurseries in the middle of the city). Little by little, with very simple sentences, a lot of gestures and the occasional drawing I have gotten a small insight into Japanese gardening.

Beautiful autumn Japanese garden

However, doing things this way only allows me to see the tip of the iceberg. But, very luckily, and thanks to my blog, I have meet a lot of wonderful people here in Japan with whom there is not a language barrier problem. And also thanks to them I had gotten a much more in depth look into the Japanese gardening culture.

Two of them are Jared Braiterman and Chris Berthelsen. I had the pleasure of going with them recently for a fascinating walk around Omotesando danchi (an old neighborhood downtown Tokyo).

They have an amazing website called Tokyo-DIY-Gardening. There they have a very inspiring recompilation of stories, examples, instructions, photo essays, observations, interviews, articles and much more about urban gardening. All of it is done with a main focus in sharing and creation around low-cost, simple and easy to do ideas, mostly implemented around Tokyo.

Here is a small description of their project from them

Our Tokyo DIY Gardening project is about people having fun with nature in the city. Too many people think you need to be an expert to grow plants. We want to show that growing plants for food and decoration is easy, and that there are many ways to create space for gardens in even the densest and most crowded city. There's also something social and even magical about improving our always imperfect public spaces. 

They sometimes have activities, like a workshop at The Chiyoda arts center, where they mapped out some Tokyo and its green spaces from the personal experiences of the participants.

One more thing, on that last meeting I was lucky enough they accepted a couple of mints shoots I took from my main plants some time ago. It is great to be able to share part of my garden, It is great to see my little garden in japan growing much farther apart from the little balcony where is set. I am sure they will grow very nicely under their care.

Little mints from my garden

This has also gave me the inspiration to share much more of my little garden, I have a lot of extra seeds, plants and bulbs to give. Anyone wants some?

Coldframe V2.0

I had been wanting to upgrade my coldbag, because even it works really nice, the little seedlings could have even more advantages. In particular I wanted something that would let more sun to the little seedlings. 

The new seedlings are doing great

So I started scavenging for materials to use. I didn't wanted to build one out of wood and glass, because my goal was keeping the portability and cheapness of the cold bag. I considered using a cardboard box, but I knew that on the first rain, or with the water pouring out from the little started planter, I would end up with a cold frame soup in no time.

Then I remembered that here, at some grocery stores, they always leave all the plastic boxes from the food, all cleaned and ready for people who need them to pick them up. So, one day I went grocery shopping, I took a small look at their little recycle corner. There I found the perfect box. It was a deep, thick expanded polystyrene box, in perfect condition.

Building the new coldframe

The build was very simple.

1. I carved a small window on the cover of the box to leave only a frame. Being sure to leave a small edge


2. Cut apart a transparent plastic bag to have two sheets to use as "glass".


3. I taped one of the transparent sheets to the edge I had left and cover the hole in the frame.


4. Turn around the lid and tape the other sheet from the inside. This will make the window a sandwich of plastic, air and plastic.


5. Finally use little pieces of tape to cover any hole in the borders. The more airtight the better

I used two plastic sheets, one in each side of the cover. That way the insulation will be much better. The air in the middle will work as the insulator. The same way a double glass (double frame) windows work better than a single glass window. 

So far it has worked beautifully. The little seedlings growing there sprouted in no time, they have even reached the size of the ones in the coldbag already.

From back to front: Bekkana, Spinach, Komatsuna, Lettuce

The first to grow were the Bekana and the Komatsuna, then the spinach and finally the lettuce, coriander and the chives. I was surprised the chives and the lettuce sprouted, they are supposed the be past their season. They must really be very cozy and warm in there. I hope they all keep growing nicely, I will post more about how they develop later.

Now, the only setback is that the new coldframe has such a good insulation that every morning the inside screen appears all damped because of the condensation. I have to dry it a bit and clean it up so it will let the sunshine in.

I recommend anybody who wants to have a nice cheap planter at their homes to use old expanded polystyrene boxes. First, because is much better to reuse them than throw them to the garbage. Second because they are great planters. Expanded polystyrene is a great ecofriendly material, even though it certainly doesn’t look like it. It is a great insulator, and has an amazing endurance for such a light weight. It definitely won't mold and It will not degrade easily, so I can last lots of gardening seasons.

The first seedlings sprouted in 4 days

One more thing about polystyrene. It is highly recyclable, but it very hard to do it because it has to be sorted away from other materials, which is a very troublesome task. This causes a big problem because it is usually thrown with normal garbage and pollute instead of being recycled. So, if you can rescue some polystyrene from going to the dumpster, and give it some more years of use please do.

My little garden in japan December 2010

Hello everybody!
I am sorry for my little absence this past week. I suddenly got very busy with school and other things and I had to concentrate all my effort on it. It got me in the middle of the carnival, so I did not had a chance to finish seeing all the great favorite plants you input. The good news is that I am free now and I will get to see all the great post that joined. Thank you!


I am very happy! The carnival was a complete success. I did not expected more than 20 submissions , but we got almost 50. Thank you very much to everyone that participated and also to those who came for a visit to see all the great posts. I appreciate the effort, the time and the encouragement. It was great hosting and having everybody drop by here.

I think after this it would be great to have more, but first we have to come up with a new theme and date, preferably next year to have some time for the holidays and to freshen up. Maybe a new year gardening resolutions post carnival would be nice? What do you guys think, any ideas?

Thank you again, I have been enjoying blogging and meeting everybody. It has been really a blast.

My little garden in december

Ok, now for the status of my little garden lately.

• The cold frame V2.0 is working, The sprouts are big and healthy, they will need to be taken outside soon.


• There have been some really strong winds lately, so my flowers are a bit bald, but I am sure they will recover soon.

Winter cosmos is a bit fragile, and always get very hurt by the wind but it recovers quickly and nicely

• The strawberries seem to have caught some strength, because all of them are developing new leaves, even the one in quarantine.


• The globe amaranth started to dry, but it was to be expected of the annual, I am surprised it lasted so long. Other flowers are also starting to get to the end of their season, but I think they will still last a bit more.


• The geranium are still blooming, but they don't seem to have any new buttons, so I am guessing those are their last flowers for the season.

The beautiful last geranium flowers of the season

• The herbs are doing great too. They seem to be growing very nicely. Only the dill suffered a bit from the winds because it one of the tallest. It was swinging so hard that I thought it will get torn away, and I put it in. I think that save it and it didn't got any real damage.


• The grapevine, the maple and the blueberries started to drop the leafs, I think winter is finally coming.


• All the rest of the plants seem to be doing great.

The stock still has beautiful flowers

I have been a bit stingy on water for them because I don't want to have any powdery mildew like last year, but they seem to be happy even so.

How about you? how is your garden lately?

World garden, the best of your garden! My favorite plant now is nochebuena (poinsettia) and yours?

Time for the carnival. I hope we get a lot of nice plants to showcase.

My favorite plant now is nochebuena

First of all want to thank everybody! I started this blog just as a little journal of what my little garden has gone through, but I have gotten such a nice response and a warm welcome from fellow gardeners all around the world, that it have become much more.

I set some goals at the beginning, to be completed on three months. All to decide if I should continue, or if it was just a nice experiment. I hoped to have more than 1000 unique visitors, have one day with over 100 visits, pass the 10$ in advertisement (to cover what the domain costs ), and have 50 followers on Twitter.
I am very happy to say, thanks to you, pretty much all of the got accomplished. This blog is a bit past its three months, and so far we have 1,123 unique visitors, with the day with more visits being November 15 with 112 visits. We also reached the goal for advertisement, and are just two followers shy of 50.

My little garden in japan has grown so much because of your comments and your visits. It is quite an encouragement . I will keep up with this little project and I hope you will continue to follow my journey.
So, once again, thank you very much!

Here is my little attempt to give back to the online community. A little blog carnival so everybody get to know each other and show their beautiful gardens and plants.

Ok, here is my submission to the carnival. I hope is the first of many to come.

My little nochebuena

My favorite plant now is my nochebuena (poinsettia), which I got back when I got the rest of the flowers.

I really like this plant. First, because is native from Mexico, which makes me a little proud; second because it represent this winter holidays, which are one of my favorite seasons; third, and most important, because it makes me remember my garden in México. Back at home, my mom and I used to go get some nochebuenas every winter. They look beautiful at the entrance of our house. It was one of the little traditions of the holidays, one that I sure loved.

My nochebuenas back at home

We tried to keep some to last for next season, but they mostly burn down in the hot days of summer. They are meant to live in the colder weather of south Mexico. There is where they really thrive, I have seen trees of nochebuena (poinsettia) down there.

For my mom, our little tradition

Then, being here in a more tempered weather I had to get some. I also was fascinated by the many kinds of nochebuenas (poinsettias) they have here. They have some pink ones, some shaped like a tree, some mini ones, and some even are sprinkled with glitter.

Pink poinsettias are new to me

I don’t know if mine will last the season, but I certainly hope it does.

Now is your turn, which is your favorite plant?

I disabled the links temporarily to make room for the new carnival. Please wait while I upload the old links into a list.

For the blog carnival, please input a link to one of your posts on the little widget below. Just click the blue button that says add your link, add a comment if you like and let us see which one is your favorite plant.

Blueberries and autumn color in my garden

I got a bit busy this week so I will merge my Friday and Sunday posts into one today.

Ever since I started my garden, I have been wanting to get some type of berry bush, but because I didn't know much about them, and because I couldn't decide what type of berries I wanted, I didn't got any until now.

I chose blueberries after a nice trip to a ブルーベリー食べ放題「たべほうだい」（all you can eat）farm this summer, where we got a nice basket of very delicious berries. Also because, after some research, I found out is easy enough to grow some blueberries in containers, if you get them the proper environment.

Delicious blueberries!

So, finally, I got two nice looking plants at the garden center sale where I got the flowers for blooming day. I already set them to be on their own pot and hopefully they will grow well next year and start giving some berries soon. I will write about what I learned on how to take care of blueberries later, so keep posted.

My new blueberry plants

Along with the blueberries, one more thing also come to my little garden in japan. Some nice autumn colors.

All this past months I have been seeing a lot of very beautiful autumn photos from gardens around the world. They show amazing shades of yellows, reds, silvers, browns and more. I must admit, every time I saw so many beautiful images and plants, I felt a bit left out. Because my little container garden in a balcony doesn’t really have much foliage, and very few of my plants show much changes for autumn, I wasn’t expecting to have much colors for this season. Even my little maple was in bad shape after this summer vacation drought, so I didn't thought it would have much either.

The blueberry had a nice tone of red for autumn

Luckily, with the coming of the blueberries, I got a small hint of red. Some of the lower leaves were already changing, which I thought they look very nice and I even comment on it to the plant (yes, I do speak to the plants some times, I got it from my grandmother, call me crazy but I think it works). That little comment must have hit the pride of the other plants, because that same week some of the leaves of the maple started to change, the same for the grape, which started to get a nice hint of yellow. Just like that autumn had finally arrived to my little balcony garden in japan; Is always so nice when you get a nice surprise from your garden.

My grape got a nice hint of yellow

My little japanese maple, a bit roughed up,
but changing to beautiful colors

Now talking about the blog carnival. Remember it starts the 30th of this month. All you have to do to participate is make a post about your favorite flower, vegetable, bush, tree, cactus, shrub, herb, moss, algae, fern, fruit, root, creeper, climber, grass, weed, bulb or any other plant you love (or more than one if you prefer).

I will post a small widget here that will allow you to input a link to your blog or website. Send me a mail if you need more information. And have a great weekend!

More winter vegetables to sow

Last time I went to the garden center, during the big sale where I got the flowers for last blooming day, I couldn't help but to peek around the seeds section; They had so many that I would like to try and that are still on season.
So, since I had such an amazing success with my homemade coldbag, I decided to give some more vegetables a try.

New winter veggies

I picked two new green vegetables to sow:

• Spinach Great vegetable for winter here. Rich in vitamins and minerals. I think It will be a great addition to my veggies. They must be sowed on autumn and continue to grow until early spring. It is funny, I didn't know spinach seeds were so colorful.

Colorful Spinach and Bekana seeds

• Bekana The Japanese version of the Small Chinese Cabbage. It is Yellowish-green with frilled leaves and white flat petioles. Great for stir-fry or soup. It grows all year round, really fast and very easily. Also, because its small size, it will be simple to grow it in my little balcony. The seeds are very similar to the Komatsuna

I will sow them inside a new coldframe I am working on. I hope they will be as successful as the last seedlings batch.

Stay tunned for the coldframe V2.0

Also, the blog carnival is decided! It will be the 30th of this month.

Be ready to post your favorite flower, vegetable, bush, tree, cactus, shrub, herb, moss, algae, fern, fruit, root, creeper, climber, grass, weed, bulb or any other plant you love (or more than one if you prefer).

Show us the best of your garden, meet fellow gardening bloggers and get some inspiration!

Strawberries in my little garden in japan

If you visit this blog regularly, your probably know strawberries are one of my favorite plants to have, but also one of the most tricky to raise for me.

One of the strawberry pots in my little garden in japan

After some problems with beetles and little setbacks earlier this year, I found myself replacing my strawberry plants. Luckily it all finally seems to be going ok now. The only thing is that, I ended up with so many strawberries that I don't even know what to do with them (not that I complain).

Here are the strawberries varieties I currently have on my little garden in Japan. I found the information about them in the charts at garden center and also doing a little extra reseach.

女峰 （にょほう）Nyohou
From the first replacement batch, and currently on quarantine because the others on that batch got diseased. It got a bit down for some time, but it seems like it will make it. I will get a new shoot out of it and raise that one as the main just to be sure. It is already growing new leafs, so I think it will be ok. This is the same type as my old strawberries; I didn't realize this until after I had bought it. They have a good balance between sweet and acid and they give a big yield with a nice shape and color.

びっくりイチゴ Bikkuriichigo, 宝交早生 Houkouwase
and ひがり小町 Hikarikochou strawberry

宝交早生　(ほうこうわせ) Houkouwase
One of the most hardy of the bunch. It has a soft texture, with a bit of acid taste. It is supposed to be very easy to grow, so I hope it will thrive nicely. It also has the characteristic that it starts giving fruit early and its season last a bit longer.

びっくりイチゴ　Bikkuriichigo
The name translates something like "surprising strawberry". The main characteristic of this one is its size but it is also very sweet. It can grow as big as 7 cm. I got it because it will be fun to see how big it gets, doesn't matter if I don’t get many.

アイベリー　Love berry
I have tree of this kind. One is a little shoot I rescued from the first batch that got diseased; The others are from the second batch. They came in the same little pot, but I separated them to give them a better chance. It is one of the bests in terms of flavor. Very sweet, good size, nice aroma and a very rich texture. I will treat this one as my main crop. I hope it grows well in my garden.

My three アイベリー Love berry strawberry

章姫　(あきひめ）　Akihime
Like the love berry, this one also have very nice flavor and size, but it has a different texture. While the love berry has a firm flesh, this one is more on the soft side.

ひがり小町　（ひがりこちょう）　Hikarikochou
A well balanced strawberry, nice shape and color with a lot of sweetness and a strong flavor. It is also very hardy and disease resistant. Because it is one of the most resistant and balanced, this will be my wild card in case something happens.


Also, asking a strawberry guru from the garden center, I found out something about my old ever bearing. Turns out that it was not really one, it was just a lucky struck. Some of the strawberry varieties here in japan (like Akihime, Kunouwase, Nyohou and others from the same family line), sometimes develop ever bearing characteristics. It happens on one or two plants of each fifty or so. What happens is that they just start giving fruit whenever they feel like it, regardless of the season.

They must have some ever bearing genes that kick in now and then, but it is not something planned, is pure luck. I find it to be a very funny trait. I will double cross my fingers and toes so I get lucky again or at least try and get a hold of one of those if I see one ever for sale.

女峰 Nyohou Strawberries from my July harvest

On a different topic. I got some great response about the blog carnival. Based on your comments it will be about a favorite or special plant in your garden. I am not sure if I want to try to make the carnival post a monthly thing, I know for sure I would get tangled with the dates or I might get busy with school. But, I do want to have it now and then. This way more of your favorites will be able to showcase. Because ,like Green Lane Allotments said in the last post's comments, picking only one, it's like asking a parent to choose only one favorite child!

Maybe having one per season, or every couple of months will be ok. That way you get to show your beautiful maple or ginko in November, tulips in April, strawberries in June, etc., etc.

For this first one, because we are starting and also because it is a bit of the down season in gardening, lets make it about any favorite you have. It can be either your favorite for that month or any other month, other year, other life, you pick. Just choose one that you really like.

Now for the date, should it be Sunday 28 or Tuesday 30? Please let me know in the comments.

Happy gardening!

Using banana peels as fertilizer for container plants

To ensure all the flowers in my garden will continue to bloom nicely I decided to add a little of fertilizer. But, because I did not wanted to spend much money on specialized fertilizer and also because I prefer to use more natural methods, I choose to go cheap and simple with some good home made plant food. Lucky for me I always enjoy having banana milkshake so I have a lot of banana peels available, great for what I need.

One banana shake fertilizer order coming up!

Many gardeners know the great benefits of using banana peels in the garden as a fertilizer. They are great for helping roses (I used it successfully with my little yellow rose before) and many other plants get more flowers. Bananas are rich in phosphorus and potassium, both of them important macro-nutrients for the plants. Potassium in particular is the responsible for the new formation of flower buds.

The most common method of using them is just cutting them in chunks and burying them around the fresh soil for the plants. However, for us container gardeners, it gets a bit more tricky. We cannot just stuck some peels in our containers because, in such a little space, there is the risk that the decomposition process of the peel would damage the roots of the plants.

Mix the blended peels and eggshell with soil and let it rest

So here is my little trick, since I am already having a banana milkshake, I also make a shake for the plants. All you need to do is toss the leftover peels into the blender, add a little of water ( I sometimes use the left over water from washing rice, it helps even more), and if you want to give it an extra punch, throw in a couple of leftover eggshells. Blend until smooth. When it is done you will end with a not so good looking shake, but the plants will love it. To help the plants assimilate it even better, you can mix it with some soil and let it rest a week.

After a week you get some nice potasium rich soil

I would recommend to be careful with the recipe. Remember, it is fertilizer. Judge well how much to feed to each plant. I did this wrong by mistake last time and I ended up having too many flowers on my peppers, so many that they only gave one single pepper for the whole season.

On I different topic, I have been having such a good response on the blog lately that I want to give something back. I am planning on organizing a blog carnival for the end of the month. Blog carnivals are great, they help beginner or unknown bloggers get discovered, and also help more established blogs get new ideas and inspiration.

I haven't decided on the topic though. It is between, posts showcasing the favorite plant of your garden in that month, or a roundabout of how everything is going on in your garden, sort of like my little monthly update.

Which one would you like to participate in? Any other topic you prefer?

Please let me know what do you think in the comments.

Have a great weekend!

My red rose

Before continuing on introducing what I got from garden center on last weekend sale, I want to show you another plant I got a bit before. It is my new red rose that I mentioned I got back on the little garden in japan monthly update early this month. 

My red rose all set and ready for next year

As you know I was looking for a red rose because, even though they have been overused for romantic purposes so much that they become bit cliché and corny, I really like them as such. I believe they got to that point because they truly are fitted perfectly for that; They are beautiful and yet a bit dangerous because of the thorns, the petals are very sexy with their silk smooth texture, they make great cutting flowers, and so many other reasons.

Of course for me, a bit of a hopeless romantic, the red rose represents all of this the best, it is a classic that are have stood the test of time and remained as elegant as always. So when I was buying it, I look for the most perfect and vibrant red I could find.

But, I faced a small setback, all the roses at sale were not blooming. They are were stubs meant to be planted and kept dormant for the winter. I had no idea of the real color of the rose would be and it was specially hard to choose, since they were more than twenty kinds of red roses at display.

They did all had photos and a lot of information, like they usually do, but I wanted to be completely sure, I did not wanted to end up buying a pinkish red, or one too purple (which are also beautiful, but not what I wished for). The red I was looking for was a mix between a crimson red, a very sensual set of lips and a true red poppy.

I hope my rose turns out a very nice red

I don’t know much about rose varieties or types, but with a little help from the Internet I decided on a papa meilland rose. Hopefully it will turn out how I imagined it. Now, I got a nice planter for it, and had it all set up. It seems to be doing great. I will continue to cultivate it and hopefully I will have beautiful blooms to give to the girl of my dreams someday.

More flowers for blooming day!

This weekend there was a big sale at the garden center and I could not resist at all. I end up buying a second rack and planter to have even more flowers on my little balcony garden. I also got a bunch of other things, but I will introduce those later.

I set the flowers on their planter today, I hope they continue to grow and bloom even though the weather is getting a bit cold.

When I finished setting them up,
I got a nice sunset for reward

Here is a little list of the flowers I got, and also my other flowers for blooming day.

The new flower pot

I got a bit more of the same, but also some new ones.

• Stock I found another color that I really like


• Lemon marigold There was also a chocolate marigold that really smelled like chocolate, but this one is from mexico so it won my heart

The marigold has a very nice minty lemony scent

• Pansy Some more, to have flowers all winter


• Nadeshiko(fringed Pink) The season is almost over, but i really like the color


• Alyssum Can't get enough of the scent

I really like this color of alyssum,
hope I can get some seeds from it

• Blue ballon scabiosa Very puffy, and with a very nice color too.

As for my other flowers, my geranium is still blooming nicely and I have new flowers from the red geranium

I hope this one will continue blooming in December

New flowers from the red geranium

The globe amaranth, one of my favorite flowers, is also blooming. Although they are starting to dry now, I will try to get some seeds from it for next season.

Globe amaranth is definitely one of my favorites

The other flower pot is still nice. It suffered a bit from some wind last week but still have plenty of color.

The pansies keep growing too

The winter cosmos got a bit bald from the wind but a lot of new buttons are comming

Happy blooming day!

Here are the two flower pots together