Saturday 27 November 2010

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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My grape got a nice hint of yellow


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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!

40 comments:

  1. You surprise me everytime with so many type of plants growing in your balcony. I am going to have another think again about adding another addition of berries in our place next year after reading your post:). Looks like so much fun going to blueberry tabehoudai.

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  2. It looks like as your plants get larger you're going to have lots of fall colour! A great example of how just a few plants are needed to bring some colour into any season.

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  3. Amazing colours. Waiting for for more info about blueberry plants growing: I'm interested too...

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  4. Dear Fer, I very much like Blueberries and often combine them in a fruit salad with strawberries and raspberries....delicious.

    You do have an exciting collection of plants on your balcony, and the autumn colour is beautiful.

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  5. Blueberry is a good choice Fer. I have four plants now, of varieties that produce berries at different times, and I grow mine in pots too. One point to remember is they like acid soil (like that which you can buy especially for ericaceous plants)and it is best to water them with rain-water, not tap-water if you can (tap-water usually has lots of chemicals in it!). They can grow quite big (maybe 4 to 5 feet if allowed), so you may have to prune them heavily.

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  6. Fer, I am constantly amazed at what you have growing in your little patio garden. Blueberries are amazing but I am in awe of the grape vine.

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  7. Lovely! Here all the leaves have fallen now and it is beginning to freeze...

    I have never tried blueberries because I always assumed them to be difficult but oddly enough there are bunch of blueberry shrubs in a front yard up the street from my dormitory. They are doing very well, and I love their odd little flowers in the spring.

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  8. Thank you for your comments!
    I did got special soil for the blueberries, and also got some varieties that doesn't grow as much. I hope they will do ok.

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  9. You will be so lucky to have your own blueberries, but also that you can go pick them too. Keep them acidic and they should be happy in your pot. And a grape vine. They do get pretty big. Your little maple looks to be adjusting to its new surroundings.

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  10. I admire your garden :) So beautiful with full of beautiful colours at all seasons.

    Do you accept in another language for favorite plant?

    Previously I wrote about all secrets of horsechestnut in Turkish at here(http://dogakesif.blogspot.com/2010/11/at-kestanesi.html) and my this tree is my favorite :)Probably Google translator can help, not always perfect but gives general idea.

    On the other hand, I would like to ask some more information about Agave Americana, would you like to add something here? http://dogakesif.blogspot.com/2010/11/agave-americana-aloe-veraya-karsi.html

    All my best wishes goes to your little and beautiful garden!

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  11. I never thought of growing blueberries in containers. I can't wait to find out how yours do. Carolyn

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  12. never thought of planting blueberris in a garden. But, of course, we have them everywhere in the forest. Lovely berries you can use for many things beside eating them straight from the bush.

    Nice shots. And good luck, hope you get berries.

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  13. You have a vine?! I've had two vines in my garden for several years but I've just taken one out because it is too exuberant. However will you have space for a vine on a balcony?

    Esther

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  14. Hi Fer, I hope that your blueberries prosper on your in your little balcony garden. I love blueberry pancakes! Yum! I have concord grapes in my yard and they do well despite the fact that I neglect them. Yours are showing wonderful color. I will try to organize a post for your first blog carnival.

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  15. I love the photo of the blueberry leaves, glowing in the sunshine. Stunning!
    I think that a maple will be a perfect addition to your patio garden.

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  16. I love your collection of plants. You will be able to create any kind of menu imaginable.

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  17. You have so much plants growing in your balcony! I am surprised!

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  18. I got 2 types of berries at home too! I will post about them later..anyway I love the colour of your plants even though they are just on your balcony!

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  19. Thank you!
    I think they will grow nicely. I have look into caring for grapes and I found a nice way of keeping then in containers with some pruning. I will post that later on.

    Berceste~ you are always welcome to have your posts in other languages. I think the general idea we get from google would be ok.

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  20. Kudos for your blueberries and lovely site. Now a follower, hopefully I can keep up :)

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  21. I'll be interested to follow how your blueberries do. I've had mine in the garden, where they've limped along without acid soil. Now because of fencing work in the garden I've removed one plant to a pot. Still have to give it the acid soil it will want, but once we get rid of this current dump of snow I mean to tackle that. Meantime good luck with your balcony garden!

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  22. So glad you've got some Autumn colour of your own! Some of my best came from my blueberries this year, they really do deliver beauty as well as tasty fruit (though the birds tend to get a lot of mine...)

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  23. Our blueberry bushes were really striking a couple of weeks or so ago. A vibrant red!

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  24. Wow..very delicious blueberry. One of my favorite fruit! I never see the plant before..looks interesting. Hope you update when it's grown bigger later. Interesting post!

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  25. Blueberries are among my favorite plants for fall color. We have several wild blueberries here that turn marvelous shades of red. I'm glad that you are getting to enjoy some fall color too! The yellow grape vine is lovely.

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  26. I love the color of the maple leaf when it turns to these nice orange and red hues. Having blueberries at hand is wonderful and hopefully yours will be bearing fruit in no time.

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  27. Fer your little baby Japanese Maple looks beautiful even if it is a wee one !
    Blueberry bushes .. I love blueberries and I remember the smell of the wild bushes in Nova Scotia when I was a child .. it was awesome and the berries .. well no berry to this day can measure up to them ? LOL
    Yes .. I want to remember the carnival .. the trouble is trying to pick the plant out ? : )
    Joy
    Great pictures for this post !

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  28. I love the autumn colors and I really like your photos. Wish I had those bluberries. ;)

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  29. Beautiful photos as always! I love how you said you can't wait for your blueberry plants to start "giving some berries". What a lovely way to put it! So much better than producing or making which is so soulless. Thank you :)

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  30. Amazing to hear all you fit onto your little balcony. Blueberries sound yummy! I'm sure they will be doubly sweet when you grew them yourself!

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  31. Hello Fer. I am quite curious to see how your blue berries do. They are one of my favorite fruits and I'd love to grow them in the garden. Your autumn patio is pretty and certainly reflects the spirit of the season. cheers. ann

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  32. Hi fer ~ I enjoyed looking and reading about your green and blue seeds from yesterday, and now blueberries! Very colourful posts, along with the touch of autumn leaves. Good luck with your winter planning and planting :)

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  33. Fer, it is unbelievable what you have done in your balcony! Very impressive. Your balcony is a perfect example of an urban permaculture garden and should be an inspiration to all!

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  34. You made a good choice getting blueberries, and they give out some gorgeous autumn colour. Blueberries are quite expensive here so it's worthwhile growing them. I grow mine in containers too.

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  35. You have been very successful with your Autumn colours despite such a small growing space. I especially like the little maple leaves.

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  36. You have many plants growing in your balcony! It's wonder for me!

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  37. Hi Fernando
    Great to connect with another balcony gardener - found you through Joy at Canada Garden Joy. I've had success with blueberries on the balcony (http://www.balconygardener.ca/2010/07/am-i-blue/). We're under snow already, so I've brought my blueberry plant into the apartment. It had dropped all of its leaves, but is now setting new buds - fingers crossed is will survive the winter indoors and be ready to set new fruit next spring. Good luck with yours!
    Kim

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  38. i always want to have blueberry plant in my garden. But, because i live in Indonesia... I don't think blueberry can live here

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