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Properly selected, you can make every balcony homely with balcony plants. Many plants not only form beautiful flowers, but also offer privacy at the same time. The right location is important when choosing the balcony flowers, then the plants are easy to care for and even tolerate the blazing sun or a shady balcony. In this article we would like to introduce you to a few beautiful and robust types for the balcony.
balcony plants
location claims
If the flowers for the balcony planting are selected very carefully, you can save a lot of work later. Summer flowers such as geraniums, petunias or fuchsias are commercially available as balcony flowers. Its flowering period extends from May to the first frosts. The advantage of these popular balcony flowers: They are not only very easy to care for balcony plants, but they are also rich and permanently flowering.
In order for these flowers to be able to develop a blooming splendor that lasts for months, the right location is important. Is your balcony on the south side and gets sun all day? Or is it west, east, or north facing and in the shade for a few hours or most of the day? For every situation there are suitable plants that develop particularly well under these conditions.
south balcony
If the balcony is on the southern side of the house, the sun heats it up mercilessly in the midday hours. Without appropriate sun protection, most balcony flowers are at risk of sunburn or drought. Only robust specialists among sun worshipers can cope with the blazing sun without additional shade or special irrigation. If a sufficient water supply is ensured, for example with a water storage box, you can easily plant sun-seeking flowers in the balcony box, which then develop meter-long, flowering shoots and look like flower waterfalls from afar.
Geranium (Pelargonium)
Geraniums are the classic among the balcony flowers for the south-facing balcony. They also thrive in full sun in many different colors. There are standing and hanging variants that can be easily combined with each other. Varieties that are particularly easy to care for are the Bavarian or Tyrolean hanging geraniums, which form cascades of up to 1.5 meters in length with their bright flower balls. Their water requirements are not particularly high. Geraniums bloom tirelessly from May until the first severe frosts. If the autumn is still mild, it can happen that they bloom until late November.
Geraniums in the flower box
Hussar Button (Sanvitalis)
The hussar button only forms smaller yellow flowers, but there are countless of them. The bushy, sometimes hanging balcony plants tolerate a lot of sun. The thick, green stalks of the hussar's button grow strongly branched, so that a dense yellow carpet of flowers develops over the dark foliage. The robust and easy-care summer flower reaches a height of around 30 centimeters. There are countless varieties of the grateful traffic light, tub and balcony plants, so that a suitable variety can be found for every taste.
Hussar button, hussar button
Petunia (Petunia)
Anyone who has a very sunny balcony is well advised to use a petunia. The easy-care perpetual bloomer is a real sun worshiper. If you don't have a south-facing balcony, plant the beautiful flower in the semi-shade. Here it does not flower as richly as in the sun, but it still attracts everyone's attention. Both standing variants and hanging petunias are popular. Petunias can be recognized by their large bell or trumpet shaped flowers. The robust flower is available in almost every color on the market. In contrast to many other balcony plants, the petunia appreciates a slightly acidic soil (petunia soil or rhododendron soil).
Petunias (Petunia)
Magic bells (Calibrachoa)
The beautiful magic bell is in no way inferior to its big sister, the petunia. The Calibrachoa is a very easy-care balcony plant and also blooms richly. Balcony owners appreciate the fact that the lush splendor of the magic bell unfolds by itself, as if by magic, without the need for time-consuming cleaning. While petunias should be protected from rain and wind, the robust Calibrachoa proves to be one of the most resilient balcony plants in this respect.
Magic bells, Calibrachoa
Bidens (Bidens ferulifolia)
With the two-tooth, also called Goldmarie, you are guaranteed to bring the summer onto the balcony. The perennial bloomer shines with numerous yellow flowers in competition with the sun. The daisy family, originally from Mexico, has an extremely long flowering period. The first star-shaped flowers appear on the balcony plants with a diameter of around three centimeters as early as May. The robust flower tirelessly impresses with new blossoms until the first frosts in October. With its overhanging shoots, the Goldmarie comes into its own in balcony boxes as well as in hanging baskets or pots.
Bidens, Goldmarie, Bidens ferulifolia
African Daisies (Osteospermum)
Like many flowers that decorate our balconies and terraces, the Cape daisy, also known as Cape daisy, originally comes from Africa. Planted in a chic balcony box or pot, the elegant, easy-care flower soon transforms the balcony into a colorful sea of flowers. The robust, if not frost-resistant balcony flower blooms from the beginning of June to October in many bright colors: from pink and crimson, violet and white to yellow or even orange tones.
Cape Daisies, Osteospermum
Balcony in the semi-shade
Partially shaded and shaded balconies
The true sun worshipers among the balcony flowers also thrive well in partial shade, but the flowers are usually much less spectacular. For somewhat shady balconies on the east or north side of the house, we recommend balcony flowers that are specialized in these conditions.
Busy Lizzie (Impatiens walleriana)
Especially in shady locations, the hard-working Lieschen show what they can do. If you are looking for easy-care balcony plants for a west, east or north-facing balcony, the hard-working Lieschen is the right choice. The robust flower blooms from May until frost and its abundance of flowers increases more and more. The balcony flowers are among the few species that set colorful accents in the shade. Busy Lizzies are available with filled and unfilled flowers in the colors red, violet, white, rose, pink, orange. The plants develop an enormous luminosity - and always appear richly flowering.
Busy Lizzie
Fuchsia (Fuchsia)
The fuchsia is still one of the most popular flowering balcony plants for the north-facing balcony. Although the beautiful flower deserves a shady spot, fuchsias don't need to hide. Most of the many species come from the mountain forests of South and Central America and sometimes differ greatly in appearance. Today's cultivated forms bear beautiful, often multicolored flowers, each of which looks like a small work of art. The plants, which usually grow as smaller shrubs, make hardly any demands.
Fuchsia, fuchsia
Loyal to men (Lobelia erinus)
The easy-care male lobelia, also known as blue lobelia, provides beautiful splashes of blue color on a shady or semi-shady balcony. Often the flower with the distinctive small blossoms, which appear in hundreds on the filigree plant, leads a shadowy existence as a gap filler between other, higher-growing balcony flowers. The filigree flowering plant also comes into its own wonderfully. The commercially available variants usually reach growth heights of 15 to 30 cm. However, they hang slightly over the edge of the window box and cover the container with an almost infinite number of blue flowers throughout the summer.
Loyal to males, Lobelia erinus
Begonia (Begonia boliviensis)
With their fleshy leaves, begonias do not tolerate the direct midday sun, as otherwise their leaves and flowers would burn. A partially shaded, bright spot is therefore ideal. The care of the popular balcony plant is not difficult and is easy for beginners. Depending on the variety, the easy-care flower with small or large, double or single flowers shines permanently in almost all colors from mid-May to the end of the season in autumn.
Begonia geogoensis, Slate Leaf
snowflake flower (Sutera cordata)
The snowflake flower feels at home on a northern house wall. The distinctive hanging plant forms long shoots with dark green, delicate foliage. Small white flowers tirelessly appear on the balcony plant throughout the summer months. During the summer, the snowflake flower grows reliably up to one meter, even in a smaller balcony box, and is very easy to care for.
Snowflake Flower, Bacopa, Chaenostoma cordatum
climbing plants
Climbing plants as a privacy screen
Blooming balcony flowers can be combined in a variety of ways in a balcony box or bucket. Climbing plants are ideal for providing shade. Some low-maintenance species like to climb up trellises when planted in a large planter. They form a dense canopy of leaves that not only protects from prying eyes, but also from strong sunlight. In this way you can shade your balcony in a natural way and at the same time set beautiful accents.
- Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia alata)
- Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus)
- Climbing Petunia (Petunia Hybrids)
Suitable vessels
Almost every balcony can be beautified with plants. Impressive results can of course be achieved with colorful and permanently blooming balcony flowers. The classic balcony boxes, which are hung on the outside of the balcony railing with a bracket, are suitable as planters. They have the advantage that they do not take up space on small balconies. There are also pots and planters for balcony plants and hanging baskets. Shelves or other frames for plant pots are particularly space-saving. There a no limits to imagination.
- window boxes
- plant pots and tubs
- hanging baskets
- shelves and ladders
- other devices for attachment to the wall
Flower boxes with potting soil
When choosing the planter and the holder, make sure that it is stable. Pots and boxes filled with soil, flowers and water can be quite heavy and should therefore be robust and stable.
planting
In order to offer the balcony plants the best conditions for healthy and vigorous growth, it is very important to ensure a good supply of nutrients and water. Because these plants do not have a lot of space and therefore soil. Even easy-care and robust balcony flowers run the risk of drying out quickly in the heat, suffering from waterlogging in the rain or cold weather or not getting enough nutrients. To prevent these unfavorable conditions, you should consider the following tips.
- always first fill a layer of expanded clay into the vessel
- lay a layer of permeable fleece over it
- Fill in potting soil
- Water plants well before planting
- Remove and insert pot
- pay attention to the necessary planting distance
- Fill all around with potting soil
- Lightly press
- leave a centimeter space to the upper edge (pouring edge)
planting time
Since balcony plants are mostly species that come from African or South American countries with a warmer climate, they should be planted in mid-May after the ice saints at the earliest. Otherwise there is a risk that the frost-sensitive flowers will be damaged by the last cool temperatures in May.
substrate
In order to be able to offer the balcony plants optimal conditions, the right substrate must be chosen. Normal potting soil is sufficient for most plants, provided that it can store water well and drain it off well. A high humus content and some sand or other mineral components are therefore advantageous. Some plants prefer sandy or loamy soil, while others prefer to grow in loamy soil with compost. Petunias and magic bells prefer to thrive in a slightly acidic substrate. It is best to inquire before or at the latest when you buy which potting soil is suitable for the balcony flowers you want.
potting soil
maintenance
If you have decided on easy-care and robust balcony flowers, they require little care other than regular watering and occasional fertilization.
Fertilize
Irrespective of the composition of the substrate, it makes sense to add some long-term fertilizer when planting. Horn meal, horn shavings or mineral-organic long-term fertilizers are suitable for this. If the box is already very heavily rooted by the balcony plants towards the middle of the season, you should switch to liquid fertilizer for flowering plants, which is administered via the irrigation water.
balcony plants
pour
In principle, it is not a science to water balcony flowers correctly. Nevertheless, mistakes are often made here. Of course, the water requirement not only depends on the individual plants, but also on whether they are in the sun or in the shade, the precipitation and temperatures, the wind conditions and the degree of root penetration in the pots. To be absolutely sure, you should do a finger test. This way you can quickly find out whether it is time to water again. Except in extreme heat periods, the balcony plants are not watered several times a day, but only once. But enough for that.
- best early morning or late evening
- on the north side the morning is better
- Absolutely avoid waterlogging
- there are also different irrigation systems for balcony boxes
Never let the soil dry out completely. If the substrate is dust-dry, this naturally damages the plants. In this case, the substrate can only absorb new water with great difficulty.