May is the perfect time to plant our annual summer flowers. We all have our perennial flowers and bulbs in our gardens, but we all want as many flowers as possible in our yards, and annual balcony flowers are a perfect addition to our gardens. There are many flowering varieties to choose from, but they all have something in common, they are covered in colorful flowers which will brighten our summers.

The past couple of years my summer display was pretty much the same and it contained mostly Surfinias, but last year I’ve noticed that during a very hot summer they don’t work well in my garden. My balcony is on the southwest side and it is covered in sun from noon till evening. Of course, this means that the plants are exposed to the burning sun the whole day, and surfinias, although they like the sun, can’t cope well with those conditions. The result of this was that my Surfinias mostly dried up during the first month of summer, and by the end of July I had almost no plants on the balcony.

This is why, this year, I decided to try something different. Although I’m not a huge fan of Geraniums, I decided to try them after all. So I went and ordered 12 new “Tirol” geraniums. The Tirol variety is a hanging variety with huge amounts of simple one-colored flowers. I went with red ones this year. I’ve also ordered 3 plants of scented Pelargonium, Baccara mini surfinias, and Indian mint.

The plan was to fill the hanging containers with Geraniums and Indian mint, and the smaller upright plants will be in the containers next to the front door. The hanging plants on the stairs would just get in the way while we climb to the house, so last year I started planting different plants near the entrance. Since I bought enough plants I also made a couple of hanging baskets for the new terrace, and planted a couple of plants in the front yard containers, just to tie the balcony with the rest of the yard.

The plant came in the delivery, but unfortunately, the branch was broken off. I know this wasn’t the nursery’s fault, since all the plants were wrapped really well, so I didn’t bother with ordering another or complaining. Wisteria is like a weed, and I’m sure it will grow a new branch, especially since there are small buds on the plant already. Maybe it will not grow as fast as the bigger branch would, but I’m sure it will fill up the garage very soon.

I will try and save some of the Geraniums and Indian mint for next year, although I’m not sure how successful I’ll be at it. I don’t have a greenhouse, so I don’t have a light, cold room to keep my plants in. I’ll try to save them in the basement, and I’ll also try to take cuttings, and grow new plants in the house. Who knows, maybe I’ll have some success and instead of 20 plants, next year I’ll have to buy only a part of them.