Pictures of some blooms in my balcony today:

Orange Hibiscus

Fragrant Jasmine

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Worried about the state of those lovely Gerberas and Dahlias in your balcony garden? Are your plants turning yellow and brown in turns? Do they look lifeless? Water, repotted soil, ample sunlight, no pests  - a quick look at the checklist says everything’s taken care of.  So, what’s killing them? It’s easy to step over the fine line between caring for plants and overdoing it. As Stephanie Donaldson says, our kindness can prove fatal for houseplants. Over-watering or lack of water are the most common reasons for healthy houseplants dying with a couple of weeks after being brought from the nursery.

Look at the images below.

Drowning plant

If your plants look anything like this, then it is an indication of overwatering. Take a closer look at the leaves. Towards the bottom of the plant, close to its roots, the leaves have turned yellow, and the plant is bent outside.

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Before we get to the wooden collections from Jin Kuramoto Studio, let me tell you how I got there.  I have two identical terra cotta pots with an interesting shape waiting to be painted and planted. I got it on my trip to Mahabalipuram; so they’ve been sitting in my balcony for over a month. I can’t settle on a design/color for the pots, and am constantly looking for fresh ideas. While scouting for modern patterns, I discovered materialicious.  According to the folks who run the site, “materialicious™ (”shelter, materials and objects”) is a user-submitted visual curation site featuring modern architecture and design, craftsmanship, materials and products.” True to every word. You can’t get your eyes off the page once you start browsing, and before you realise you’ve spent enough time wasting looking at the stunners.

Now, materialicious is what led me to  Jin Kuramoto Studio. The wooden tea sets and mirrors in striking, contrasting, and complementary colors leaves a lasting impression. It’s easier to reproduce the same effect with planters. I need not delve further into the effect it would bring into one’s garden.  The traditional wooden tea sets in subdued earthen colors with simple stripes is unique too.

Striped planters

Consider growing a herb garden in the smaller ones by placing them on your kitchen windowsill.

For dark, bright colored planters

Black absorbs heat and can be harmful for the plants during the summer months. Go for a little lighter shade while retaining the effect.

White rules

When you’ve run out of ideas, a easy fallback option is a white planter. - you can never go wrong with this one. Give it a little texture, group a couple of them in different shapes in a corner, and you have a winner.

While we’re on the topic of painting planters, I feel compelled to share how discarded cups were transformed into eye-catching reusable pieces with a little design on them. And, if those designs happen to be characters from Alice in Wonderland, can one resist?

Alice in Wonderland ceramic cups

Images:

1.2.3. - Jin Kuramoto

4 - Dagens Design

A  huge cotton tree, ladies fingers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, chillies, potatoes, brinjals, carrots, cabbage, and beetroots - this was the backyard of our home when I was growing up.  The front section was relatively a colorful one in hues of bright reds, pinks, violets and oranges,  so much so that it was easy for the security guards to direct visitors to our place;  “the house with a large flower garden in the front” did it.  Marigolds, sunflower, dahlias, rajnigandhas, arali, and an assortment of flowers whose name I’m not sure of adorned the house.

My mother loved gardening. She spent hours and hours tending to the plants while my brother and I were at school. It came to such a point that my brother, all of three years, insisted on having only ladies finger for lunch and dinner every day. We moved cities and countries after three years in that small town, and never got to live in a individual house with a front and back yard. Years later, I found the same passion for plants in my father-in-law. He grew everything from palaks (the tastiest I’ve ever had) , mint, radish to cauliflower, potatoes and broccoli.  We rarely shopped for vegetables in the winter. Most of the produce from the garden was cooked.

That’s where my weakness for greens comes from. The limited 8*4 feet balcony space is no deterrent. Last summer, the pots mainly contained flowering plants. This summer, I’m repotting them with jasmines, and white and oragne hibiscus. I’m also adding some vegetables to the mix.

Certain vegetables thrive well even in pots. You can grow them in deep pots of 14″-18″ size or use planter boxes. It all depends on choosing the right vegetables - the ones whose roots don’t grow very deep. Get started with me if you want to grow your own vegetable garden.

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Pleasant in the mornings, hot in the afternoons, showers in the evenings and cool in the nights. That’s Bangalore weather for you. During late afternoons, it gets totally dark setting the scene for a heavy downpour. And, this is when I get busy giving into a latest obsession - hand painting terracotta planters. I’ve tried on different colors on a few planters we picked on our return from the Mahabalipuram trip. It’s an understatement to say I’m having fun painting them. It’s fun mixing the colors, wiping it away when I feel the colors are either too strong or too subdued, and start redoing it from scratch. The colors look stunning in the hot summer weather. And, I’m constantly searching the web for inspiration.

Some of my latest rustic creations:

The circles are stenciled on a terracotta planter white white as base. I haven’t primed the surface and the surface is not smooth (no sanding) as I wanted it that way for outdoors.

Puzzling circles planter

Here are a few I liked at Crate and Barrel. I’m in love with colors. I think the herb designs on white planters look neat. I’ve been toying with the idea of growing parsley once again. Every single time in the past has been a disaster. It so happens that rats are fond of the green leaves and once the plant starts growing, it attracts the pests. The floral patterns, though a tried-and-tested one, never fails to charm me. When you’ve run out of ideas, you can safely go back to this one  and still feel good about it.

Floral planters

As always, I’ve saved the best for the last. This set is from Anthropologie. The colors and designs look very Indian. They remind me of mehendi and designs one often sees on handicrafts. Bright colors, cool shapes and intricate eye-catching designs definitely make them stand out from the rest.

Anthropologie planters

The weather is changing; it was hovering over 39 degrees burning us alive with the heat just two days back and today it is all cloudy and chill. The drastic change in weather is a welcoming change to our moods but not so much for the plants.

Have you noticed how the growth of plants suddenly slows down when seasons change? Just as we adapt ourselves in clothing and eating habits based on the weather condition, it’s important to modify feeding patterns for plants through the year.

In her book on homemaking tips, Household Wisdom, author Stephanie Donaldson writes, “There is a world of difference between a healthy, ?flourishing houseplant and the sad specimens that die a slow, lingering death on the windowsills and mantelpieces of far too many homes. The mortality rate among houseplants is staggeringly high. Half the fatalities are killed by kindness such as overwatering and and overfeeding, while the other half starve to death — an occasional splash of water and no feed.”

Here are some tricks that have worked for me:

1. Group the plants together.

2. Develop a watering pattern for every season. Check the moisture content in the pot by inserting your finger in the soil before you water. If you’ve placed the pot in a saucer, then the roots will remain moist for more than a day. If you’ve been watering every evening during summer and continue to do so even during the monsoon, then the plants are bound to die a slow death.

3. Some plants require a lot of sunlight while others thrive well in shade. However, avoid keeping any plant directly in sunlight. South-facing windows or balconies receive more sunlight during the day than the north-facing ones. Choose your plants based on the location of your balcony or garden.

4. The compost in soil when you get plants from a nursery lasts for a maximum of six weeks.Some plants such as money plant do not require any manure while others can grow at a faster rate with manure.  Tea leaves, vegetable and fruit skins work well as manure.

5. Beware of pests. I’ve lost way too many plants to pests. Check the underneath of leaves for any signs and spray a pesticide at least once in three months.

6. Remove the yellow leaves regularly. Yellow leaves are not signs of a dying plant. Old leaves give way to new leaves.

What are your tricks of caring for houseplants?

Balcony Garden

An orange hibiscus. Few white nandyavattais. Enough to give a great start to one’s morning. The flowers have bloomed in my balcony garden after a dry spell of nearly 5 months. The balcony has been receiving very less sunshine the past few months, thanks to the incessant rain and gloomy weather of Bangalore. At one point in time, I was afraid I would just have to move all my pots to the common garden area downstairs. Which I did, infact, last week by moving about 8 small pots containing Tulsi (Basil), other herbs, ferns, and assorted flowering ones. It was not a easy decision considering how much effort went into procuring and tending to them.

So, seeing these plants bloom and flower has put a smile on my face. Here are few tips to take care of your balcony garden during the monsoon:

1. Do not water them everyday as you would during the summer months. Once or two times a week is more than sufficient. Dip your finger in the pot to test the moisture content. If it feels wet, then refrain from watering for a day or two.

2. Signs to watch out for or droopy leaves or new leaves turning yellow. Don’t worry if the old leaves (the ones at the bottom) are withering away after turning yellow.

3. Keep your balcony illuminated by allowing natural sunshine to flow in. Take care of not blocking the sunlight by hanging too many clothes or placing furniture.

4. Check for pests at the bottom of the leaves.

5. Call in a gradener to find out if manure is required.

All’s not been well here.  Over the past 10 days, the stubborn cold virus has been doing the rounds with each of us taking ill in turns; the family is slowly limping back to normalcy. However, I did find sometime on those long afternoons (when not under the influence of cough syrup) to add some cheer and color to the home. Blame it on the festive season

A while ago, I wrote about two terracotta pots I picked on the roadside, one of which I painted with zebra stripes. The other one has got a fresh lease of life too. The tree is inspired by a similar design on a Worli bedsheet.

Worli painting on a terracotta planter

Orange Pomander : During my recent trip to Trichy, I frequented a old books exhibition that had a HUGE collection of design and interior design books. One UK magazine that I grew fond of (can’t recollect the name) was about gardening and growing house plants; every issue was merely a few pages thick and I doubt if the magazine is still in circulation. An interesting and detailed article on how to make your own orange pomanders at home inspired me to try one at home. The one you see in the picture hasn’t yet dried.

Orange Pomander

And, finally another ivy in yet another recycled planter. The handi is from KC Das that originally contained mishti dahi. I didn’t want to throw it, so I cut a Bisleri bottle, filled with potting sand, and planted it with a small money plant.

Ivy in a handi

One of the first few things I did this time, after getting back from vacation, was to check on my ivy collection in the utility area and the potted plants in the balcony. The balcony garden had thrived well, but the ivies had accumulated a lot of algae almost endangering them.

There’s nothing more heart-rending than to see your plants barren and it’s leaves turning yellow, when you return from a holiday. It’s happened to me more than once, and on every one of these occasions, I’ve sat down to reminisce how long it took for that Tulsi to grow from a three-leaf plant to one with numerous branches. And it’s all gone in no time.

I’ve gone wise since these last few experiences; and here are a few things on my to-do list now before I leave on vacation every time which might be of help:

1. Move the plants to a shaded region of the balcony that doesn’t get direct sunlight. This will help preserve water.

2. If you have only or two potted plants, then fill a bucket with about 10 inches of water (nearly quarter). Immerse the pots in the bucket. This has worked well for me on a number of vacations when I’ve been away for 4-7 days.

3. If you have bottles of ivies like I do, it’s best to drain the water. Clean the roots and fill the bottles with fresh water just before you leave. Ivies, or any bottled plant for that matter, provide a conducive environment for algae to thrive in stagnant water.

The above steps are sufficient if you are going for a week or less. If you plan to be away for a longer duration, then your neighbor is your best bet.  You may also try covering the pots with a plastic sheet.

How do you take care of your apartment garden while you’re away - give the keys to a neighbor and ensure they stick around :), have a gardener/maid water form outside if it’s a ground floor apartment, or do you have some automatic watering system installed? Share your tips/tricks.

I leave you with some inspiring images of balcony gardens …

Plants in colorful buckets. What an idea!

Space saver. Gives a great view of the home from the street.

A hydroponic vegetable garden. Must-see, can-do.

Another space saving solution

What a feast to the eyes!

Image courtesy:

1. Flickr - Bucket Planter,  Hydroponic Garden, Flowering plants, Stepped, Row planters

If you are a mother and a blogger, then the chances you’ve not heard of the talented Mad Momma are bleak; her home is a visual retreat. Pictures of her home and garden , replete with casual references to recycling and gardening tips, have been a great inspiration for me. Thanks to her, the number of potted plants in my balcony grew from one to ten within a month bringing a lot of cheer, happy memories (watering with my son daily), and greenery into our lives.

I wanted to showcase how everyday objects can be used as planters and I knew MM had creatively used a zillion such things in her backyard. She was kind enough to share pictures of six planters from her indoor garden. Most of the containers have been reused as planters as they were originally intended for something else. I present to you her best picks..

Formerly, a toffee basket

A big coffee cup with saucer

Teapot with broken lid put to good use

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