Gardening on Cloud 9 » Balcony Garden http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com Sharing the Love & Joy of Gardening Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:15:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Growing Impatiens in a Rubbish Bag http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/200911/growin-impatiens-in-a-rubbish-bag/ http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/200911/growin-impatiens-in-a-rubbish-bag/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:40:07 +0000 Sandy http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/?p=2914 There are several bags of blossoming impatiens hanging in the bonsai workshop.  Instead of potting in typical hanging baskets, the impatiens are planted in huge, black rubbish bags.  And because the impatiens are blooming so vigorously, the rubbish bags are mostly covered with impatiens flowers and can hardly be seen.

These hanging impatiens bags . . . → Read More: Growing Impatiens in a Rubbish Bag]]> There are several bags of blossoming impatiens hanging in the bonsai workshop.  Instead of potting in typical hanging baskets, the impatiens are planted in huge, black rubbish bags.  And because the impatiens are blooming so vigorously, the rubbish bags are mostly covered with impatiens flowers and can hardly be seen.

These hanging impatiens bags look so pretty and easy to maintain that I really wanted to make one of my own once I spotted them in the bonsai workshop.  And here, after getting some instructions and advices from Teacher Wong, I have made my own last week :)

Growing Impatients in a Rubbish Bag

First challenge: Finding a thick and strong garbage bag.  Once I got the container for my plants, I filled it up with potting mix and tied it up tightly.  Then, with a cutter, I made a few openings for my impatiens.

Make sure not to make the openings too close to each other, for we want to give the impatiens enough space to grow and flower.

Growing Impatients in a Rubbish Bag

I have potted six young impatiens in this 30 cm x 60 cm bag.  As Teacher Wong advised, before hanging up the bag, I left it laid flat for several days, so to give the impatiens a chance to root firmly in the potting mix.

Growing Impatients in a Rubbish Bag Growing Impatients in a Rubbish Bag

The impatiens have been rooted well in the potting mix since a few days after potted.  Yet, I didn’t move the impatiens but only till the plants needed to water again (which was 10 days later).  Since I couldn’t find  a safe way to hang up this heavy bag of impatiens on my balcony (around 18 lbs when the potting mix is more or less dry :P ), I put it on top of my balcony table,and let it lean against the corner.

So, this is my impatiens bag.  I hope it will grow healthy and flower vigorously in the coming months :)

]]> http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/200911/growin-impatiens-in-a-rubbish-bag/feed/ 8 Bird Nest on the Balcony http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/200906/bird-nest-on-the-balcony/ http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/200906/bird-nest-on-the-balcony/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:07:59 +0000 Sandy http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/?p=2088 A friend told me that she had a bird nested and hatched two eggs on a tree in her balcony last month. The mother bird and her baby birds have already flew away and are not around on the balcony anymore. Yet, still, I found it so interesting that I went to . . . → Read More: Bird Nest on the Balcony]]> Bird Nest on the BalconyA friend told me that she had a bird nested and hatched two eggs on a tree in her balcony last month. The mother bird and her baby birds have already flew away and are not around on the balcony anymore. Yet, still, I found it so interesting that I went to my friend’s place anyways, just to check out the empty nest.

Bird Nest on the Balcony Bird Nest on the Balcony

My friend lives on the fourth floor of a 10+ story building in a school district (the aqua color building is part of a high-school), and this is the tree that the bird nested on several weeks ago. I was actually quite shocked when I first saw the tree. It was the only tree on the balcony, and it was quite a small one too. I wonder what it is of this tree that had attracted the mother bird.

The story of a bird nesting on the balcony of someone’s home is not a new one. Only that, somehow, I had never thought that this could happen in a crowded, skyscraper-filled city like Hong Kong.  Now that I think more of it, nesting on a balcony like my friend’s may just be the best option available for the mother bird when she is in a city like Hong Kong, where there are more buildings than trees, with polluted air, and packed, crowded streets.

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