TOP TEN PLANTS FOR YOUR BALCONY, PATIO, AND TERRACE

There are certain plants that are just too good to pass up when it comes to your outdoor spaces. These are plants that bring beautiful greenery and are a joy to grow. Most of these favorites also have flowers rich in nectar and pollen for the pollinators, and many of them are edible too.

Basil ’Yemenite’

This one’s a must-have – ‘Yemenite’ basil is hardy and blooms for a long, long time. Bees and bumblebees love it too! Basil thrives in the sun but can also manage in partial shade. It’s easy to propagate – just snip off some sprigs and place them in water. Basil is an annual, so it won’t survive the winter. There’s a similar variety called ‘Magic Mountain’ that’s also beautiful. Both ‘Yemenite’ and ‘Magic Mountain’ grow big and bold. The deep purple leaves look stunning next to other green plants.

Basil ‘Yemenite’ – There’s a similar variety called ‘Magic Mountain’ that’s also beautiful.

VERBENA BONARIENSIS

Verbena bonariensis is a favorite among pollinators and blooms well into autumn. It’s also fairly drought-tolerant, which is great for sunny balconies. This verbena grows tall with long stems, making it perfect for planting something like lettuce underneath. Its height adds interest to your balcony, and it’s lovely to watch the flowers sway in the wind. You can buy small plants or start them from seed, but if you’re starting from seed, be sure to do it early in the spring.

Here, Verbena bonariensis is growing alongside lemon balm and black-eyed Susan. The height of the verbena adds more dimension to the entire planting.

COLUMNAR APPLE TREE

Having a small apple tree on your balcony is delightful. A columnar apple tree is a great choice if you’re short on space. It’s like a fruit tree without the branches, with apples growing directly on the trunk. You’ll need to prune it a bit, trimming off any branches or shoots that try to grow. Plant your columnar apple tree in a large pot, at least 30 liters, or even bigger if you can.

Why not plant a small apple tree in a pot on your balcony? This is a columnar apple tree of the ‘Dzin’ variety. Several branches have been allowed to grow upward to produce more fruit.

Clematis ’Summer snow’

Clematis ‘Summer Snow’, also known as ‘Paul Farges’, can cover an entire wall once it gets growing. It’s easy to care for and very rewarding. There are many different types of clematis, and some need to be pruned in different ways. You can prune ‘Summer Snow’ if you want to keep it shorter and wider, or skip pruning, and it will grow longer and narrower. If you do choose to prune, do it early in the spring. It can look a bit scraggly in the spring, and you might think it’s dead, but once the warmth comes, new shoots will appear. ‘Summer Snow’ blooms with small white flowers all summer. Plant it in a 30-liter pot or larger.

Along the house facade on the patio, ‘Summer Snow’ clematis is growing. It’s an easy-to-grow variety that does well in a pot and grows generously.

RED CURRANTS

A standard red currant bush is perfect for the balcony. It’s almost like a mini tree, and the bright red currant clusters really pop. Red currants can thrive in the sun, but they also do well on a shady balcony. Plant it in a large pot, 20-30 liters. Underneath the currant bush, you can sow or plant something low-growing, like spinach, or maybe even radishes. Another option is to sow summer flowers like calendula and phacelia, which are both loved by pollinators. Speaking of pollinators, red currant flowers are among the first to bloom in spring, making them especially important for early-flying bees and bumblebees.

RUNNER BEANS

Growing runner beans is a joy, especially since a single vine can grow up to six meters long. A few runner bean plants can cover your entire balcony. There are several varieties, most with white-orange flowers that eventually produce edible beans. Cook the fresh beans and add them to a salad. Pollinators love the flowers. Runner beans do well in sun or part shade. They’re also nitrogen-fixing plants, meaning they capture nitrogen from the air, which is stored by bacteria on their roots. When the plant dies, the nitrogen stays in the soil, enriching it for next season’s plants. Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients for plants.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

If you buy organic Jerusalem artichokes from the store, you can plant three of the tubers in a 30-liter pot. Soon, they’ll sprout and grow tall, like sunflowers. Jerusalem artichokes are actually related to sunflowers. Not all varieties bloom, but some produce lovely yellow flowers at the top. Harvest Jerusalem artichokes from winter and onwards.

WILD STRAWBERRIES

Wild strawberries are an easy growing favorite, producing berries all season long and returning year after year. You can grow them as ground cover in pots or boxes with taller plants, or in window boxes. Some varieties produce many runners, creating small plants that trail over the edge of your balcony box or pot. The flowers are also appreciated by pollinators. Wild strawberries grow well in sun, partial shade, and shade.

Zucchini

A single zucchini plant can produce many zucchinis. The female flowers are the ones that produce zucchinis, but before they appear, the plant will be full of male flowers, which are edible and can be sautéed in olive oil and salt. You can tell the male flowers by the lack of a small round fruit between the flower and the stem, while the female flowers have this small fruit that will eventually become a zucchini. Sow the seeds directly in the pot when the soil is about 12 degrees Celsius. Grow one plant per 15-liter pot.

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