« Vacation from cooking: Pinna, Italian traiteur | Home | A year in a French market: Wild (insert ingredient here) chase »
What’s hot, what’s not? A windowbox update
By Ann | August 28, 2009
When I last reported on my Parisian windowbox garden, aphids had attacked, well, everything and my geraniums were suffering from root rot. Dark days, indeed. How have things progressed?
What’s HOT (i.e. still alive, or even — dare I say it? — happy)?: Lavender and rosemary (photo top), basil, and marigolds, which require a lot of water, but seem to rebound quickly if they don’t get enough.
Also HOT: Another lavender plant, and thyme, or “plants that thrive in a hot, dry climate,” said my friend, Andrea. Er, yes. Why didn’t I think of that?
What’s NOT? My tomato plant is limping along, with some curling leaves (supposedly a sign of over-watering, or whitefly — who knows?).
The tomato plant *might* have flower buds, then again it *might not.* In any case, given it is already late August — which means rapidly diminishing hours of nourishing sunlight — I don’t think I’ll be seeing any fruit this year. What went wrong?!
Also in the NOT column: My geraniums, which never fully recovered from the root rot debacle. (Click here for a “before” picture. Weren’t they lush and lovely? Sigh.) Now, no matter how little I water them — geraniums like to suffer, remember? — they remain thin and scraggly.
In the end, what have I learned from this growing season?
Plants like water, but not too much. My balcony (west-facing) offers a hot, dry climate. Mint attracts whiteflies. I should have started the tomato plant earlier. Or maybe my balcony doesn’t get enough sun for tomatoes. And the number one lesson? Plants are finicky: they need judicious amounts of water, fertilizer, sunlight, and care to thrive.
Finally, I leave you with a photo of a flower bed near Notre Dame de Paris. I love the use of chard as giant decorative centerpiece!
Topics: Jardinage |
5 Responses to “What’s hot, what’s not? A windowbox update”
Comments
« Vacation from cooking: Pinna, Italian traiteur | Home | A year in a French market: Wild (insert ingredient here) chase »
August 28th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I love the decorative chard, too! I’m tempted to harvest it, but then I think of how many people have probably peed on them.
Here’s to next year’s windowbox garden!
August 29th, 2009 at 1:42 am
The good thing is, you’ll get to apply these lessons next spring. Are there any new plants you’d like to try? Interestingly, we have some rosemary plants in certain spots here on the embassy compound in Baghdad — notably, next to the flagpole. (Our stars and stripes were at half mast for Ted Kennedy yesterday.)
August 29th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Maybe your geraniums need a shot of fertilizer. With luck, they should overwinter and survive to be re-invigorated in the spring, next year. How is your little olive tree? Your marigold looks great … maybe you should specialize in those? Aren’t there different types of them? Sen Everett Dirkson always wanted to make them the national flower.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:57 am
Camille — LOL… shudder. And not just people. Dogs.
Chris — Hmmm… rosemary thriving on my balcony AND in Baghdad. Who knew they shared a similar climate?!
Dad — Aren’t marigolds among the easiest flowers to grow?! I gave my geraniums some fertilizer at your suggestion. They seemed to have perked up slightly! Still hoping for more buds before winter.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:58 am
P.S. One week after this post and tomato plants still have not bloomed. At this rate we’re looking at Christmas.