Balconies to brag about. (Expat Advice).

Swiss summers offer many delightful sights, One of them is a balcony covered with Surfinia petunias or a row of window boxes filled with red geraniums. This year, why not contribute your own flowers to the display?

Dutch expatriate Marlies Frints Roggli offers good advice to novice balcony gardeners. A hospital nurse by profession, she is also an avid gardener. The windowsills and terrace of her apartment, where she lives with her Swiss husband and two children, overflow with flowers, shrubs and herbs. "My father has a nursery in Holland," she explains. "He specializes in roses and fruit trees. But, of course, he can grow anything. So could my grandfather. I've been learning about plants since I was a child."

Frints favors terracotta for her pots and window boxes. Not only is it very attractive--it drains well, too. "Drainage on balconies and window sills is crucial," she says. "Be sure that each of your pots has one or more draining holes the size of a two-franc coin, and make a little tent over each hole with some large potsherds, so that it doesn't get blocked by roots or earth."

Good soil, she says, can be found at any gardening store. "The store-bought balcony-mixture is fine. Or you can use what the shops call 'Geranium soil' for almost any outdoor potted plant. I always have a number of reserve pots on hand, too, together with extra potting soil, so that I can change plants for the different seasons or move a balcony perennial into the stairwell or cellar for the coldest months of winter."

Her goal, she explains, is to have something green and something colorful in her pots in every season. To do that, she has standbys like ivy, hostas, bugleweed, gray santolina, dusty miller, lavender, or sage growing all year round. She surrounds these with daffodils, daisies, chrysanthemums, or Christmas roses according to the season.

A Splash of Color 

"One of the best perennials to use as a background to your flowers is boxwood (that's Buxus sempervirens in Latin.) It's a standard hedge plant, but it can also be trimmed into little round bushes that set off your flowers very attractively. Many herbs also last all winter, and there is no reason not to mix them with flowers! If you have a sunny balcony, rosemary and thyme would do well, for example. For shady spots, Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) is a great thing to grow all year long. It has pink buds, lovely white flowers, and little blue-black fruits, so it is pretty in all seasons."

Frints prefers mixing only two colors on a balcony, together with all the various shades of background greenery "Blue and yellow is a favorite combination of mine, or you can try mixing blue and pink, pink and purple, or red and orange. White can he added to each of these color schemes to make a nice display."

"If you want flowers that bloom in profusion from summer until the first frost, then you have to fertilize regularly," she continues. "Hauert is a company with good products, and they have a number of organic fertilizers, too. I use a Hauert powder that I find effective. But you must follow the instructions to the letter. People so often kill their plants by not diluting the fertilizer enough."

Once a year, Frints dumps the soil out of all her pots, breaks down the clumps of dirt and old roots, mixes it well to aerate it, adds fresh potting soil plus some compost or fertilizer, and puts it all back into the pots. For anyone who thinks this is too complicated, she recommends a thorough aeration of each pot, at least. "If you use the same soil again, you should poke holes in the surface of the dirt in early spring. Also scrape off the top layer and put in a flew one, mixed with the proper amount of fertilizer."

The simplest way to have a glorious balcony or window sill by mid-July is to Visit your nearest nursery in early May, buy up every annual that appeals to you, and plant them. "Be sure not to put anything out before the danger of a night frost is truly over," says Frints. In the German-speaking countries, gardeners speak of the "Eisheilige" or "Ice-Saints," whose name-days often coincide with a last blast of cold. Old wives' tales warn you never to plant until the days of Saints Pankratius, Servatius, Bonifatius, and Sophie (May 12-15) are past, and most Swiss gardeners follow this advice.

It is also important to know how much sun your balcony gets and plant accordingly (see chart). You should also know yourself--if you are the type of person who neglects a garden, don't plant hydrangeas, which need to be watered religiously. Instead, try nasturtiums, which aren't very demanding, or California poppies, which can even survive a complete drying-out when you forget about your flowers for days at a time.

Once you have begun to enjoy having a beautiful balcony in the summer, you may want to try keeping your pots and window boxes full all year, as Prints does. Here are some tips for each season.

October-November

As soon as your summer plants start to look droopy, and well before the first frost, rake them out, discard the annuals, bring the perennials inside for the winter, and plant bulbs and pansies. If you make sure that the pansies are the frost-resistant variety, they will do fine all winter, unless it gets exceptionally cold, in which case you can cover them with some pine branches. By February they may already be blooming, and they will last all through the spring. "The tiny purple ones, Viola cornuta, are simple but especially lovely," Prints comments.

As for the bulbs, crocuses, grape hyacinths, narcissi, blue bells, dwarf daffodils and dwarf tulips are only some of the possibilities. ("Be sure to buy the dwarf varieties of the taller spring flowers," Frints advises, "otherwise they'll just flop over.") If you don't want to plant bulbs directly in your window boxes in November, you can buy lots of small plastic pots and put a bulb in each. "Cover them with the proper amount of earth," she continues, "and keep them out of doors for the rest of fall and throughout the winter. Then, on a warmish day in February, you can dig holes in your window boxes just big enough for each bulb and drop them in, pot and all. By March or April you'll have lovely spring flowers."

Mixed with your bulbs and pansies, you can plant fall flowers, like chrysanthemums and asters, or even some colorful shrubs that will last through the winter, like Skimmia, Euonymus, and Helleborus. This last plant is better know as a Christmas rose, since it usually blooms in January or February.

December-January

If you have perennials on your balcony-like ivy, boxwood, viburnum, heather, broom, cotoneaster, winter jasmine, or a climbing rose-you will have to water them on frost-free days, even in the dead of winter.

February-March

This is the time for pruning. Your perennials need to be cut back to about half their size. If you are afraid of over-doing it, ask a professional gardener for advice.

March-April

As you grow braver and more confident, you can stair planting seeds, instead of just buying annuals in May Get yourself a little plastic greenhouse box (you can find them at the plant department of a large Migros), and plant three or four seeds in each tiny pot. Frints recommends trying marigolds and dwarf sunflowers or else three different types of climbers: sweet peas, morning glories, and nasturtiums, all of which can be trained to grow up lengths of string against your balcony wall. Take good care of your little seedlings, and if all goes well you'll be planting them in your window boxes in May.

May-October

This is when you reap the benefits of your hard work, as your annuals grow and bloom, your perennials thrive, and your balcony becomes a showpiece. But watering isn't all you have to do thruough the summer; the plants will also need to be regularly fertilized and, if you want them to bloom all season, you will have to spend some time every morning or evening picking off and discarding dead flower heads. This is especially important for pansies, daisies, fuchsias, sweet peas, petunias, and verbena, among others.

Some Flowers and Foliage for Your Balcony

Habitat      Latin                 English/German/French

Sun

Flowers:     Pelargonium           geranium/Duftgeranie/geranium
             Scaevola              fan flower/Facherblume/
             Brachyscome           scaevola rock daisy/
             Ageratum              Ganseblumchen/brachyscome
             Argyranthemum         ageratum/Leberbalsam/agerate
             Bidens ferulifolia    daisy/Strauchmargerite/
             Cuphea ignea          marguerite d'ete apache
             Felicia amelloides    beggarticks/Goldzweizahn/
             Celosia argentea      bidens firecracker plant/
             Lobularia             Zigarettenblumchen/cuphea blue
             Calendula             marguerite/Kapaster/agathea
                                   cockscomb/Brandschopf/celosie
                                   Sweet alyssum/Duftsteinrich/
                                   corbeille d'argent marigold/
                                   Tagetes/souci








Foliage:     Calluna vulgaris      scots heather/Besenheide/
             Erica carnea          bruyere d'ete winter heath/
             Hebe                  Winterheide/bruyere des Alpes
             Senecio cineraria     hebe/Strauchveronika/veronique
             Euonymus fortunei     disty miller/Silberblatt/
             Artemisia             cineraire wintercreeper/
                                   Spindelstrauch/fusain
                                   wormwood/Wermut/absinthe








Half shade/
Full shade

Flowers:     Lobelia erinus        lobelia/Lobelia/lobelie
             Convolvulus sabatius  bindweed/Blutenwinde/liseron
             Begonia               begonia/Schielblatt/begonie
             Calceolaria           slipper flower/Pantoffelblume/
             Diaseia               calceolaire diascia/Elfensporn/
                                   diascia

             Nicotiana alata      jasmine tobacco/Tabakpflanze/tabac
             Fuchsia x hybrida    fuchsia






Foliage:     Skimmia japonica      skimmia/Skimmie/skimmia du
             Pachysandra           Japon Japanese spurge/Ysander/
             Mahonia               pachysandra mahonia/Mahonie/
             Vinca                 mahomia periwinkle/Immergrun/
             Juniperus conferta    parvenche Shore juniper/
             Hedera helix          Wachholder/genevrier des
                                   plages English ivy/Efeu/lierre









Habitat      Latin                 Comments

Sun

Flowers:     Pelargonium           Wonderful scents. Try Pelargonium
             Scaevola              citrosa, which smells like lemon
             Brachyscome           and keeps mosquitos away.
             Ageratum              Blue-violet blossoms.
             Argyranthemum         Comes in blue or pink and has
             Bidens ferulifolia    feathery foliage.
             Cuphea ignea          They come in blue, white or pink.
             Felicia amelloides    Be sure to remove the dead
             Celosia argentea      blossoms if you want more.
             Lobularia             Shouldn't be over-wattered.
             Calendula             Bright yellow blossoms that smell
                                   good. Don't let it get too dry.
                                   Protect from the wind. Can be
                                   brought in during winter.
                                   Blue, daisy-like flowers. Don't
                                   overwater and protect from the
                                   wind.
                                   Outrageous colors and shape. Be
                                   sure to shelter from the wind.
                                   Blooms in summer and early fall.
                                   Their scent keeps destructive
                                   bugs away from other flowers.

Foliage:     Calluna vulgaris      Pink, purple or wite spiky blooms:
             Erica carnea          withstands the frost.
             Hebe                  Altough they easily survive the
             Senecio cineraria     winter, be sure they don't dry out.
             Euonymus fortunei     Has a long blooming season. Not
             Artemisia             all hebes are winter-resistant,
                                   so check before you buy.
                                   Beautiful silver leaves; can
                                   survive mild winters.
                                   A bushy ground-cover with
                                   attractive leaves that withstands
                                   the frost.
                                   The fragrant leaves repel bugs;
                                   used to be used in the making of
                                   absinthe.

Half shade/
Full shade

Flowers:     Lobelia erinus        Don't let it dry out.
             Convolvulus sabatius  Blue flowers on vine-like plants,
             Begonia               so try them hanging or climbing.
             Calceolaria           Try the semperflorens variety,
             Diaseia               wich will bloom from May until the
             Nicotiana alata       first forst.
             Fuchsia x hybrida     Has soft grey-green leaves and
                                   bright yellow flowers; plant deep
                                   to prevent drying.
                                   Tender pink flowrs, bushy growth.
                                   If you cut back and put in a cool,
                                   light place during the winter, it
                                   will be ready for replanting on the
                                   balcony in May.

Foliage:     Skimmia japonica      Attractive leaves, late-winter
             Pachysandra           flowers, and bright berries, if
             Mahonia               you plant both male and female
             Vinca                 plants.
             Juniperus conferta    Stays green all year and requires
             Hedera helix          almost no work.
                                   Large leaves that turn red inwinter
                                   with yellow blossoms in spring.
                                   A useful, low ground-cover with
                                   minor purple blossoms and trailing
                                   stems.
                                   An attractive, spreading conifer.
                                   Ivy can be very decorative; just
                                   don't let it take over your whole
                                   balcony. Try training it up walls.

The right Nomenclature 

One of the problems with trying to garden in a foreign country is that you only know the names of plants in your own language. The following websites will help you to track down the Latin name of your favorite flower using English, German, or French. Once you know what a plant is called in Latin, any gardener can help you.

www.plantsdatabase.com

www.bbc.co.uk/gardening

www.gartenlogistik.de

www.realgarden.fr