Lettuce has Bolted, Peas are Drying Up, Pansies Dying But All is Not Lost!

I think it hit 38ºC today. It was one of the hottest days I have experienced here in Toronto yet. Some of the plants are hanging in, some not. A few days ago the aphids kicked up again and I had to totally pull up a basket of pansies as they were completely infested. Pansies just can't take this intense heat and couple that with the wind, I can't blame them. The Gerber daisy is a bit burnt as is the orange carnation but it really just happened today under this intense heat. I have confidence they will rebound.

But I can tell you who are the hardy ones. Coleus laughs at all this. The snap dragons, though not putting out new flowers are holding their own. Petunias haven't even noticed the heat. The swiss chard is doing very well as is the growing heirloom lettuce (even though I completely over planted the basket).

I will try to get some shots tomorrow and post them. It was really just too hot to be outside at all. I have been double watering the plants to make sure they don't dry out in this humid heat.

West Side Railing Balcony Container - Dhalias, Coleus and White Bacopa

This planter overlooks due west

Here's the first container planted for the west side railing balcony container. I used Dahlias (a larger dark pink flower dahlia as the central piece, two lighter pink, smaller flower headed dahlias planted on either side of the larger one) 

close up of light and darker pink Dahlias

and white bacopa on the far left and right of the planter. Bacopa did very well last year on the railing where it gets VERY windy at times. 

looking south west from the balcony
lake Ontario is off in the distance

There are still planters to be added and filled. Note the coconut husk planters further along the railing. A trip to my local gardening center is in store and I can hardly wait! I checked out Forest Hill Loblaws again but there isn't very much left of interest. It seems this year the selection wasn't as good as last year, but I am on a mission to create a beautiful balcony garden!

Dazzling Dahlia, Constant Coleus and kind of sad Pansies on balcony wall hanging basket

This year the dahlias are gorgeous here in Toronto. Whomever the supplier is, well, they did a great job with these babies this year. I planted this dahlia in the above shown basket about a week and a half ago and she is going strong. The winds haven't been too bad though so we still need to see how she is going to weather some of the nastier stuff to come. I used some fresh soil in this box.

Last year I planted coleus in the same spot and it just THRIVED! Wind, who cared? It sure didn't. So this year I went with coleus again and as you can see it goes really beautifully backing up the pink with a yellow center dahlia. The color scheme works so nicely (light green, green, pink, yellow, light orange and the tuscan sienna of the box with the black iron ware and the gessoed white of the wall). 

The pansies, well, I planted them earlier and they are on the edges of the box. You can see, they just look, well, sad. I can see that pansies really don't like being where they are. I may replant them in a floor planter to give them a second chance. 

I went out yesterday in the rain and picked out some lovely new flowers just waiting to add to my what is becoming, beautiful balcony! I'll be posting new pics soon! I am so happy to have spring here (even if it has been really wet and cool) and summer on the way. It lifts the spirit, doesn't it?