Voted off the Balcony
August 1, 2008 – 11:30 amI’m patient when it comes to nursing plants through insect attacks. And granted, insect attacks are pretty few and far between on the balcony. But I’m finding that when you garden in a small space a quick response to insect problems is required to minimize the damage to other plants.
I’ve had two forced removals this year, one due to bugs, the other due to the damp. The first retirement was the Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’. I thought I was being vigilant in my attempts at keeping the aphids at bay and had actually won a couple of battles, but recently had to admit that I was not winning the war. And the plant looked like it is starting to loose hope too. So as sweet and endearing as that gangly plant was, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. Cerinthe is no longer part of the balcony garden portfolio.
The second retirement was Euonymus, a lovely green and yellow waxy leaved shrub. I was attracted to it because of its glossy foliage and the promise of ‘stunning’ autumn colour and berries. But I’ll never know as this plant is done and gone from the balcony garden. It just wasn’t tough enough to take on our cool damp June and caught itself a nasty case of mildew – I know – hard to imagine that problem in the middle of the bone-dry prairies.
I sense a shopping opportunity. So many plants and two empty pots.