My Balcony Garden

[JUSTIFY]Much as I hate the summer heat in India, I certainly love the colours and joy that the month of April brings with it. Needless to say the joy of seeing some of those colours in my personal balcony garden growing within the constraints of an urban apartment brings a sense of special satisfaction which I would love to share with you.

These are some of the plants which are edible and / or have medicinal properties.

1. Bonesetter plant (also known as Pirindai in Tamil or Hadjod - literally meaning putting bones together - in Hindi)

2. Curry leaves (kadipatta or karvapillai)

3. Tomatoes

4. Ajwain leaves

.....contd[/JUSTIFY]

 

These are some of the flowering and show plants in my balcony.

 

Hi Pinksugar, thanks so much. The bone setter plant can be used in various ways and has more uses than one. See http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=bonesetter%20plant&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEcQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnatural-herbal-remedies.knoji.com%2Fbonesetter-medicinal-properties-amenorrhea-and-muscular-pain-remedy%2F&ei=O159T5z9FcG30QWTkYCrBQ&usg=AFQjCNEW4FcPGXvzrxhZRfQhsPu2LyeRIg and http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=bonesetter%20plant&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEEQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthmad.com%2Fhealth%2Fbone-setter-cissius%2F&ei=O159T5z9FcG30QWTkYCrBQ&usg=AFQjCNFQH4oPQ5uVqylSttw_aeH00H-0qA.

The curry leaf plant can either be planted as seeds or as a sapling in a small pot. After many attempts, I finally managed to succeed in getting a sapling to grow. The mud is changed every year with a mix of cowdung and sand. This plant can be a bit tricky to grow in a pot.

The red berries are not tomatoes. They are the fruits of a show plant (asparagus). I don't think they are edible (at least not to my knowledge). I just thought they looked very pretty.

 

Hi Mrudhani,

What kind of plants you can grow really depends on how much of sunshine you get in your balcony. If it is an open terrace, you can grow virtually anything you like. If not, then it might be a bit difficult to grow flowering plants and curry leaves.

Generally it should be easy to grow decorative plants. They would require regular watering and an annual change of soil. If you have good sunshine you could plant roses, malli, hibuscus, kanakambaram etc. If you do not have too much trouble with squirrels, you could try planting corriander. Methi, pudina, ajwain (karpuravalli) grow quite luxuriantly. Although the pirindai took quite a while to start growing, once it started, there was no stopping it. If you have a large open terrace, you could try planting chow-chow (bangalore katrikai), parrikai or even pumpkins.

All the best.