It is a common thing on almost all the apartment buildings to see plants, trees, and all kinds of growing things on people's balconies. The weather is hot and tropical so many things grow crazy. The apartments are smaller and the air conditioning runs most of the time, so indoor plants do not do as well. And winter... well, there is not much that really feels like winter.
So we decided last year, almost as soon as we were settled in, to gather some plants. We visited the Floral Market as I mentioned in an earlier post and began our collection. I do not know if many things from that purchase still exist. But our cleaning lady, Flora, adopted our balcony and us, and we have grown and grown in our collection.
We also bought some pots along the way and repotted things as they grew. I say we, but I really mean Teresa who does all the heavy lifting and tracking of the plants. Her green thumb, not a characteristic she uses much in the US, is evident here.
And new things seem to appear every few weeks from Flora - as well as some old things disappearing. It all makes for a great display and a nice place to hang out albeit briefly. As a Corning colleague was leaving for the US, I also bought a small gas grill for the balcony, and some hangers for plants on the railings. It is looking more and more like a living space.
Now we can look like the apartments where things grow out over the balconies and a little forest like environment comes into the city.
