life on the balcony

I have never had a garden. My first opportunity came six years ago when I moved into a tiny flat with a small balcony. I wanted to grow everything! Soon I had to own up to what seemed the sad reality of little light and little space. The balcony faces west and any possible sunlight is shaded by tall birch trees.

Over the years I have come to love shade-loving or at least shade-tolerating plants such as fuchsia, begonia, coleus, fern…

…and my absolute favorite - hosta.

Apart from many plants I have also collected three cats in the meantime. They are all rescue cats adopted from a shelter or directly from the street. I have tried to create a trauma-healing haven for them (and anyone else who shares the flat with them, including myself). The balcony is adjusted to their needs, so there is a climbing tree, a net all around the balcony, and a cat flap in the balcony door.

Since the beginning of this year we have been blessed with the presence of Silky Soul who has become my partner in gardening, cat loving, meatless cooking and endless conversations about the mysteries of Life. He is the one who has encouraged me to create this blog and provides me with more and more ideas on how to make the world a better place to be.

You may have noticed by now that in my opinion nothing looks better together with plants than a cat or two (or three).

Second to them is a Buddha statue which I don’t have. (Photo taken at the Upaya Zen Center, New Mexico by Ottmar Liebert)

One thing to never have around plants is a kitchy plaster gnome, of which I have two (balcony size).

And how does the balcony look right now?

All the plants, all the cats, the cat climbing tree and the net had to squeeze inside our tiny flat; a new façade is being put on our block of flats, and the balcony is completely empty now.

I hope that all of the afflicted will survive this inconvenience and we will soon be able to get back to our normal balcony life.