which container plant for my small balcony?

pigeonpie

My 2 beloved cats both died last year. They used to snooze in a sunny bedroom windowsill in my flat. It has a small flower balcony (converted house: one of those bricked in circular balconies) outside that window, which is south facing although the bottom just <1m is shady, especially when the sun isn't high.
At window height it gets lots of sun from morning until mid afternoon in summer.

I want to put a beautiful pot plant out there as a kind of little memorial. Something to make me smile when I look at the empty windowsill. It would have to be able to survive the winter (unless I could cover it up, but I couldn't bring it inside as the sash window's quite small) and be ok with its roots being in the shade whereas its flowers and leaves in the sun (when there is any!).

I was thinking of jasmine but heard it can be tricky but the scent would be lovely; lavender but would probably bring lots of bees inside in my bedroom; someone suggested a miniature lilac but I don't know anything about them; miniature fruit tree - but it can't grow too big or too high or the resident cow in the building will demand I remove it. So small spread and about 1 - 1 1/2 metres high would be ideal. It could be smaller but then would have to stand it on a little bistro table (possible, but don't yet own a bistro table!).

I think I can cope if it should not make it and die but would prefer it to go on for many years obviously. Does anyone have any suggestions please?
I am in London so weather is reasonably ok all year round.
thanks so much for any suggestions.

conradmum

This is quite a tough one. You could have a blueberry bush (make sure you use ericaceous compost) but you'd need to keep it well watered and you'd probably find the birds will eat all the fruit. However it would quite like its roots in the shade and they are very ornamental, with flowers in the spring, followed by fruit and then beautiful autumn colour.

If you're concerned about bees coming into your room this is could be a problem with most of the flowering shrubs. An azalea would grow well in that position (ericaceous compost again) or for something non-flowering you could have a bay tree or an olive, both of which should survive outside the year round in London.

pigeonpie

I'd definitely like something flowering rather than a bay or olive. I'll look into the blueberry option. We have a lot of magpies and crows though (and pigeons) which is something to think about. Alternatively a smaller plant stood on a table is starting to appeal but not sure what - don't want something boring like geraniums - that would be in full sun. Do you think a jasmine miniature bush would grow?
thanks so much for your help

conradmum

pigeonpie wrote: »

I'd definitely like something flowering rather than a bay or olive. I'll look into the blueberry option. We have a lot of magpies and crows though (and pigeons) which is something to think about. Alternatively a smaller plant stood on a table is starting to appeal but not sure what - don't want something boring like geraniums - that would be in full sun. Do you think a jasmine miniature bush would grow?
thanks so much for your help

The only jasmines I know are either quite tender indoor climbers trained around a wire, or ourdoor climbers which grow quite big. There's a winter flowering one which is shrubby but I'm pretty sure you don't mean that. Other than those I'm afraid I don't know of a jasmine that will grow as a bush but I could be wrong.

It will be blackbirds and other smaller birds that will go for the blueberries rather than magpies or crows I think.

I was struggling to think of a bush that would survive in that position. If you're prepared to do some maintenance you could have a standard fuschia or wisteria, but they will require clipping and training.

I think the best thing for you to do would be to go on the rhs website:
www.rhs.org.uk and use their Plant Selector page, which will allow you to put in all your requirements then come up with a list of suitable plants.
Good luck!

ixwood

I wouldn't worry about bee's. They'll be too busy foraging to bother exploring your house.

pigeonpie

a standard fuchsia sounds lovely. I'll do some rhs investigation, always get a bit intimidated by how much they know!
lavender I know will grow. how many years would either possibly survive btw (the fuchsia or lavender)
sorry more questions

conradmum

pigeonpie wrote: »

a standard fuchsia sounds lovely. I'll do some rhs investigation, always get a bit intimidated by how much they know!
lavender I know will grow. how many years would either possibly survive btw (the fuchsia or lavender)
sorry more questions

Sorry I don't know how many years they might survive. I've read that lavender is a short-lived plant but I know of people who have hedges that are 20 years old. Certainly I would have thought that if they're properly cared for you would expect to get 10-15 years out of them, but I'm guessing really. I've never grown either in a pot.

pigeonpie

just realised it's got to be something that survives 3 weeks away this summer so...I might wait until after that. I have a neighbour who waters my houseplants but she drenches them and it takes me weeks to revive them whenever I get back.
thanks conradmum for your help