Balcony and Fire Escape Gardening

My other blog on Nordic noir and Scandinavian culture has prevented me from posting here lately, but I have a huge backlog of photos to share from this summer in Hyde Park. Today I salute those who "garden with what they've got," along with a few more traditionally beautiful balconies.

Case in point, below. Perhaps that security light is a brighter red than the little flowers above it, but my heart swelled at the sight of the planter. It doesn't take much to say, "I care, and I take care"... 

...I've seen some nice stone balconies that look like a plant cemetery, so bravo to this gardener (above), who puts something up here every year--and keeps it watered. I might only suggest some trailing plants next year in addition to petunias etc.

And hats off to this scrappy gardener for using basic cinder blocks to create pedestals. By raising the plants up to chair level, the occupant can sit outside with some measure of privacy:

A tale of two balconies (below). I see this a lot. People are biased toward balconies with big cement enclosures. If they have one, they happily add plants. Yet the upper, see-through balcony would be lovely to sit on (and private!) if only it had plants.

Every year this balcony looks terrific with its oversized plants (below)....

...but I have felt some trepidation walking beneath it in a wind storm....

...so I googled around and read somewhere that you can secure big pots by using Velcro sticky tape. I don't know what this person's secret is, but we've had some fierce, tree-shattering storms on this street and I've never seen these pots budge.

This could almost be called a fire escape community garden... 

Fire Escape Garden Colony

...If you live in Hyde Park, you've most certainly seen these (above) since they face a very public area. The inhabitants have chosen not to sulk inside with the shades drawn, and instead have gone hog wild with hanging pots and ivy. The lowest floors have little plots of earth that are all planted up too. A great example of infectious gardening!

This is more of a stoop than a balcony...

...but I fell for the mix of fancy cement flower planters and the upscale, stained wooden green bean trellis.

Now, for some typical three story walk-up balconies, the kind you see all over the University of Chicago neighborhood. They are so conducive to picturesque balcony gardening...

I love, love, love the way this hanging circular sun catcher (below) gives focus to the plants:

Other things give focus to a balcony as well...

Anyway, if I missed you--don't worry, I'm still looking...

Shared: Bungee Trellis

A friend just sent me some pics of an ingenious trellis she made out of bungee cords. They were originally posted on her Flickr stream here. This is a really cool idea because not only is this a case of "gardening with what you've got," but she has found a way to create a privacy screen, or shade screen, that starts at about chest level and rises from there. That means less time is required to grow the vines up high enough. Plus, the morning glory blossoms will soon be exquisite at eye level.

Balconies and fire escapes can be delightful, but you don't always want full sun or neighborly attention. 





The dog's name is Evie. She is very sweet, but pretends to be shy.

And here is a close-up shot of one of the cords ornamented with heart-shaped morning glory leaves. Now she has a good place to plow through books for her exam. I bet Evie enjoys sleeping out there too! Now all she needs is...a hummingbird feeder? Some niger thistle for the goldfinches? Time will tell!

Spotted: Kenwood Scarecrow Garden

Between Wilder House and the Lillie House on Kenwood and 58th is a communal garden, though I don't know who tends it. It may not be in full swing yet, but being so close to the university, surrounded by massive, famous buildings, tennis courts, and carefully landscaped homes, it seems an unlikely and (thus) happy space for a gardening experiment.

But surely the most notable feature of the garden is not what's growing here. It's got to be the scarecrows.

With the stylized elegance of a Greek tragic chorus, this football player works hand in hand with the one-eared cat man toward their common goal.

I know better than to attack a straw man, so let's just say that if you work 24/7, I guess you get to stand around with your belly untucked.


In any case, I look forward to seeing what precious crops require such careful vigilance.