A balcony in Spring

I love going to a gardening centre, although I do get very greedy when I am there. There are so many beautiful plants to choose from, it is very hard to stop myself piling up my cart with tons of plants.
Last week Spring finally arrived in the Netherlands, and I was inspired to clean my balcony and make it ready for Spring and Summer.
First, I had a lot of cleaning to do. Unfortunately I left some of the cleaning last Autumn, so there was still a lot to do. I did not clean it all in one go, but I paced myself a little. An hour a day for a couple of days was more than enough. (and better than five hours of cleaning on one day!)
Anyway, despite the dirty hands, I finally had cleaned the bannister, the floors and all the pots. I was really proud of myself.

Dirt hands as you can see, but dirty because I did honest work!

Clean pots, ready to be used again.

Last week I went to the gardening centre with my mum, who also needed plants for her balcony. We went with Hugo, my green Citroen and he was packed full of plants when we were finished.


Amazing selections in the gardening centre



Beautiful roses. I did not buy these, but I get greedy and very tempted when I see something like this.



The boot of Hugo (my car) already full of plants

But I also had to find room for these as well 



And for the plants my mother bought!

I spent the rest of the afternoon putting plants in pots and putting them in the right area. I am very fond of blue, pink, white and purple flowers and I rarely buy other colours. I also want beautiful flowers to attrackt bees. I love bees and they already have a difficult time, so if my balcony gives them something they like, all the better!


Gorgeous isn't it?



Absolutely beautiful.



Lovely combination



A great view from the living room

I also planted some seeds, I like to call this my vegetable garden. I want to grow runner beans and peas, artichoke, fennel and chamomile. I am not sure how well they will turn out, but we will have to wait and see.


We shall have to wait and see how well these will do. Last year thet did fine, so I have good hope for some great results.