Yes, Environment Canada has confirmed they have never cancelled winter, it’s just a little delayed this year.

The troughs should be sleeping under a cover of snow but some of the plants are still green; the troughs haven’t frozen in yet. I’ve actually been giving them a little bit of water – pretending it might be rain. In the downtown area and along the river the poplar trees are starting to set a few buds. And comments on un-winter weather have been noted by others down east and across the border.

The local bunny in the park, who has mostly turned white is out and about regularly. It can probably find a few sprouts of green or a compost pile or two that isn’t frozen.

But really, we all know it’s just a matter of time before the cold rolls in. Although it was 9˚C yesterday.

One of the projects that completes the 2011 growing season for me is to post up my balcony garden journal for the year. My records of the garden used to contain a lot more information and details, but now seem to be photos, captions and the occasional video. And 2011 is no exception.

The glass gardens are getting interesting. I did a little moss collecting in BC a couple of weeks ago. On my parent’s property there are a lot of different types. Near the wood pile, moss is growing on strips of bark. On the paths and under the fruit trees the moss is shallow-rooted in the sandy soil. I’m still trying to ID the little bunches that I have now set under glass but I think I have some little pieces of feather moss, rock cap moss and juniper haircap moss. I also collected a few small twigs that are covered with a smoky grey and bright yellow lichen.

I captured a ladybug that was camping out on the sliding glass doors in the apartment and placed her under one of the glass cloches. Other than this one insect and a few worms, the glass gardens are amazingly bug-free. I’m assuming it’s just a matter of time before I get an insect bloom of some kind. Fodder for the Venus Flytrap that is patiently waiting to be fed.

It’s true.

Watering with a alcohol mix does stunt the growth of paper whites. It also makes the foliage shift to a darker green. Flower size, number (3 each) and fragrance are not affected. Gin-based bulbs achieved a height of 30.5 cm (12 inches) before they set bloom. City water supported bulbs grew to 58.5 cm ( 23 inches) and then flowered away. I do like the fragrance.

And now for something completely different.

Alpine gardening in troughs on a balcony is all about drainage with brief moments of colour and endless texture – gardening in a sometimes harsh environment of gusty wind and freezing winter. So while that goes on outside, here’s a peek at what has been going on inside.

Glass gardening in the apartment is all about moisture, and so far also brief moments of colour and endless texture – gardening in an environment that includes sunlight, cozy warmth and attention from a gardener who now has a bit more time on her hands.

The inspiration for the glass gardens was the little pots of moss and ferns that I tended this summer. I just didn’t want to part with them and knew full well that they wouldn’t make it through the winter. So I started to poke around and set up these little growing environments under glass. The outdoor plants could then happily transition inside. Now I’m still playing around with the details, but so far so good. Weekly attention to moisture levels, regular insect checks, new plant additions as I find them and some background reading has resulted in an interesting few weeks of growing.

With another month of shorter days still to come, it will be interesting to see how the plant ‘happy-meter’ shifts. The gardens aren’t getting morning sun any more and I really do need to get some distilled water for misting the environments. But it’s a diversion that will keep me busy for the next few months. Thanks to the gardener’s helper for the pics.

Well, the clean up on the balcony garden continues. I’m always a little surprised just how many containers are on the deck – the number becomes clearer when I get to move each one.

So step by step.

The ponds get emptied first. But they don’t get moved – too heavy. The firewood gets moved closer to the patio doors. The large clay troughs that I used for the veg crops don’t get moved at all, ditto the pea trellis. The soil in the big troughs gets dug through, to clear out any large root clumps that may have established themselves during the growing season. And then containers get stacked in the troughs, to help keep the soil from blowing around.

The pots get brushed out once the soil has been removed. The Adirondack chairs get moved over to the east side of the deck, where they get stacked on each other. The BBQ gets moved over closer to the patio doors as does the table and chairs. The container trays get washed and stacked – and checked to make sure any cracked or damage ones get tossed out.

This simple approach to container and tray maintenance helps get everything ready for the cold winter ahead (knock on wood, I haven’t had any clay containers break due to frost or the cold) and ensures a literally clean start in the spring.

Because I’ve had success in wintering over my small clematis in the alpine troughs, I’ve decided to try to also winter-over the big one. It’s not in a really big container so it fits inside my pepper pot. I’ve nestled it into the larger clay pot and will fill it up with soil. Probably just delaying the inevitable, but we’ll see if ‘The President’ lives to see the spring.

The alpine troughs, which are on rollers, have been moved to the east side of the balcony. There they are out of the direct sun, so don’t get so dried out and they also will get covered by snow when it comes, as it collects and drifts on that side of the deck. This part of the clean-up is super easy since we got the metal roller platforms for the troughs. Point and gently push them into position. I’ll keep watering everything for a few more weeks until we start to get some serious frost.

Balcony gardening season almost done.

My goal this year was to grow carrots that numbered more than a handful and were big enough to warrant more than a wipe with a gardening glove before popping them into my mouth.

Goal accomplished. This is two handfuls. Plump, juicy and sweet, these little carrots were planted on May 17 and harvested just over 4 months later. When I dug them out, the soil was full of fibrous white rootlets, so I understand better why they wanted water every day.

The east facing clay trough that the carrots were thinly seeded into seemed to work well, daily watering was an easy routine and the thinning challenge was a patience-testing exercise that I finally figured out this year.

Grow carrots again next year? I think I will.

And four months later ‘The President’ blooms again. Kinda unusual to have a new flower showing off so late in the season. It had made promises of a repeat performance, but I really didn’t believe it was going to happen. Faith in Mother Nature restored.

As we head into the fall, the plants in each of my three stone trough ponds are starting to change colour. Salvinia natans, the floating fern, is starting to fade. Throughout the growing season this plant grows agressively and its new shoots are bright green. But as temperatures drop, the leaves loose their green glow and slowly start to darken to a dirty green-brown.

But Azolla carliniana, the floating fairy moss takes another path. It turns a bright purple-pink as temperatures cool. A true sign that the pond temperature is now cold more often than not.

The fishes are starting to slow down a bit and seem to be nibbling on the plants. Must be getting tired of a summer of only fish food and the ocassional insect. Can’t blame ‘em for wanting something fresh every so often.