Well i've been lazy again and haven't posted in a long time. Meanwhile the Dahlias have been blooming.
Even though I had some beautiful blooms, I have to admit that quite a few of the plants did not bloom. In fact maybe half of them did not. I had planted quite a few seedlings which seemed to be coming along quite well. I have absolutely no idea why they did not form buds and flower.
And I had another monkey raid. The monkeys seem to go after the big flowers in particular. They sit on the balcony railing, pull them off, smell them, taste them and then throw them away. And they dont spare the buds either. Its extremely depressing. Last year they did that to my Asiaitic Lillies and I did not have the heart to plant any new Lilly bulbs this time.
After the monkey raid, I moved all the Dahlia pots from the balcony at the front of my house (below) to a smaller balcony adjoining my bedroom.
This balcony (below) is towards the rear of the house so its not as easy to spot the flowers.
The plants are safer here because I have a view of the balcony from my bedroom. They mostly come early in the morning.
The monkeys almost always come first on my terrace, where they wreck havoc. They leave behind broken flower pots and uprooted plants.
Now, as soon as we hear the commotion on the terrace, we run out to the balcony, armed with sticks, brooms and the like and try to make noise while waving the sticks wildly in the air! This prevents them from venturing near. This balcony is nearer so we are able to get there in time. We have noticed, that once the monkeys are already on the balcony it is very difficult to make them go away because they are rather aggressive. The trick is to scare them away before they come near!
The Dahlias are almost done now. Just a couple of buds to be seen. I hope they flower....
Even though I had some beautiful blooms, I have to admit that quite a few of the plants did not bloom. In fact maybe half of them did not. I had planted quite a few seedlings which seemed to be coming along quite well. I have absolutely no idea why they did not form buds and flower.
And I had another monkey raid. The monkeys seem to go after the big flowers in particular. They sit on the balcony railing, pull them off, smell them, taste them and then throw them away. And they dont spare the buds either. Its extremely depressing. Last year they did that to my Asiaitic Lillies and I did not have the heart to plant any new Lilly bulbs this time. 
After the monkey raid, I moved all the Dahlia pots from the balcony at the front of my house (below) to a smaller balcony adjoining my bedroom.
This balcony (below) is towards the rear of the house so its not as easy to spot the flowers.
The plants are safer here because I have a view of the balcony from my bedroom. They mostly come early in the morning.
Now, as soon as we hear the commotion on the terrace, we run out to the balcony, armed with sticks, brooms and the like and try to make noise while waving the sticks wildly in the air! This prevents them from venturing near. This balcony is nearer so we are able to get there in time. We have noticed, that once the monkeys are already on the balcony it is very difficult to make them go away because they are rather aggressive. The trick is to scare them away before they come near!
The cuttings are mostly planted in pots on my terrace which gets lots of sunshine. Once the flowers start blooming the pots are taken to my balcony one floor below. A picture of my terrace below.
Some more Mums lining my garden on the ground floor.
Thanks to the team at Todays Flowers-Santilli, Denise, Pupo,and Sandy Carlson.
I think Poinsettias are instant mood uplifters. As I mentioned in a recent post, recently I bought some Poinsettias for my balcony and now my little balcony garden looks so cheerful with Chrysanthemums, Coleus and Poinsettias.
There are also some in a planter adjacent to my balcony.
Poinsettias(Euphorbia Pulcherrima) are native to Mexico and Central America. They are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first ambassador of US to Mexico, who introduced them to the USA in 1825. Poinsettias are the number one potted plant sold in the United States which is pretty amazing considering they are mainly sold during the Christmas holiday season. They are also called Christmas flower.
Poinsettia plants are extremely brittle and should be handled with care to not snap branches. They should be placed in a bright area and kept on the dry side.
