Full sun balcony plants: here are the characteristics to choose well
There are so many balcony plants that want a full sun exposure so you are really spoiled for choice to make even a very small outdoor space beautiful and welcoming. For the interior of your home, on the other hand, you will have to choose plants that prefer filtered light to direct sun. Decorating with plants is really fantastic: do you know that many plants, besides being pleasing to the eye, are beneficial because they purify the air that surrounds you?
The different needs of plants: in full sun or in cool / shade
Plants live on warm rays and sunlight, on the water they quench their thirst with and on the earth that nourishes them. Balconies, terraces and gardens become beautiful if they can be adorned with their colors and scents. If the balcony is in full sun, you must carefully choose the most suitable plants for this exposure, so that they grow well and give beautiful flowers. There are plants that fear full sun spaces and prefer cool, shady places, while others want light and warmth in order to thrive. Some fear the sun and others fear the cold. Get to know them better, therefore, before buying them and taking care of them.
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Balcony plants that love sun kisses: many and beautiful
Balconies or terraces well exposed to the sun give us premature and luxuriant blooms, which last even until November. In the summer months, especially in the hottest hours of the day, the plants can be affected, however, and more if they are in pots. If you distribute the water well on a regular basis and if you choose suitable plants, for example, those that come from arid places and warm Mediterranean areas, there is a greater chance that they will resist without difficulty, making our balconies a rainbow of colors. There are so many plants that love the sun. For example, (the name says it) the Sunflower who always follows him all day. Sunlight is its main nourishment and its cultivation is only possible in summer. Being large in size, it needs a nice large pot. The Sunflower is of American origin, but can be defined as a naturalized exotic. Here are some of them.
See also: The green summer. Vases and planters for your outdoor area
Geranium, Rose, Plumbago, Margherita, Verbena, Periwinkle: our local plants
One of the most popular balcony plants is geranium, of which there are many varieties with beautiful flowers of various and bright colors. Its beautiful scent fortunately keeps insects away. There are sagging ones, like the Parisian or bushy ones, like the zonals and the macranta. The flowers of Plumbago are also beautiful with that color between wisteria and light blue, for which they are also called Blue Gelsomini. It tolerates sun and heat very well. Being an evergreen climbing shrub, the flowers can be left hanging off the railing or tied to wicker supports for them to climb. In winter it must be taken to a shelter or to a greenhouse; it is suitable for growing in pots. Verbena loves sunny exposure, but not exaggerated, stagnant water is very harmful, it has a luxuriant and hanging flowering. Its beautiful flowers are white, pink, purple red, light purple and dark. They bloom in June and last throughout the autumn season. The Periwinkle is native to Europe and the tropics. It was used by Celtic sorcerers to make potions.
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It is luxuriant, its mantle extends beautiful and purple in the gardens. On the balcony it needs large pots. Better to water it when the soil is dry. What a beautiful perfume Lavender has! Remember the drawers of grandmothers, with all those bags with dried flowers scented with cleanliness. It loves full sun and has an intense scent. Its flowers are a beautiful lilac color. intense. An essential oil is also obtained from this beautiful plant. The symbol of Holland is a flower of various colors, yellow, purple, pink, red, orange. It needs the light and heat of the sun, but some varieties also bloom well in the shade. The shrub oleander is widespread throughout the eastern Mediterranean area and also in Asia, it has a good flowering. The flowers are of various colors, white, red, pink, yellow and apricot; it goes very well in large pots or pruned to make a hedge . And then the rose, the most beautiful flower, the queen of flowers, which has both European and Asian origin belongs to the Rosaceae family. The colors are very varied and its scent is intoxicating. The water extracted from its petals is used. in cosmetics and is incredibly beneficial for the skin. Roses are even used in the preparation of some dishes. It is very afraid of stagnant water. The daisy is easy to grow, but beautiful and simple, it loves the sun and the heat even for several hours a day, it is always full of romantic flowers and should be watered with care and abundantly especially in the summer season. Even basil and cherry tomatoes are now balcony plants, easy to grow: lots of water and lots of sun are enough.
Those who love half shade and those who do not fear the cold
Some plants prefer half shade: sun yes, but always filtered. New Guinea, like sinpatiens, belongs to the Impatiens genus, but loves the sun in partial shade. It also bears the sultry drop, if watered regularly, it has various flowers, white, red, pink, magenta, even mottled and two-colored. With the first cold, its flowering ends. Callibrachoa resists both heat and rain well, but more than a "full sun exposure it is good to offer it half shade. The flowers are hanging, small and very colorful. It can stand the cold. The Tumbergia also prefers half shade. while resisting the heat well. Its flowers with colors ranging from white to yellow have 5 petals: it is a plant that lasts all year round; therefore, it is defined as perennial. If it is cold, it should be placed inside. Among the plants with flowers that are not afraid of the cold there is the platycodon, a plant with slender bluebells, it does well in full sun and half shade, it is not afraid of the cold and can stay outdoors even in winter. In spring its variegated star-shaped flowers reappear. With this flower you can also make borders for lawns and flower beds, but also grown indoors, it enlivens the balcony and keeps it for a long time.
Exotic plants: a new touch on the balcony
Dipladenia comes from tropical America. It is a plant very suitable for a south-facing balcony, as it does not like the cold and, therefore, during the winter season it should be placed in a well-sheltered place or in a greenhouse. funnel-shaped are white, red or pink; sprouted in May, they resist until the arrival of winter. Your balcony with this plant will always bloom and is also suitable for hanging from railings. Gazania is native to southern Africa, it has a good resistance to heat, it blooms luxuriantly and without stopping from mid-spring, especially in the coastal areas and in central-southern Italy. Its flowers are orange, pink, yellow, white. Gazanias need a lot of sun, so it is recommended to place them in a bright place with direct light. But it also manages to withstand colder temperatures well. Ibiscus, an Asian plant, loves heat and sun, in winter it must be protected from too cold temperatures. It doesn't need too much care, it should be watered every two or three days. It is suitable to embellish as well as balconies and earth and also decorative indoor environments for exteriors and interiors. Its flowers are exuberant and lively. Petunia comes from South America, it needs fertile soil and above all warm, it loves the sun's rays very much, but it has no resistance to cold and when the temperature drops it is in real difficulty. Even the Surfinia, of Japanese origin, has funnel-shaped flowers, of various colors, white, pink, red, lilac, purple and with velvety leaves. Love full sun. For optimal flowering, the liquid fertilizer suitable for these plants should be used. It is a drooping petunia. The Potunia is well in the sun and does not fear the heat as long as it is irrigated frequently, as the drought damages it, and to be fertilized periodically. It has an extraordinary flowering in both spring and summer. Very similar to petunia, it has more colorful flowers, also suitable for interior decoration. The Sunpantiens loves the sun and the summer heat very much and is not afraid of showers and gusts of wind. It blooms from March to November. If it is transplanted in a pot, it must be well watered although not very frequently.
Another wonderful balcony creeper is the Bouganvillea, it looks great in the sun and blooms throughout the summer. Its colors oscillate between light pink and cyclamen. It comes from South America, its flowering is lush and very colorful, white, pink, fuchsia, purple and orange. It can be placed as a vine on a trellis or kept as a shrub. The white flowers of Solanum jasminoides, a plant native to Central and South America, have the shape of stars. In winter it should be sheltered or in a greenhouse. Night Jasmine is a climber that, despite its name, needs so much sun, it can get very high, its color is usually white, but it can also be a little pink or blue, always beautiful anyway. It looks great on the balcony in the sun. It can be placed in a vase hung high to make them hang from above or tied to a grate to make it climb.The lantana has flowers of various colors, yellow, red, orange, lilac, purple, in trumpet-shaped bunches, it blooms continuously until winter, it is also good in full sun; it is a native plant of Central and South America and has been introduced to other parts of the world as an ornamental plant. Passiflora introduced in Europe by a missionary who was returning from Mexico, has particular flowers and is very much in need of light and heat. It fears stagnant water. Not all of its fruits are edible. Its name means passion flower and is associated with religious faith.
