Never, ever go away and leave your balcony to the mercy of husbands and plant sitters. Oh my poor pelargoniums, eaten alive by Geranium Bronze Butterfly larvae.
And oh my poor Hebe. Were you scorched to death or did they just forget to water you?
The red spider mite has taken its toll too. Oh my poor Jerusalem artichokes.
And my poor Philadelphus - well, it seems to have turned to paper.
I could go on. The grey-brown mould covered hump which was once a pot of thyme, the dry yellow stalks which I was hoping would produce a mouth-watering crop of tomatoes. I could publish the photos, but I think it would be too upsetting. And children might come in.
With only a few exceptions there's going to be nothing to do but rip everything out and start again. And even the exceptions may not survive as I'm going to be away again for the next few weeks - firstly at the sea for a few days with my son, and then back in England, where we didn't manage to finish doing everything that was necessary to the house, despite working frantically for five weeks. So the balcony is going to be dependent on my husband again - who swears the plants were still "mostly" alive when he came over to London and left them to our plant sitter in mid-August. We shall see ...
Oh dear, the poor plants. I do understand how you feel. I get this same worrisome feeling every time I need to go on holiday. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, very sad. Our pelargoniums are eaten by Geranium Bronze butterfly larvae too. Do you know if there's any way of preventing them? Someone suggested to us putting coffee grounds around them, but that doesn't seem to work.
ReplyDeleteOMG - I just know how you feel! In fact, I have a garden sitter when I go on my travels, because neither my husband or son would remember to water!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's so sad! And that's the reason why I don't want to leave the garden in the summer. There's nobody to trust / gittan
ReplyDeleteOh the horrow! I'm going to be having nightmares for days to come! I'm so sorry for your loss!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sight to come back to, saving one set of plants and losing another! If I were you I wouldn't bother replacing them until you've finished travelling, then you won't need to worry.
ReplyDeleteOh no that's terrible! Spider mites are terrible, I seriously think it was only last summers heatwave that managed to cull them on my balcony (though it took most of the plants with it too!) There is one small positive to all this destruction, it means time for a restructure, a replant, and a whole burst of new life. And perhaps a new balcony sitter!
ReplyDeleteSue that is so discouraging! I completely feel for you. We left our garden in the hands of our 19 year old when we went on vacation for a week and I came back to many of my plants near death--especially my containers! They have yet to still recuperate and it's been over a month. So I feel for you, my friend! I even shed a tear for you, too.
ReplyDeleteI worry about my plants too everytime I go on a holiday. I can understand how you feel.
ReplyDeleteOh! that is ghastly!!! I agree with Jan: wait to replace them until after your trips if you possibly can. That is just too traumatic.
ReplyDeleteOh no. So sorry! Hey, could you set his cell phone or other alarm to beep once a day as his reminder to water? My dad also kills all the houseplants when my mom goes away.
ReplyDeleteHi,Just visited your blog.
ReplyDeleteIm sorry to note the condition of the garden. Hope you can revive it soon with more hardy plants and that will ease you from being very dependant for others to help.
Also I came across an idea called bottle drip water containers - they release very few drops of water a day - that way, your garden is constantly watered.