tropicool

Tropicool

tropicool, patio

Tropicool corner on my patio. Photo ©nini,tjader.2017

The summer challenge of Urban Jungle Bloggers is “Tropicool”. As many of my plants are outdoors over the so called warm (?) season, I choose to have my tropicool place outdoors as well, on the patio.

tropicool

Tropicool corner on my patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

So I take a couple of step out to come to that space. There I can sit under the big figtree (which has lost almost all its leaves at the top of the old branches and not produced new ones yet).  It is a pretty protected area even on overcast days, surrounded by pelargonia-plants, the fig trees and my olivetree, to add to the the tropical illusion. It is a nice place to sit and read, pretty cool, and you can hear the wind-chime on the wall.

tropicool, patio

The tropicool corneer on my patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

It is a perfect place to sit and read a book. To take time off from gardening and other tasks.

tropicool, patio

The tropicool corner of my patio.Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

From here I can see all my plantpots that are out on the patio and keep an eye on how they feel and how they develop outdoors. The arrangement on the trellis on the wall is not optimal. A cobea and lots of sweet peas are fighting for the space. They both live in the same large pot. I should have had only one of them… either the cobea or the sweet peas. The sweet peas are not yet in bloom. I await their fragrance when it will bloom, which will be soon. It is the first time I succeeded to get sweet peas to grow. The cobea blooms much later, if at all, usually by September. The cobea is a fantastic climber and can reach 3 meters in height during one summer.

Notice the small figtree in middle front?

figtree, tropicool, patio

Small figtree in the tropicool corner. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

This is the cutting from the larger figtree that I cut off early spring and placed in a bottle of water. It got roots pretty fast and got planted in a pot then. It is developing fine and it likes being outdoors, sprouting new leaves at every branch. I wish the larger figtree would get new leaves soon too…

tropicool, patio

The tropicoolcorner at the patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Only the cut off  branch of the larger figtree has fresh leaves. But they all came when the figtree was still indoors. The other leaves are getting yellow falling off one by one. I know, that is normal in our climate, but still… Please grow new leaves before autumn comes when the tree go indoors again!

patio, garden

The patio with view to the garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

From the tropicool corner I can look out into the garden. I have plants in pots out there as well. The sofa is the most protected space at the patio, as the up-stairs neighbours balcony protects it.

My patio can be really tropical on sunny days and temperature can reach +38C near to the wall. The tropicool corner does not get that hot. If it does you have to leave the patio for the garden…

tropicool, patio

The tropicool corner of my patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I really should have moved that hose under the chair and the mover at right front before I shot this picture… They don’t belong in this styling…

tropicool, patio

At the patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

I even have plants on the top of the sofa at the patio. From left a small carnation with a divine fragrance, then my ginkgo biloba which has come alive again against all odds. Then two rosemary plants that over winter are indoors. They have both bloomed. The one to the right started blooming in winter and has still not stopped blooming. The bumble-bees love it. I cut both regularly when I need rosemary with my food.

tropicool, patio, tomatoes

On the patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

On the table is a tomato-plant that comes from seeds from a slice of tomato bought at the supermarket. Recently, it has grown a lot and flowers have now appeared. There will hopefully also be tomatoes on it… On its right is a myrtle tree that blooms on and off. On the railing is a smaller tomato-plant with cocktail-tomatoes which I bought ready-grown. When a tomato is ripe there, I pick it and eat as a snack. To its right are two kinds of thyme which I had to move to pots because they got all grown over by my peppermint and mint in the garden.

tropicool, patio, pots

At the entrance to the patio. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

At the entrance/exit to/from the patio and garden I have a pot of red and white flowers called cape marguerites. The white ones are presently on the other side and not seen in the picture. They bloom until the frost takes them some time in October. Just outside are two pots of red yemenite basil which I have each summer for the sake of the bumble-bees. It can of course also be used as regular basil and eaten. But the flowers are nice and the bumble-bees love them so I don’t cut them off to have in salads. Behind them is a large pot with giant verbena. 

livingroom, tropicool

In the livingroom. Photo, ©nini.tjader.2017

We’ve not had the best weather this summer. Rain, thunder, hail, and sometimes sunny. A day can begin sunny and then the rains and clouds come. And it being sunny is no guarantee for tropical weather or hot temperatures. Slightly warmer… but not tropical. There are few days in Sweden that you can consider the weather to be tropical. This corner (above) in the livingroom is the most tropical I can produce indoors. But it is also a nice place when the weather is uninviting to go outdoors.

Or I can spend time in the kitchen which always is a bit tropical when it comes to plants…

ktichen, kitchenwindows, tropicool

Tropicool in the kitchen. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2017

Posted by nini in House plants, outside place, tropicool, Urban Jungle Bloggers, 0 comments