Balcony plants - what to plant

Just saw the house plant thread and thought I would add a balcony plant thread.

I moved last summer to a new place which has a balcony and would like to put flowers along it this summer. It is a narrow but long balcony which gets a little to fair bit of late afternoon sun. I was thinking of the longer pots that hang from the balcony's metal edge.

I know nothing about plants and tend to kill them (except for catus )

What plants are good for the climate here (without full sun) that are hard to kill and look nice and colorful. Also, where do you recommend that I get the plants. OBI or Bauhaus or a garden shop?

Also, is it allowed to grow ivory on the walls of your balcony here? I have a nice lattace that is already on the baclony wall and thought it might be nice to do this, but dont know if it is ok.

I will begin this project in April I think - Any suggestions?

Thanks for you help,
Babs

Plastic.

I'm going to try bamboo this year. Nothing survives on my south facing balcony on a wind-tunnel street. Well, cactus might.

You want to breed Elephants on your Balcony? I'm pretty sure that's not allowed!

Opps I meant ivy - don't think I could fit the elephant on the balcony

I'm similar to DDBug - I have a south-facing balcony with no protection whatsoever from the elements.
Does anybody have any idea about plants that might thrive in that kind of environment?

@ eurobabs - try petunias or geranium, you can get decent ones from Aldi or Tengelmann (or all the supermarkets). Keep your eyes open for the special offers.
Check with your Hausmeister about the ivy, that's your best bet.

Marigolds are very hardy and love sun and shade and geraniums. Take a look around at what's on other balconies. Plus, when you go to OBI or wherever, they have plants organized by which types are for balonies, etc.

You should check with your hausmeister anyway re. hanging plants on the balcony. In some houses they don't want you to hang plants from the metal edge, as dripping water/soil can cause all sorts of stains on the outside of the balcony. (Same goes for the ivy...)

Go for geraniums. They are classic and really hard to kill. We have gone on vacation for three weeks and they were fine when we got home and watered them again (admittedly we have flower boxes with a reservoir underneath, those are great, by the way, you don't have to water as often, just fill them up and you have some leeway). Also, if you get bugs, the geraniums will still survive, whereas other flowers will die.

I have had marigolds on my balcony too and they didn't do well. Maybe it was me?

Last year I bought my geraniums at OBI and they were really excellent quality, nice big plants with lots of blooms etc. and inexpensive.