Easy-care balcony plants for every location

Whether sun, partial shade or shade – here you will find the best and most undemanding balcony plants for tubs and flower boxes for every location.

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• Easy-care balcony plants for south-facing balconies and sunny locations
• Easy-care balcony plants for locations in partial shade
• Easy-care balcony plants for locations in the shade

Easy-care balcony plants for south-facing balconies and sunny locations

With a light-flooded, warm south-facing balcony, many plants get along well. Mediterranean plants and herbs such as lavender, thyme, sage or rosemary are true sun worshippers and therefore perfect for sunny, hot locations. They are easy to plant in tubs and flower boxes, tolerate even blazing midday sun and require little water to thrive. In addition, they have a pleasant scent in summer and attract bees and beneficial insects. Since they all come from warm climates, you can easily plant them together and add a Mediterranean touch to your balcony.

Another low-maintenance representative of the Mediterranean flora is the olive tree (Olea europaea). It loves a sunny location and grows slowly, so it requires little space and is therefore also suitable for small balconies. In the bucket it usually reaches a maximum height of 1.50 meters – only waterlogging should be avoided at all costs.

The robust purslane florets (Portulaca grandiflora) also cope well with drought and are uncomplicated to care for. The succulents from South America are ideal for hanging baskets and balcony boxes due to their broad, overhanging growth. They only open their flowers when the sun is shining.

The popular margarites, with their great abundance of flowers, can cope with a lot of sun and high temperatures. While cape margarites or cape baskets (Osteospermum hybrids) are particularly suitable for small balconies and tubs, shrub margarites (Argyranthemum frutescens) also beautify more spacious balconies. In contrast to lavender, rosemary & Co., these balcony plants should be regularly supplied with water on hot summer days, sometimes water them up to twice a day, because the bale must not dry out. On the other hand, margarites can easily tolerate wind and rain – an ideal location is therefore a balcony box at the front of the railing.

Tip: Plant margarites along with other low-maintenance balcony plants that prefer the same locations as geraniums (Pelargonium zonale, Pelargonium peltatum) and petunias (Petunia). Hanging geraniums come in all kinds of flower colors: from white to pink and salmon red to red and purple, and two-tone or striped flowers are also available. Petunias have the advantage that the more sun they get, the more flowers they sprout. Both geraniums and petunias need a lot of water and a little fertilizer every now and then, similar to the margarite.

A smaller variant of petunia are the colorful magic bells (Calibrachoa), which bloom very richly in summer and are available in many colors. They fall gracefully over the flower box, are easy to cut and defy wind and rain alike.

Blazing sun and wet feet are among the preferences of oleander (Nerium oleander). A special feature that the popular and easy-care container plant owes to its natural occurrence on floodplains. The plant loves it when it can sip water from a high-edged pot coaster all day in summer. So don’t be afraid to leave the pot in water for up to a third!

Easy-care balcony plants for locations in partial shade

For somewhat shadier balconies facing west, east or north of the house, the Fleißige Lieschen (Impatiens walleriana) is made for you. The robust plant provides colorful accents with its colorful flowers and is wonderfully easy to care for. It is available as an annual and perennial balcony plant with a height of up to 40 centimetres. If the industrious lizard is too shady, it will produce fewer flowers; too much sun, on the other hand, causes burns in the form of brown spots on the leaves. The same applies to the male faithful (Lobelia erinus), whose rich, strong blue flowers delight from May to September and must not be too dark. Due to its hanging growth, this plant is ideal for balcony boxes and hanging baskets.

The Tearful Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) is another low-maintenance candidate for semi-shaded and wind-protected spots. The early-flowering garden perennial feels just as comfortable in balcony boxes as it does in large pots and tubs. The need for water is moderate, in addition, the hardy Tearful Heart needs a period of frost to bloom properly.

Plant beginners will also enjoy begonia (Begonia boliviensis). Depending on the variety, the easy-care balcony flower shines with double or undouble, large or small flowers until autumn. Even adverse weather conditions do not detract from their inexhaustible growth. Thanks to its thick-fleshed leaves, it can store a lot of water and therefore only needs moderate watering.

Northern house walls are the number one place of well-being for the snowflake flower (Sutera cordata). The distinctive hanging plant grows reliably even in smaller balcony boxes and can grow up to one meter tall. It forms long shoots with delicate, rich green foliage and small white flowers during the summer months.

Easy-care balcony plants for locations in the shade

For north-facing balconies or balconies shaded by trees or buildings, you cannot choose from the same range of plants as for sunny locations, but they are often very robust balcony plants with little demand on soil and care. The astilbe is a good example of this. Only a few perennials bloom as luxuriantly in the shade as the astilbe, also known as the magnificent sparrow. In addition, some varieties of astilbes can grow up to a meter in height. Other varieties are ideal for flower boxes or for planting tubs and large pots. The color spectrum of the panicle-shaped flowers ranges from white to creamy yellow and pink to dark red and purple. Tip: The sunnier the astilbe is, the wetter you should keep the soil.

The easy-care fuchsia (fuchsia) thrives best with regular watering and little sun. Their graceful bell blossoms sit by the hundreds on the shrubs and bloom until autumn. The different fuchsia species can be very different in appearance. As an overhanging plant, fuchsia is suitable for hanging baskets, pots and tubs.

A well-moistened soil without waterlogging is the perfect base for the hydrangea (Hydrangea) with its large flower umbels. On warm days, she has a high need for water, a special hydrangea fertilizer can also be useful. The hydrangea thanks you for the care measures with a lush flowering – even as a container plant. The visual opposite of the hydrangea’s floral splendour is the evergreen boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). It is also one of the easy-care plants and provides more structure on the balcony. Boxwood is very tolerant of pruning, hardy and can be easily cut into geometric shapes or figures. As a balcony plant, it hardly needs any care – a little watering and fertilizing is enough.