Scaevola – An Unusual Balcony Plant. It Survives Even Some Really Harsh Conditions

Some balconies, due to exposure to heavy winds, are not a good place for most plants. If you add lots of sun exposure throughout most of the day, then having a climber doesn't sound like an option at all. Surfinia will get torn by the wind and pelargonium just keeps breaking. The plant you need to choose in such a situation is scaevola, also known as fan flower!

In moderate climate scaevola is an annual plant. It blooms in plenty in the summer until the first autumn frost comes.

It has got long shoots with juicy leaves. Its flowers are really subtle. The basic color is blue, though they can also be white, light blue and pink.

They can be planted in hanging pots or standard long balcony pots. Though it will never be as long as pelargonium or surfinia, it's getting more and more popular.

It spreads in all directions and that is why it grows best in hanging pots. It grows really fast and that's something you have to bear in mind of planting it in one pot with other flowers. It looks great growing on its own, but together with horseshoe pelargonium it looks marvelous, too.

Scaevola grows well in all condition thanks to its frail shoots. That is why you can keep it in sunny and windy spots. It endures dry periods as well as pelargonium does, or even better. A lot depends on the kind of container we plant it in.

Still, I know people who choose their balcony plants using the 'will it survive my holidays?' criterion.

Please note that scaevola is not a succulent. And it needs to be watered when the soil is dry. All plants growing in turf (which is often sold as the soil medium) will dry out more quickly. So a lot depends on the soil quality.

The strongest points of the plant are the frail shoots and juicy leaves. As for me, there is one more advantage.

This is the only balcony plant which is known for its rampant spread. On each stalk under each leaf grows another stalk, from which another leaf forms. And so on and so forth. Flowers appear at tips of the stalks. So the whole plant keeps blooming all the time.