Outside: boxes 1 and 2

Outside, everything is basically flourishing. Including the weeds. This is what happens when your balcony isn't pointed and you go away for ten days!

But the window boxes and pots look reasonably weed-free.

So what's going on out there? Well, box 1 is quite boring. It contains two little box trees, some purple and white alyssum, a marigold, a very small and stunted nasturtium which appears to have finished for the year without producing seed - although it did produce two surprisingly large flowers - several dwarf sunflowers and a cherry tomato plant.
The sunflowers are doing fine. The wasps love sitting under their leaves, I don't know why - perhaps to be in the shade? (The picture is of one of the sunflowers not in the box, they're easier to get photos of).
The tomato plant has three sets of tomatoes growing. One was an accident, I didn't realise the plant was growing one of those extra branches that you're supposed to snip off, until it was too late really. I've been snipping off all the others but somehow missed that one.

In box 2, the strawberries are very happy with themselves. I had to dig two of them up last month because they were very crowded in the window box, but we replanted them in separate pots and they are fine. Not producing quite as well as the ones still in the box. From our seven or so plants I can pick a large handful of smallish strawbs (I think these must be a wild variety) every couple of days. The wasps and bees aren't too happy about it! They all fly up in a great cloud when I get close, and I've learnt to either pick on cool, wet days or else in the evening when they've all settled down a bit. I've also learnt that planting strawbs right next to oregano and marjoram probably isn't the best from the wasp and bee point of view. And that when the instructions say to leave 20 cm between plants, they really mean it. (Of course I didn't read the instructions until halfway through planting!)

The oregano and marjoram have been flowering for some time now. The marjoram flowers white and the oregano pink. I've had to cut the marjoram back quite a bit because as well as intruding on the strawberries it was completely overshadowing the oregano. Now I am waiting to see when I can gather seeds from them. There doesn't seem to be much on the internet about this, probably because it's simpler to take rooted cuttings, so I might go ahead and do that instead. (This is for if we move house next year. Hopefully to somewhere with a real garden!)