Balcony Planters

Hello All! I'm very new here and am so glad to have found such an interesting and informative site!

I have a lot of container plantings around my pool area and just love them! I would really like to add to these and mount some window box/planters on my balcony railing. The problem here is, it's really windy up there and I would need to plant something that didn't require a lot of water and didn't lose a lot of leaves/flowers. (Silk? haha - Just Kidding!)

I've seen these planter boxes they sell with a built in water reservior. Has anybody tried them? Any suggestions on what kind of plants would do well in Zone 9B under these conditions? It's going to get really Hot soon, so these cool-loving annuals I currently have growing, aren't going to like it too much.

I would really appreciate any ideas you might have.

Thank-you

If you want to try the Watersorb crystals, there's a co-op going on here on DG at http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/698140/ They can really be a lifesaver for your plants in hot weather.

These are polymer crystals that you mix (sparingly) in the soil and they absorb water and swell up into jelly-like pieces. As the soil dries out they release the moisture to the plant roots. You can get away with watering less frequently. I use them at the cottage so my planters are usually safe for the week, and at home on the decks in boxes that would otherwise need watering twice a day.

This photo shows a balcony-railing planter with sun-loving subjects that survived a pretty hot summer with these crystals in the soil. They're good for patio tomatoes, too, which prefer even soil moisture.

I successfully used three self-watering window box planters last year. I added the water crystals too, so they needed watering only once a week, maybe twice if it was really hot (95+). These plants get lots of wind but they weren't bothered much. I used calibrachoa (Million Bells or Callies) and dwarf snapdragons. The photo was taken in mid-August. I got the window boxes from Gardener's Supply, and I love them!