Ikea are doing some very up to date hanging planters at the moment, which look better than the old style macramé ones in my opinion. The beauty of them is that you can fill your windows on a greater scale than by just using the sills. That said I only have a little cactus pot and an orchid trough with an orchid and gardenia in it myself as I still haven't been to Ikea and only use the kitchen window due to kids' messing potential elsewhere

@catalanqueen it has struggled but it's still alive! It has been in a few rooms around the house, including the bathroom which it didn't seem to like - despite having a large window I think that the spot it was in in there was too dark for it. I've recently moved it out to our sunroom, where it seems to be thriving (contrary to all of the recommended growing conditions for calathea). The humidity is low but I've found that wetting the leaves at least once a week keeps it happy and it's throwing out lots of new leaves which is great.

Hi Kanye, Here are your design challenges: 1. The decking area has a variety of colour - red brick garage, pale deck, wood fence. 2. The fence isn't straight, but slopes to different levels. 3. The area is very open, which isn't conducive to spending time in. People typically prefer to have some sense of enclosure in outside dining/seating areas. 4. The garden itself is plain lawn, sloping up to the patio area. This area has become a focal point, so needs to be both inviting and offer interest. In other words, you want to be intrigued to get from your house to this area. Design solutions: Without knowing a full brief, this is educated guesswork, but you may consider: 1. Adding a perception of depth by surrounding the sides and rear of the space with a hedge, climbers and trees. Pleached is design classic. Look at trees around your property for clues. Privet is thirsty, so you may consider hornbeam/yew hedge, clematis/ivy and repeat hornbeam pleached or fruit trees. Bring hedge/pleached trees around the front of the deck, to create an opening entrance to the deck. 2. You might consider adding a pergola over a proposed dining area. 3. Consider extending this hedging/tree pattern in the rest of the garden. Why not create an orchard area with path moving through it taking you to the deck. . Also plant beds etc... Kit

7m x7m precludes palms really and don't forget Date Palms and Washingtonia are both affected by the Palm weevil and will need regular treatment. If you don't live there full time and are unable to get regular maintenance carried out, go for indigenous succulents and things like grape vine ( I have 5 huge vines at my house on the mainland, they make beautiful shade in the Summer, produce kilos of grapes and the only care they get at the moment is a trim in the winter and a thorough watering in the Spring as I am only there twice a year until I retire there next year). I like the look of Bougainvillia but it can tend to overgrow a small space and is unpleasant to trim back with its spiteful thorns, Wisteria is a better bet for a climber but takes a while to establish and produce flowers. Lantana, Plumbago and geraniums are all indigenous and do quite well without too much care, there are also some dwarf bamboos that do well in hot dry conditions, common Ivy does well here but is invasive. I know that there are a few good garden centres around the outskirts of Palma so go and have a look around,many of the labels give you good information about habitat and growing conditions and I am sure the staff would be only too happy to give advice. I have lived on Ibiza for the last 13 years, it is a little more humid than some parts of Mallorca but if your place is to the West of the island closer to the mountains that will also be fairly humid, there are plants there that have evolved to survive on the moisture from the nightly dew. There are also a lot of ornamental grasses that will grow with a little irrigation, some of them change to fantastic reds and browns toward the end of the Summer and produce beautiful seed heads, a range of Ryes, Timothys and fescues would give a layered effect. A late thought, looking at your photo, if you have trickle irrigation you can install some of the pockets for a vertical garden on one or more walls of the yard to produce a lush, cosy atmosphere. The pic is a Portugese villa from Google images.