Spring on the horizon

Spring is lovely because it is still piercingly cool with interjections from a promising sun.

It is brighter earlier and later.

Spring also brings another refreshing year of gardening.

I'm not sure when our landscaping will be done but my mum and I have been playing off each other what we should plant. Since it gets severely hot here in the summer, it is only wise to plant water saving and native plants. I'm thinking the front garden will mostly be just that. Here are some lovely aloes that I see every morning on my walk to work from the train station:

I will have to source some more mature aloes, it would take forrrrever to grow them to that size!

 The cooler weather also means, meat cooking on a pot.

 This Saturday, I repotted most of my succulents as they have all outgrown their pots. I took this opportunity to plant some of them together. 

 Yup, our old french oven rusted and Aaron drilled several drainage holes and tada!

 For the front porch, a radiant flap jack, a few different types of Sedum Jellybeans and lovely ice plants.

 I propagated quite a few of them and as you can see, the Jade plant has gotten bigger. I will need to plant it into the ground next year as it just keeps outgrowing its pot.

 One thing I learnt about growing succulents is that, they are most fabulous when grown outside. This colouring of red tips only appear when grown outdoors with stressors of nature. Stress makes beauty. Hoyas bloom better when they are root bound.  That is why I'm confused as to why people keep tiny succulents inside when they will grow at a sub optimum environment. People like their geometric planters kept inside I guess.

My pride and joy are these Sedum jelly beans because I left them outside to die. Most of them were droopy from over watering, I didn't have the heart to throw them out so I abandoned them instead. A season later and they have flourished under my somewhat neglect!

I also spray painted some plastic planters. My plan is to try my hands at macrame for a hanging pot plant! I got 6 rolls of coral cords for 50 cents each at Spotlight.

 On the knitting front, my first jumper is slowly coming together. I am a quarter of a way through with the second sleeve. After that, I'll need to block these and sew them together. Perhaps, it will be ready to wear when the weather is still cool enough to warrant a jumpy?

 This week's painting topic is Surrealism. A quick search of that genre had me worried because most of them seem so abstract and morbid. I went with what I was comfortable with.