Summer deck time / Cat Christmas

Summer weather is finally here and it’s outstanding. Jamie and I are constantly out on the deck or pottering around in the garden. The big to-do list for our house has taken a backseat and that’s fine by me.

After living in apartments for three years with no private outdoor areas? This is heaven. Even though we’re still using camp chairs as outdoor furniture. I love having a deck full of plants and I can’t wait for them to grow taller. Totally want a crazy jungle deck.

My mini chili pepper farm lives on, along with other tropical plants that have no business being grown in Tasmania. The tally’s currently at one habanero plant, three cayennes (two regular, one gold), two jalapenos, and one rocoto.

In our apartment, we had a large north-facing window in our living room that acted as a year-round greenhouse for every plant that sat in the windowsill. Not surprisingly, the Tahitian lime (largest pot) and habanero (small glossy black pot) are struggling a little bit outdoors. They’d really like a mini-greenhouse, I’m sure.

The tall white pot contains my rocoto, which is a different species of chili pepper than most of the common cultivars. It still hates frost and strong winds, but it’s far more tolerant of cool temperatures than, say, habaneros. Daydreaming of rocoto relish and rocotos rellenos already.

The purple cordyline is just chillin’ for now. He’s working on growing big so he can go out into the yard.

The succulent gang. I’ve got a couple of echeverias, a few sempervivums, and a stripey haworthia, though I really couldn’t tell you their exact species. The fuzzy echeveria is about to put on flowers! Neat.

Golden cayenne; twiggy pink geranium; ‘Electric Pink’ cordyline; trough full of mint; Christmas cactus Easter cactus; tiny Japanese maple. Yay variety? The mints are spearmint and lime mint, which if that’s not perfect for a mojito I don’t know what is.

This Christmas cactus is in full bloom right now, which seems off in the southern hemisphere, but okay? Merry Christmas to you too, little man, I will give you a nicer looking pot once your flowers are all done.

ETA: He’s not a Christmas cactus, he’s an Easter cactus! Totally different species. Mystery solved.

Meanwhile, in the backyard, our transplanted hebe is going great guns. We moved it out of the front yard in September, and given its maturity, I wasn’t sure if it would transplant well. Ha ha, no worries there now.

This is why people (and bees!) like hebes. They deliver. I really like the violet flowers that fade to white at the ends. It’s making me consider planting another one nearby.

I also potted a very special plant to go in our windowsill. Two, in fact: catnip and catmint. Cat Christmas has come early this year!

Mishka was very pleased with her gifts. Happy holidays, y’all.