Cacti and Succulents in bloom

The past few weeks took an interesting turn at our windowsill as some of the plants decided to flower.  I was surprised with a couple of them, actually - I thought they don't bloom at all.


This is the Peanut Cactus, so called because of its shape.  I had this for quite a while now, and I have successfully propagated this.  Quite a hardy plant, this one.  From out of the blue, one of the smaller plants suddenly flowered - it's quite beautiful.




This one is on a really small ceramic pot, but it bore a beautiful flower just the same, with multiple yellow petals and a rather large pistil area (recalling my grade school Biology here).

Gardening time

We've been blessed these past few months with glorious summer weather.  Admittedly I haven't been doing much gardening lately, but the fun, sunny days got me motivated again.  But instead of working the soil, I want to do it in pots and cans this time.  And instead of veggies, I want to try my hand with flowers now.  And planting in transportable medium makes sense, as I can display these in front of the house, and move someplace else in case the strong Wellington winds threaten to destroy my work.

So last 2nd February I bought some garden soil, seeds, and a grown azalea to start me off.

Planting and gardening can be a very rewarding experience.  And I think I'm off to a good start, because last 13th February, I have seen life sprouting from the seeds.

I plan to make gardening a longer term hobby, and collect azaleas as my main interest while I work with flowers and veggies on the side.  Hmmm... I guess I can consider this my New Year's resolution: to be more active outdoors.  Not the running, exercising kind, but outdoorsy just the same.