My life needed a little bit of greenery so I adopted these mini succulents last weekend from an eclectic nursery in San Jose. The nursery was an endless jungle of plants and nooks with hidden treasures like kaleidoscopic pheasants in cages, a functional (and massive) koi pond, and even a ship. Very neat place.

The succulents are living on my office patio until I can find some functional and aesthetically pleasing containers. Apparently tiny pot makers don’t believe in drainage holes, because I haven’t had much luck so far. I still have to do some research on how to properly care for a succulent — they’ll have to go live in the backyard if they’re not getting enough light on the patio.

I also de-herbed and de-soiled my whiskey barrels on Sunday, which entailed some encounters with some very nasty creepy crawlies. There were no less than three centipedes, plenty of slimy worms, and a nest of woodlouse spiders. I’m planning on replanting my barrels with all tea-type herbs — I don’t do a lot of cooking so all that sage and oregano went to waste.

In other plant news, my cherry tree is sprouting leaves and will definitely be blossoming in another month or so. My raspberry bush is flourishing, I’ve already got strawberries, and even my little blackberry is still struggling along. All in all, it’s looking very springy here.

quote by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden