Spring

It always excites me when spring comes around in Europe. In Brisbane there is no real distinction between seasons so I've never really enjoyed seeing the lifeless, brown plants transform into lush, green life again. In the last couple of weeks I have dragged my seemingly dead plants from under their winter shelter, found a spot for them to catch the 5 minutes of sun that touches our balcony and gave them a good feed of water. To my delight our three dead strawberry plants have come back to life. They survived the cold winter and will live for another season (unless I kill them accidentally).

My roses are sprouting shoots everywhere which is lovely. I'm hoping that I get a few flowers this year because last year there was only one.

I'm not too sure what's going to happen with my jalapeno plants though. I followed some advice on a website and cut them right down to brave the cold winter so they look like sticks at the moment with no sign of life yet. I'll persevere to see if they come out of their slumber.

Last week I bought some new plants to freshen up the balcony. I usually try and stick to growing plants that I can use like herbes and vegetables but I felt like my little 'garden' needed some colour. So I bought some pretty, purple flowers.

Rosemary, Thyme and Mint. 

Basil.

When walking through the forest it's nice to see wild flowers sharing their colour amongst the brown, winter ground.

The local apricot orchards springing some new life.

So refreshing after a cold, white winter!