Here’s what the greenhouse looks like. It’s not in its final position but it’s already looking good. The frangipani, okra, tomato and hollyhock seedlings are inside and there’s plenty of room to add more.

Speaking of okra, tomato and hollyhock seeds, I really need to pot them up very soon. Their roots, especially the tomato seedlings, are showing through the jiffy pellet.

I don’t think I mentioned this before, but I re-potted the succulents again. They’re in a plastic black bowl all grouped together and looking nice. I’ll show a before and after:

Before…

After…

Finally got myself a mini greenhouse and assembled it last night. I took it out this morning and put all the frangipani seedlings in it and it’s got so much more room left.

Don’t know why I didn’t get one sooner, it really saves space on the balcony. I’m thinking of getting a shelf display of some sort for the plants on the south wall of the balcony to neaten things up as well. It would certainly same some space!

Next item for the balcony is the shed. There’s a corner of the balcony that’s just getting messy and full of gardening crap I’d rather hide away than leave out for display.

Can’t wait til the rain stops, then I can sweep the balcony again and get ready for spring entertaining.

One a side note, the hollyhock, tomato and okra seedlings are coming along nicely. Only 2 of 5 okra seeds germinated, but that’s ok, I’m not sure I need anymore! I planted those seeds in jiffy blocks and the roots are starting to show through. I’m going to need a lot more little pots to transplant them into!

My dad came over today to borrow some sanding stuff. I couldn’t resist showing him how large the tomato plants have gotten since he had a small hand raising them while I was away for a month. We ended up picking 2 of the ripest tomatoes and eating them. Yum, so sweet and they weren’t even *fully* ripe yet.

I told him about the Momoko tomatoes I’m going to start next month and he asked for a couple of plants when they’re big enough. My pleasure to do so, of course. Any excuse to grow more plants!

I finally found some pot sealer for the terracotta pots that I should have sealed before putting the tomatoes in them. Once this crop is finished, I’m going to throw out the existing tomato plants, clean the pots and seal them. I might even paint them so I have all matching black pots on the balcony.

It looks like the sunny weather is coming to an end soon, Thursday look to be the start of rain again. Saturday’s going to be windy, I hope the tomatoes will survive!

You know winter is well and truly set in when the asiatic lily is fading and the frangipani leaves are dropping.

The seedlings in the greenhouse propagation tray seem to be doing well. Lots of lavender seedlings popping up…

and even the candytuft seedlings are coming along…

The tomato plants are growing like weeds but a lot of the lower leaves are starting to turn yellow. I’m not sure if that’s just the natural progression of the plant or if it’s not getting enough light since it’s winter. They get about 4 hours of direct sun and bright filtered light otherwise. The fruits are getting rather large now (well, large for cherry tomatoes) are starting to change colour.

Funny how I’ve had a couple of dreams lately about bright red cherry tomatoes on my cherry tomato plants. In my dreams, they tasted awesome. That would be a nice treat if my tomatoes turn out tasty!

I can’t believe I forgot to blog about the whole seed planting thing. I added the frangipani photo gallery and forgot to actually blog about the planting of them.

Anyway, so I planted a bunch of seeds last weekend, 20 frangipani seeds, a heap of lavender and 10 or so perennial candytuft. I’m keeping them moist but not wet by watering every 2-3 days with a 10 mL syringe.

I know it’s been less than a week, but the first seeds are starting to show some…. progress.

The first of the lavender seeds has germinated.

The candytuft seeds are… hairy? I have no idea why, I’m hoping it’s not fungus! Anyway, one or two of them looks like showing the first signs of roots, but they’re so small that I couldn’t get a good photo. This is a photo of the hairy seed.

The last thing I did was to try and fix the Moses in the cradle. I pretty much cut it back so it’s more compact again, and I stuck the cut bits back into the pot. I hope that works! If it doesn’t, the little bastard’s going in the tip ;o)

Now that I’m back for a little while, I can do a little planning on what to do next in my garden.

First thing would be to re-pot the Asiatic lilies so they’re clumped together in one pot. I managed to secure one more plant just before I left, so I have 3 lilies now. I wanted to plant the Asiatic lilies with perennial candytuft, so I’ll need to germinate a few seeds of those as well.

I also want to get a compact garden shed to store spare pots, tools, potting mix and all the other gardening bits and pieces. There were 2 different ones I was interested in, one was a Keter Compact Shed and the other is a Spanbilt Storage Cabinet with doors. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to find compact garden sheds for a balcony! I was ideally looking for a 100 x 60 x 180 cm shed, and these two are the closest thing to it. I have no clue where to buy the Keter Compact Shed, but I found that Bunnings hve the Spanbilt shed, so I may just go for that.

The outdoor dining set I bought on eBay.com.au didn’t arrive before I left. I still have to organise for delivery of the table and chairs. It’s such a neat little set; it’s wicker and there are 4 chairs and 4 stools (8 seating places) that tucks neatly into each other and under the table so it forms a sort of cube. Pictures will be coming soon.