It's a severe winter, I've only got one Aloe ferox that has managed to flower, the other two have succumbed to the frost.
So, if like me you're staying indoors but still have the gardening creative urge, here are a few ideas I picked up on the web to keep busy with until the warmer weather greets us again.
If you have any spare shopping bags lying around, fill one with soil and plant something, maybe like tomatoes, and hang in a sunny, protected spot on your porch or patio. How wonderful to pick some beautiful red tomatoes just outside your kitchen door!
A perfect indoors project for the cold weather is to paint some pots and stencil on your house number. They can then be placed next to your gate or front door. Visitors will be enthralled!
If you are anything like me, a compulsive hoarder, you might have an old chandelier-type light fitting stuck away somewhere in a store room. This one with the cup-holders is perfect for filling with bird seed and hanging it from a hook or from a tree in the garden. The birds will be ever-thankful!
Start a pineapple farm! You remember when we planted avocado pips this way as kids? It works the same for pineapple tops. And not only does 3 or four of them on a shelf look great, but soon you can plant your own pineapple tree if you happen to live in a temperate zone.
Save some of your more frost-tender plants by taking cuttings or pups and planting them in some imaginative holders. This way you will have a beautiful display as well as having some plants to transplant as soon as it warms up.
For a couple of days, save all your toilet roll insides, fill with soil and sow some seeds. The warm indoors is perfect conditions for propagation and, come spring, they will be ready to transplant.
Have some lovely, creative winter days!
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