The beautiful spring weather compelled me to address a few overdue tasks from my gardening to-do list.

The Aloe Mothers and Babes

I am most proud of my foray into repotting the aloe plant pups, which had initially intimidated me and thus I avoided the job, giving the babes time to literally grow into a bigger problem. I can’t claim to have approached this undertaking with as keen an eye to sanitation and measurements as I have previously, but the mission is done and I have faith in the durability of the plants. And joy to the relief of one less long-term resident on the ‘back-burner.’

I did have the foresight to water the plants two days before repotting, making it easier to wriggle everything apart and out of the pot. Still took at least 30 minutes of careful digging, scooping, and shifting to safely get all the crowded pups out with minimal damage. Lo and behold, I discovered that these aloe pups sprouted from the mother root systems, instead of individually from fallen leaves (as I’ve seen in other succulent plants).

I repotted the mother plant in the original planter with the original soil, but I needed new pots and soil for the pups. I had recently collected a selection of soil additives and was ready for my first haphazard attempt at modifying soil to better suit my plant’s needs. I took a regular bag of cacti/succulent soil blend and added perlite (helps with aeration) and vermiculite (helps with water retention). In future I’d like to mix using a set formula of ratios; for this introductory attempt I only had the mental energy to eyeball it with not a single clue for proportions, and that’s okay (I hope).

While I trust my ad-lib soil mixture well enough, I’ll need to repot some of the pups a second time, because of my addition of a pebble layer to the base of the pots without drainage holes. I had heard some time ago that this trick helps prevent oversoaked soil….but turns out this method has been thoroughly proven false. Rather, it increases the chance of root rot AND it reduces the amount of space for roots to expand. So that’ll need fixing in the near future. And now we know. I am, however, quite pleased with the pebbled surface, which helps provide support for the leaves while also keeping them separated from any damp soil.

The aloe vera was much easier to replant, being not so crowded and the container having straight edges. However, my energy levels had been drained by the other aloe management, so I merely clipped the pups at their base and popped them in new pots.

The Front Garden

I somehow cobbled together the enthusiasm to go dig around in the front garden. And great fortune that I did, because all this time I had been worried about my autumn-planted hyacinths not growing, but I forgot that they had been half buried under the tarp. Pulled back the tarp and voila! They’ve been making headway.

Although the hyacinths had been a nice surprise, my goal was to plant the half-sprouted purple irises that someone in my neighborhood had dug up from their own yard and set out for free taking. Almost two weeks ago. They’d been sitting in a bag on my porch since then, because sometimes the biggest hurdle to gardening is just not having the energy or time to do things in a timely manner. With any luck, these plants are hardy enough to survive me, and we’ll see them blooming before the season is over.