remember when S built me a planter from old wooden palettes and we filled it with succulents and herbs and hung it on the west side of my patio last december?

and remember when i said i was really trying to work on turning my brown thumb green?

well, it looks like some things never change. lucky for me, the succulents were hearty enough to withstand my botanical neglect. the herbs? notsomuch.

so this weekend we said goodbye to our flavorful friends and stopped by home depot to pick up some extra soil and find their replacements. considering the inland climate and my lack of proper watering skills, S and i opted to fill the remaining tiers with succulents plants only. home depot’s gardening department had an array of cacti to choose from and at just under $4 a piece, it was a relatively inexpensive endeavor. we elected for hodgepodge of varieties in every shade of green on the color spectrum. coupled with the existing four succulent plants that survived the winter, the planter is now full with the addition of our latest crop of cacti. and i must say, the patio certainly now feels more complete.

in fact, being out there this weekend made me excited to take more advantage of its (albeit quaint) tranquil space come summer. with no end in sight to these warm temperatures, i anticipate a lot of time spent al fresco, admiring our gallery of succulents from our adirondack chairs, cold beverage in hand.