The joy of gardening! Your life may still suck, but it will suck less.

This winter has been a lot warmer than expected, and the unseasonably high temperatures have brought a couple of consequences to my little balcony garden.

The main effect was my petunia are still sprouting and blooming. And also, my lavender plant is looking better than ever! I got a few pots of plants from friends a couple of months ago, who decided not to give me any more books as my birthday gift this year.  These flowers seem to thrive and they keep flowering as the days go by. 

Petunias 歐洲矮牽牛 come in a wide variety of colors and they have been one of my favorite flowers of all time. Usually, they stop blooming as summer wanes, and even though some blooms are still reliable until autumn, most stop blooming after Thanksgiving. By December, nothing will be left except for some green leaves. But not this year. For some odd reason, my four baskets of petunia seem to like their new friends: A pot of sweet basil, a wonderfully scented lavender plant and three smaller pots of adorable plants plus the rosemary are looking robust too. The smell is simply amazing!

I ended up making more pasta sauces these days and my sweet basil has added more flavors to my winter tomato soup. Now that's a life well-lived.

I'm turning my office space into an indoor greenhouse.
These ferns are all air-purifying plants that can greatly improve indoor air quality. 

I collected this bowl of moss in the wild while hiking up Hermei mountain last month. 

My new favorite plant is the air plant, 空氣鳳梨 sitting gracefully in a stylish holder. 

One happiness tip for busy people: find a hobby and stick to it. Your life may still suck, but it will suck less.