Gardening, specifically container gardening, has become one of my favorite pastimes. It is as relaxing as it is aesthetically rewarding.

I have created a sort of jungle cum rain forest cum desert out on my enclosed deck. Tropical plants share space with desert succulents. Yuccas abide alongside hibiscus, and majesty palms grow amongst periwinkles and begonias.

There are four varieties of ficus.  You will find coleus, crotons, Rangoon creepers, bougainvillea, Hawaiian Ti, jade and tropical ferns — gardenias and impatiens. Ivy trails from hanging baskets. And there are other plants, including some I can’t identify.

The deck area, about 350 square feet on three levels, supports something like 100 containers, large and small. It is a biosphere -- a microcosm. Two kinds of lizards (chameleons and geckos) live out there. They feast on the bugs that are attracted to the plants.

My neighbor's cat Pepi considers the Jungle his home away from home.  Warm afternoons find him lolling on one of the benches, content in the seclusion the surrounding high board fence provides.  When Pepi's not around, there are occasional visits from tropical birds.

Come on out. We’ll kick back, have a cool one, maybe run into some neighbors, and get to know one another a little better.