Our backyard is very, very small. It consists of a paved path, one long narrow bed- in which the ivy and honeysuckle are rooted and one rectangular bed (formerly the site of a shed) in which we have a couple of holly bushes, a eucalyptus tree and a number of smaller shrubs.

The path is choked with tubs and there's only the narrowest passage through.

Like you we have a host of indoor plants. Mainly cactus.

I love that idea of the house as "ark in a sea of cold".