Bloom Day Preview in the Greenhouse

Enthusiasm waned. Plants went on without me. Hyacinth bulbs are finally out of chill and in pots.

Schlumbergera:

There are other blooming plants but these are the most startling. I gave away a rooted Persian Shield, a Gerbera seedling and something else I forget to a delightful visitor named Lillie, 20 years older than me, after we toured the garden in my Mule. And seeds! We gathered seeds of everything outside that had pods.

It was wonderful encouragement, her visit. 

Another Peek into the Greenhouse

The heaters are unplugged. Tonight's low above 40º leads into a week of temps above 50º -- we do have ups and downs.

 Bloggers have discussed recently about whether their Schlumbergeras are Thanksgiving or Christmas Cactus.

With careful choosing and the least bit of manipulation of light, water and temperature you might produce a Thanksgiving Cactus and others for Advent,
Hanukkuh, Christmas and Boxing Day.

The Schlumbergera behind this pink one have buds of varying sizes, none about to open.

I'll spare you another look at my Tomato Plant that reaches to the roof. Cold has delayed ripening but the fruits look super.

I tugged at a culm of an Areca Palm this summer and it came out of the pot. It's putting on new fronds. You know how I am about every little piece of anything not being tossed aside?

Bromeliad tree. I didn't step back far enough to get the top.

These two little fellows still have a piece of their dead mother attached.

They are in too much shade to have bright color.

A house full of all one kind of Bromeliad is kind of overwhelming. The ones in pots demand a lot of room. I almost let one over behind other plants die for lack of water. Maybe I don't have to save every little pup. I am surprised that Spanish Moss seems content hanging with the Neoregelias.

When it was too cold to play outdoors I did a lot of reading about ways of keeping plants through the winter. A sunny window will carry lots of plants as will a grow light. Gardeners will find a way.

Christmas Cactuses with Baby Teeth

That's what emerging buds on Schlumbergera look like to me, baby teeth.

Some of the red cacti have buds bigger than baby teeth.

... and some show no signs of buds. Some will be open at Thanksgiving and some may not be ready at Christmas.

Dog Days in and out of the Greenhouse

There's not a lot to peek at in the greenhouse this time of year.

Water from the misting apparatus collecting on the bench below grew some interesting fungi.

A rooting rate of 75% for Lantana cuttings taken a couple weeks ago. I had to remove 3 that never came out of a wilt. I always need a few more chartreuse alternanthera. Two of three Duranta look as if they'll root. Duranta is a good blooming greenhouse plant for winter, so one or two small are good to have.

Outside, Schlumbergera, Rhipsalidopsis, Kalanchoe and Calla Lilies are in light shade on a little patio with a little morning sun. Some are on makeshift benches.  

Cycad seedling

Epiphyllum oxypetalum has buds. There's been some bud

drop but we'll have open buds soon if I can keep the 

watering schedule. 

I potted up a single tomato plant for the greenhouse, grown from a tiny sucker off a Better Boy plant before it was planted in the garden. I didn't take a picture; maybe when it has little tomatoes I will.

We spent much time late yesterday finding tomato worms that were eating my tomatoes outside. I know they grow into a lovely large moth, but they strip the plants in a very short time and have to be removed in a no-spray patch. Some fat larvae were four inches long and very green, easily hidden by arranging themselves along stems. One that had eaten nearly half of a small tomato was a little fellow slightly more than an inch long and still brown. Imagine how many leaves and tomatoes he would eat before he reached 4 inches long.

I'm watering the beds on either side of the greenhouse. I hope by next year they'll be mature enough to show off in the manner of Claus Dalby's greenhouse beds with white flowers, my inspiration. 

Christmas Cactus Is Still a Show

Most of the reds are about done. I was going to bring a pink cactus into the house. When I took it out of the cache pot to water it, tiny green frogs started jumping out of the cache pot.

Those little green frogs are an important component of my greenhouse crew. They along with the various lizards eat insects so chemicals are not part of my process. It is startling to open the greenhouse door and have a green frog leap onto one's head or arm, but they're harmless. I should write a blog post on the realities of a greenhouse. I keep seeing so many romantic greenhouses and potting sheds on Pinterest. Nobody ever mentions the work and the creatures.

Christmas Cactuses in Orange and Yellow

The post just before was all about Pink Schlumbergera and White. This post features the Orange and Yellow.

Trudy's Red sneaked into this picture.

Orange isn't a traditional Christmas color but this sure is pretty.

None of my Christmas Cactuses have names -- I call the reds Trudy's Red, and Scarlet to distinguish the two. One I bought and one is from Miss Trudy's generous cutting last year. Pink, White, Orange and Yellow were also Trudy's cuttings.

There are at least 3 plants of every color, you can tell by the different colors of pots. I like to put a plastic pot inside a cache pot. I haven't found cache pots that fit the square plastic pots yet. The square plastic pots hold 3 cuttings each to make a fuller plant.

Christmas Cactuses in Pink and White

I took so many pics I am dividing the current Schlumbergeras into a post of Pink and White. Yellow and Orange will follow. Was it just last week they were all Trudy's Red and my Scarlet?

Orange and Yellow Christmas Cactuses follow this post.

I'm linked at May Dreams Gardens for Bloom Day

Christmas Cactus

Schlumbergera at its finest. I used to think Christmas Cactus growing was difficult. Every little piece will root. So far I have three different cultivars blooming. None are named except for what I call them. There is a White, a Scarlet and Trudy's Red named for the dear lady who gave me cuttings of 5 different.

These first two pics are of the a Christmas Cactus I bought after the Holidays one year for $2.25.

I distinguish this one from the one below as Scarlet.

I call this one 'Trudy's Red' because it is different from my Scarlet,

with white at the base of the petals.

Trudy's Red and Trudy's White in all sizes.

The colors yet to bloom are toward the back.

Two shelves in the greenhouse are devoted to Christmas 

Cactus in all sizes. There's even two tiny shoot rooting now.

Anything more than a single leaf gets laid on a pot of soil.

Besides the red and white there are pink, peach and yellow yet to bloom.

I put this mug in my kitchen window after I got him potted up.