Bloom Day in the Greenhouse

Just a peek at a few blossoms.

Begonias are usually a sure thing for blooms.

Stunning in red, they are pretty in pink, too.

Mistletoe Cactus Rhipsalis has fat buds about to open.

There are white Begonia blooms at lower left, just so you

know I have white, too.  Amaryllis bulbs are slow so this

is as close to a bloom as I have, a fat Benfica bud.

Behind are Kalanchoes just coming into bloom and you 

can see tomatoes in the back ground. I picked 3, ripe.

Tomatoes are still blooming too.

Spider plant entered into the spirit of things with little

white blooms on long, long stems.

Chlorophytum comosum blooms, little spiders on the ends.

First of Pentas cuttings to bloom. Ready for Spring.

 Usually there are blue conehead blooms on Persian Shield in late winter. Only Purple Heart has blooms so far. They are in separate pots but jammed in together willy nilly under a bench for a little shade.

Hyacinths are blooming outside while these just kind of 

took their time. At least the buds were not killed when I 

put them in a refrigerator to chill where there was fruit. 

I dressed the pots with moss as the Swedish do.

Winter is not over. These will be wonderful in bloom.

Join the fun at May Dreams Gardens on Sunday to see what's blooming in gardens everywhere. 

If you haven't a bloom to show, rush out and buy an orchid plant. They are not nearly as difficult as you've been led to believe. The one I bought before Christmas has just shed its last bloom and my older plants have new bloom stalks emerging, one with fat buds the size of grapes. I keep mine in the house in an east-facing window.

Improvisational Planter

Tiny seedlings and rooted pieces take up too much room.

I looked at vertical planters online and wondered if I could improvise some kind of planter. I was thinking of using hardware cloth but how would I hang it and what to line it so soil doesn't wash out.

Hardware cloth fashioned into a half tube and stapled to a 30" x 4" board.

A long piece of oak bark off a dead limb in the materials collection fit on one side.

The other side has pieces of lichen-crusted sticks.

Long fibered sphagnum moss lined the planter to hold soil.

Plants used include rooted Graptopetalum rosettes, Burro Tail Sedum, Mistletoe Cactus, Schlumbergera and a Kalanchoe.

It may not hang vertically, but it holds lots of little pieces whose containers took up room and were not attractive. It might look good as a long table centerpiece. This project used up materials that were taking up storage space while they awaited an inspiration and cost nothing.

Outside for Summer, Line Up for Haircuts

Burro Tails and Mistletoe Cactus. I saw these displayed together on Martha Stewart's blog. Of course her burros have 4 foot tails and the Rhipsalis matches that length and there was a Selloum Philodendron.

My mistletoes would be happier in bigger pots and I will oblidge.

 Last year this was a single Tillandsia cyanea, now three. The stem from the bloom of the original plant is just visible in the center. I gave it a tug; it is firmly attached. I like these Viet Nam pots. I put the Cycad seedling in one that matches this one. It is already outside with the Christmas Cactuses.

I brought over one of the pots of Chlorophytum comosum, Asparagus densiflora 'Myersii' and a white Begonia from the Front Garden. I've had this pot for more than 30 years. The patina is real.

 Purple Heart and Persian Shield have almost outgrown their planter. A haircut will do the Setcreasea good, getting those bare stems off. There are more of these in the greenhouse. Sometimes I get carried away with cuttings.

Another candidate for a haircut: Firecracker Fern. This Rusellia also has split ends. Its graptopetalum companion has some leggy stems, too. If there wasn't a water source very near, I would never have brought all these out so far from the house to seek shade. 

I've far too many plants in pots and lots of them are asking for division or haircuts and rooting the trimmings. I am afraid to pick up any pots of Christmas Cactus -- I know they have roots sticking out of their drainage holes. I bumped up a half dozen that were in really tiny pots.

My immediate goal is to get everything out of the greenhouse before the temperatures get really unbearable.   

Bloom Day, Inside and Out

Orchids from last year have come back into bloom, well, one is blooming.

The other has a bloom stalk with tiny buds if you look closely.

These, another orchid in a glass cyclinder, a Spathiphyllum and a Pothos are

my only house plants. The Peace Lily signals to water Orchids when it wilts.

Outside the greenhouse, I am trying to make a White Garden.

Candytuft is as white as it gets. I've had Iberis for 40 years, 

started as cuttings from a late friend's Garden.

I planted out white Hyacinths forced in pots of soil this year.

Miss Winnie gave me white Iris last year. We don't know where the

Purple came from, probably a seedling among the white.

Inside the greenhouse, this box of Purple Heart and Persian Shield are

cuttings that I intended to plant out. I think I'll keep them in a container.

Strobilanthese blooms in the greenhouse. Once in a while I get blooms

during the summer. They are a novelty.

Mistletoe Cactus Rhipsalis put on buds.

Rhipsalis bloom and buds.

Easter Cactus in bud. At left is a bloom of Firecracker Fern.

Rhipsalidopsis buds. Maybe they'll bloom by Easter.

Appleblossom Amaryllis are not only lovely, they have a sweet

fragrance, rare in hippeastrums. Benfica has another bud about to open.

The tall Appleblossom is in its third year of bloom. Three of the others

are new this year and I forget whether the one in bud is Appleblossom

or maybe another color, from a previous year.

Angel Wing Begonias. Several cuttings in a pot make a big show.

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Blooms and Potential in the Greenhouse

Another peek into my greenhouse. Begonias are dependable for winter bloom, both B. semperflorens and the 'Angel Wing' cane kinds.

Above on the right is a seedling Cycad.just just visible behind the mug of Alternanthera cuttings in bloom.

At left is the only Agapanthus seedling to survive my care.

At right are white begonias with Spider Plants and Foxtail Fern. Purple Alternanthera is growing in the greenhouse floor.

Alyssum seedlings and ferns. The sword fern has yellow leaves from excessive light but the pot is full of little green crosiers, a haircut is in its future. The Bird's Nest Fern behind is faring okay. It got too big for its space in the house and moved out to the greenhouse where it acts happier.

 

Hyacinths. the purple bulbs bloom pink, the pale bulbs bloom white.

Alternanthera in a mug on the left and a pot of Burro Tail sedum, right.

Hyacinth companions this year are Sedum acre with white and Graptopetalum with pink.

I'm already planning next year's bulbs.

Pineapple Sage Salvia elegans cuttings rooted in a jar.

Behind it is a vase of Persian Shield Strobilanthes cuttings. 

Persian Shield and Purple Heart Setcreasea cuttings rooted in soil in a long container.

Rooting in soil is preferable for most things, I just tend to snip a few cuttings for a vase now and then.

If they root, they get to stay and find a pot later.

Mistletoe Cactus Rhipsalis on the top shelf, Seedling Parsley on the bottom.

Kalanchoes have buds and some are starting to open. All are white.

Last year I started to buy a red. Every little tip will root when pinched.

 Christmas lights are still up in front of the rooster.

Big pots of Epiphyllum oxypetalum are putting on new growth.

 Schlumbergeras almost done with hlooming, right on schedule. 

Reds bloomed for Thanksgiving and light colors bloomed for Christmas.

Year before last I bought this Staghorn fern Platycerium species in winter in a 2" pot. 

The big box stores sometimes have some tropical treasures in January and February. 

I'd like more Bromeliads, as if I need them. Orchids in the sunporch have bloom spikes.

It's cold here, but not like in the northern states or even in Atlanta. We expect a hard freeze on Monday and Tuesday after it rains again. It won't get cold enough for the rain to turn to snow or sleet, for which I am grateful to be that far south. When I opened the greenhouse door this morning after the sun warmed it, Ike the cat came through the narrow opening like a flash, seeking warmth.