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.

LIghts, Camera, not much Action

Temperatures today returned to warm for January. It rained more than a half inch. I spent some time in the greenhouse checking plants for problems. My parlor palm had ugly brown spots on some leaves and stems. I pruned out the uglies and repotted the rootbound palm to see if it makes a new start. Otherwise to the dump.

I love the Mardi Gras look of the Christmas lights, so they are staying for now.

Most of the Christmas Cactuses have finished blooming. I pinched off dead blossoms.

Next to bloom will be Kalanchoes on the back of the potting bench.

Broad view from the door. Epiphyllums take up much of the whole north side.

Hyacinths for forcing are starting to show a few buds. 

They're planted with Graptopetalum and Sedum Acre.

Under the bench are white begonias, big begonia near right.

I rotated pots where hyacinths were stretching toward the light.

The repotted palm is on the left behind the Epi with some Bromeliads.

The little red blooms in the white pot are a begonia.

I set some seedlings out in the rain for a short time, and two ferns. 

There are a number of things I look forward to including an Amaryllis with a fat bud and more coming.

Heaters are unplugged for now. By midweek we'll expect another freeze but maybe a mild one.

There are two daffodils blooming outside!

Putting More Plants into a Small Space

After I moved these pots into the Greenhouse, I saw two Pins with plants in a

container that gave me the idea to put the spider plants that were all around 

and two Foxtail ferns into the begonia pots. The ideas came from Boxwoods

Garden, Atlanta. 

Begonias have shallow roots so the deeper pots had styrofoam pieces in the bottom to fill up space. I pulled out most of the styrofoam to make room for the Foxtail Ferns' fleshy roots. Begonias lifted out easily and tucked back in. All the Spider Babies needed was clipping off and tucking into the soil, except for the one in the above pic. I cut away the plastic pot where the roots had grown through the drain holes and filled the cache pot under it. 

Bromeliad pups are almost as large as the mother plants which are fading.

I think I'll leave the pups in place until spring. 

Ready for Bloom Day with White Begonias

Between rain showers on Bloom Day I might sit on this bench and contemplate the rest of the garden.

 

 

 

 

Begonias and Tomatoes, Summer Staples

Begonias are much easier than the now-maligned-because-they-get-a-virus and die Impatiens. Wax-leaf Begonias can go without water without fainting and falling over. They let you know they've been mistreated by going all pale in the foliage.

White begonias tried out last evening for a role in pots where

Violas spent the winter beside the circle bench.

Later today I'll go back with fresh potting soil and pot them there.

They are in mostly shade except in late afternoon as the sun goes down. They joined an urn of striped Spider Plants.  One project done calls for another. Now wisteria must be pruned so I can see past and through it.

I made a tuteur style support for Kellogg's Breakfast Tomato that's being adored by a Kniphofia. I drove a rebar piece into the ground and one long stake of the tuteur went into the ground about a foot.

Rebar is the main support -- the wood pieces are mostly decoration, lashed with twine.

Flamme and Black Krim tomatoes and their supports: rebar and decor. I drove wood stakes in the ground beside the plants to discourage armadillo digging here.

Hot, hot today. Forty per cent chance of showers, would be much appreciated.

When I went out to the greenhouse for a moment, a big Zebra Swallowtail flitted past the doors as I came out. I was beginning to despair about butterflies -- they seem scarce for this time of year.