Colors of Easter in the Greenhouse

On my hunt for Easter Egg colors in the garden, I found a variety of flowers.
This first one from the greenhouse is technically already outside. There are more still inside, this large one is the only one with open blooms.

Rhipsalidopsis

Commonly called Easter Cactus.

I expect it will still be blooming at Mother's Day.

Still blooming: Amaryllis are usually thought of as Christmas flowers. Mine kind of bloom when they're ready.

 

 

This last one bloomed before Thanksgiving. Now it has a notion to bloom again. There is one more pot with a good sized bulb that I think might be Spartacus.

None of the Broms are blooming.

This one has the best color of any.

 

Begonias bloom year around. This one is a tiny cutting in a yogurt cup.
On the right is a rooted Pentas cutting, kept in water all winter and now getting ready to go out to the garden soon.

 

More rooted cuttings; these spent the winter in soil. A single early purple bloom on the Porterweed, I expect red blooms soon. Persian Shield got too dry but revived well. There are Purple Heart Cuttings and some other odds and ends to plant when I can. I think warm weather is here to stay.

Greenhouse plants kept in the house: 2 orchids in bloom and one has buds.

The Insouciant Gardener

'Lackadaisical' was the other word I considered but it isn't that I lack bodily energy or enthusiasm, I just fail to be as diligent about some things as I could.

One of the things I am not diligent about is labeling. The Amaryllis above bloomed last month out of regular Amaryllis season through my failed diligence. I don't know its name -- it lost its label. Does it really matter? No. What matters is that it is healthy and hardy.

Now that the freezes are done for a few days, I poked around in the greenhouse and hauled up the Amaryllis that were lying on their sides to keep water out of the pots, ripped off the dead leaves and took stock. Some could use just a scoop of topdressing with fresh potting soil. They have more resting to do.  

I've more Amaryllis than I remembered. There are two pots labeled 'Benfica.' I remembered only one. They're both awfully fat for one to be an offset. Some pots have no labels. I am not distressed about labels. When they bloom I recognize them most of the time.

There are plants that I have not rested because some are seedlings or offsets and not quite blooming size. If they get a notion to bloom, they'll bloom without rest -- and without labels.

 I am hoping that pots of bulbs sitting around the greenhouse will eventually produce blooms like these from 2011. I'm experimenting with Tazetta narcissus that grew in someone's garden for the past five decades to see if they'll bloom in a pot. I dug Exotica Amaryllis from my own garden before the freeze to see if they'll bloom again in a pot. 

I may still order off for Amaryllis. Vendors continue to send tempting emails. I can make room.

A Month Behind on Bulbs

I'm not behind on bulbs to plant in the garden -- it's still warm here and those can wait. I am behind on forcing bulbs, despite having had an Amaryllis bloom in a pot already.

 

We went to the city yesterday and stopped at Lowe's because their selections are a little different from our local HD. I found a bag of 15 Hyacinths for ten dollars. The cardboard label showed 10 different hyacinth shades. I would bet from the bulbs I separated that their are no more than 3 different in this bag.

I always separate Hyacinth bulbs by color and plant like colors together. Even if they are different cultivars they will blend better that way, pinks and purples together, whites and yellows in another pot.

After I gave them a small drink of water I put the pots in plastic bags, labeled and put to chill in a dedicated refrigerator where no fruit is stored.

 I always put a future date so I don't have to count from the date I potted them. They need more than 7 weeks of chill but this will give me a target date for checking on them -- right after Christmas.

  

After I potted the Hyacinths, I went out and dug some Amaryllis bulbs crowded by this Kniphofia that bloomed a last blossom two weeks ago. There were 5 small bulbs and one full-sized.

Last April they looked like this:

I'll hope for bloom sometime after Christmas. The smaller bulbs can grow on in some fresh potting mix. 

While I was out there, I clipped some Alternanthera to root in water during winter. The mug has sentiment -- my brother bought it at a yard sale. My nephew mailed it to me after Bob's death, saying he knew it was meant for me.

Notice the cedar boards above? We had to improvise a way to make the boards stay in place after there was a minor disaster when He-Who pulled on a shelf when he climbed up to oil the exhaust fan motor.

Each center board now has two metal screws on each end, holding the metal frame to the board and securing the frame so that it does not bow out.

Moving everything to take the shelf unit down freed up space when the Schlumbergeras moved to the north wall. It will fill up fast. Even the colored lights had to be repositioned.

Yellow pots have gone into hiding as soon as the bottom shelf gets green plants in front of them. The back shelf of the potting bench has changed pots again (below). I like a line of white best, I think. 

There's a Schlumbergera in the center planning to be a Thanksgiving Cactus.

"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

Cuttings, and Shrimp Seeds, and a Question about Amaryllis

Cuttings should have been struck weeks ago. Better now than never.

Pentas, 5 colors.

Right now they are under mist on the floor. Later they'll go on a shelf. We are back in a warm spell to be followed by rain in a few days which should help.

Six cuttings each of Porterweed, blue and coral. I put 3 Duranta cuttings in a 4" pot to see if they will bloom through the winter, which they sometimes will. Four pots have two cuttings each  of Purple Heart and 5 cuttings of Persian Shield.

Pentas and Porterweed usually come back reliably in the Spring, but cuttings are nice for a head start on Butterfly nectar plants.  Persian Shield returns; cuttings will likely bloom in the greenhouse, a fun thing. Purple Heart is good to have, inside and out.

Shrimp plants are others sure to bloom in winter. I haven't taken cuttings but pots are ready to receive cuttings of both red and white Shrimps.

White Shrimp plants have formed seeds. The dry pods hold several seeds the size of the head of a pin. I've never seen these before, plan to plant a few.

Where are all these plants going for Winter? I'm beginning to wonder myself.

Remember all those little bean-like leaves of Burro-Tail Sedum that I kept putting in tiny containers? They're starting to grow and will need bigger homes than yogurt cups soon.

Amaryllis in pots will have to move inside soon. I cut back 2 at the end of August. An Appleblossom that was sitting in a dry corner started putting out new growth so I watered it and guess what? You'll see what it did, soon.

I'm trialing different ways of letting them dry off as experts direct, and some ways of growing that are not written anywhere. Amaryllis don't 'rest' in Malaysia. Amaryllis grown in the ground die back outdoors here when frost kills the tops and new growth and blooms are triggered by warm weather in Spring. Are they cut back in South Africa and Holland when they're dug because it makes shipping easier, or is it necessary? Am I the only one who questions these things?

Amaryllis Minerva, Maybe

As best I remember this is Minerva. It looks like photos I saw online. I can't remember how many years back I first planted it.

Minerva with Appleblossom

I've had Appleblossom in all stages of bloom and the last 

one is a bud, out of sight at right. Benfica is trying to get in

the picture, too, its second round of bloom.

Minerva, at least I think so.

Up close. This Amaryllis is not as red as most photos show.

I wish you could smell the incredibly sweet fragrance of Appleblossom.

This last look shows the Appleblossom bud, and Benfica

about to open at right.

We had 4 inches of rain this past weekend. It is damp and cool in the greenhouse, ideal for blooming bulbs. 

Spartacus put up another bud and is about to open. The only potted Amaryllis that has not bloomed is Nymph. It has huge leaves, no sign of a bud. Maybe in the summer; they seem to have their own timetable despite the best forcing methods.

I need to mention that a greenhouse is not required for growing Amaryllis. They grow equally well in the house. When the weather warms, the plants go outside in front of shrubbery until time to put it somewhere warm and dry, withhold water and let the leaves dry off. It can rest anywhere.  Bring it out to the light when the rest period is over and water once, then start regular watering when you see growth that is usually a bud. Near a sunny window is as good as a glass house. Newly purchased bulbs in fall get a drink after they're potted and then wait for green. 

Blushing Bride

She must really be embarrassed, I didn't expect this much redness from a Blushing Bride.

I plan to add some little white lights in the Grapevine. Maybe they will draw

attention away from that neon pink Hippeastrum. 

Amaryllis and Alternanthera

A chill wind blows this morning but it isn't cold enough for a coat. Imagine this: in Canada,
Tootsie who hosts Friday's Fertilizer Flower Flaunt already has a foot of snow!

Alternanthera grew behind the bench and electrical panel all the way to the ceiling, a good thing when we needed shade on hot days. Now that cool weather approaches we need sunlight. I cut back the dark Alternanthera, already in bloom. We went from this:

to this:

I plan to add more grapevine to the swag over the top that hides the gutter that protects the electrical  from drips when it rains. Maybe I can put some Christmas lights on the grapevine.

Today's big excitement is an amaryllis bud about to open on one of the bulbs I despaired of seeing bloom when I thought they were diseased. Those red spots persisted but it's green underneath.

These are all pink.

I realized when I went to check on the Amaryllis bulbs from previous years that are drying off in the toolshed that I have forgotten when I was to bring them out and start watering again. My notes are kind of sketchy, but I believe that Nymph, the pretty pale double one, takes longer to bring into bloom, so I will start watering it maybe next week. Two of the bulbs still have some green leaves. They should be ready by Thanksgiving to get some new soil on top the pot and start watering again. 

Another look at the pink bud that is about to open. 

November Is Time for a Change

We are on the verge of a change in the weather. More than an inch of rain fell today. I could hardly wait to go look at my cabbages and Kale. When John the Veggie Man told me what bad luck he'd had with the super-powered fertilizer he shared with me, I was afraid the wilty look Kale had was because of the fertilizer despite my efforts to side-dress with just a spoonful, not too much. It was dry wind I now believe. I didn't make pics, but they look great after the rain.

Most everything that I can stuff inside is in. I can hardly bear to leave anything out. I broke the tops from angel wing begonias growing in the ground and stuck 5 in a pot. They are already firm in the soil when given a tug.

A bag of potting soil for seeds and things as I need it. Everything tucked in. 

I keep looking at glorious pots of this sedum hanging long and graceful. Mine just kind of splays and every bit that breaks gets tucked in a bit of soil to root.

The Amaryllis I was concerned about soft spots and redness? They all put up a bud or two. 

Notice the peeper frog on the lamp. Every cache pot has 6 or 8 inside. We should be bug-free.

These were just quick pics when I went to check on something after dark. Daylight shots are better. 

I located seeds for fall sowing today. I have more corn poppies than I thought, maybe enough Larkspur, plenty of breadseed poppies and enough for a good smattering of California poppies. There is Silene for the Fiesta bed. I have to remember I am not putting that pink out front. Some of the poppies have to wait until Tulips go in, late December.

When I was pulling grass around some daylilies I dug down to check on daffodils. Do you do that? Dig in beds where nothing shows to see what's underground? Anyway, there was a rotten bulb where I dug and one triple-nose fat daffodil bulb starting to put out new roots. We'll see what comes up in the spring.

I sliced straight down with a spade beside small Camellia bushes under the big tree forms today, getting them ready to transplant later. Under one bush there was another bunch of those big ugly roots of Catbrier. I thought I got them all last time, but not so. One reason for limbing up Camellias into trees was so I could get under there and dig out those nasty vines. They look like huge sweet potatoes.

Just as the rain started I finished raking pine straw off the driveway to put around Camellias. Bushels of Pecan leaves are falling and Oak leaves continue as usual. I have some nice pictures of fall color to put on Seedscatterer blog.

You Never Know What Will Come in Mailorder

This is the kind of post I am reluctant to make but I need to document this.

 

I ordered 3 Amaryllis bulbs from a well-known vendor. When I opened them the next day, they had lesions that disturbed me. Were these red blotch or just damage suffered in digging and processing? I sent an email to the vendor with photos like the ones above. The thing that worried me the most was the mushy spots like the one at bottom left.

 

The reply was that the company's horticulturist said this was just normal spots suffered in washing the bulbs, not to worry, plant the bulbs.

 

 

 

What! I peeled away the worst of the soft spots and planted them. I broke off the budding side bulb what looked so red and angry in the top picture upper left. The mother bulb was white and firm underneath. It isn't as if I'd ordered dozens and dozens. Perhaps they will be fine and produce wonderful blossoms by Christmas the way they are supposed to.

 

Sprouting leaves look promising. I isolated them from my other Amaryllis, just in case. None of my other bulbs from other sources looked like this. I did not expecct this from a vendor that promises firm, healthy bulbs. I'm just glad I thought to order a minimum number and check out their Hippeastrums before placing a large order.

The vendor I used last year sent firm bulbs without red spots. I already made a note to use that one again.