Nighttime Greenhouse Peek

 Nighttime temperatures are changing rapidly. Today's high was 75º and work can pick up.
This afternoon I raked pine straw that was falling like rain in front of this morning's wind.

 Summering outside was good for my Staghorn fern. It tends to look sad by winter's end, a vacation under trees and good rainfall gave it new life.

 Underneath the the Staghorn are cuttings. Purple Heart looks good, Persian Shield is kind of sad and I think the Porterweeds will be to discard, despite one being secure in the soil as if it is putting on roots. There are more cuttings, in water. They do not look so weary as these.

Another Tradescantia with finer leaves, new this year from my Alabama friend Kathy, hangs off the shelf on the East wall. The inevitable tomato plant crawls across the the topmost shelf. It's been trimmed and has a single fruit so far. The ladder is from where I put in new light bulbs. I wish there was room to leave it.

Tomato on the north wall has blooms, no fruit. I am hopeful.

 

I like the new light bulbs. No globes because of the weight.

Anytime after next weekend Hyacinth bulbs can come out of the refrigerator to rest in little pots and grow roots. I hope for Christmas bloom. Usually they bloom after Christmas because I can never get bulbs soon enough. These are a new 'speriment at maturing bulbs in their pots to see if they'll set buds for a second year. Other bulbs are on order for later.

Hyacinths

Single pots of white Hyacinths that I brought into the house where it is warmer are starting to fade.

 

Purples are my favorite.

Forced Bulb Decisions

When the daily 'feels like' is 110º one has to think cool thoughts. Nothing is as cooling as thinking about forced bulbs for the dead of winter.

After decades of forced bulbs in water, I've narrowed to a favorite: Hyacinths planted in pots of soil.

Mama always forced paperwhites in water. I was surprised to learn as an adult that not everybody's mother forced bulbs. It was as much a part of our Christmas as oranges and peppermint candy.

Mama never forced Amaryllis. I plan to skip a year of buying new Amaryllis bulbs and just see what reblooms this winter.

The hard part now is deciding which Hyacinths. I simplified that decision last year by buying locally a bag of mixed hyacinths. They ran mostly to pink shades despite the picture on the bag that showed blues and whites and yellows as well.

This is how they ended up after I picked out the dark bulbs and separated them from the tan bulbs so there was a better chance of all in a pot of 5 being in the same color family.

The previous year I planted pink, and white and the year before that, blue.

2013.

A single bulb makes a grand little gift.

Five in a pot is even better.

The pink colors seem to do best at persisting when they're put in ground after that forced bloom in pots. Bulbs planted in soil can just be slipped into the ground after bloom, pinching off the florets.

I have to hurry and place my order before I start looking back and reminiscing about how I have, too, brought tulips to successful bloom and my careful plans are out the window and I am ordering purple tulips again.

Gypsy Queen Hyacinths and purple tulips. 

More of my Hyacinths are HERE.

Do you force bulbs in winter? Do you have a favorite? Do you have a favorite vendor?

After note: I have decided on my bulbs and will place an order with Longfield Gardens very soon. I won a gorgeous Amaryllis bulb and some tulips before and think I owe them some allegiance on this order.

Where Are my Blue Hyacinths?

I was sure there would be at least one blue out of 15. There was a blue on the package label along with all these and one other color. These turned out to be  excellent mixed pots.

I didn't FORCE anybody. They are blooming outside here, too.

I noticed that Blue Festival is starting to bloom. Need more.

Coming attractions: Amaryllis, tricked into early bloom.

Hyacinths Were like Planting a Box of Chocolates

"... you never know what you're going to get," said Forrest's Mama. She was right.

I bought a mixed bag of 15 Hyacinths with 7 different colors on the package front. I divided them by bulb color, think that the light tan bulbs would surely be white and yellow which it looks as if they will be.

The purple bulbs I figured for blue and maybe a pink or two. I think there are some surprises in those pots.

Do I see orange? Can that be beet-red? First to open is a darker pink than what I usually buy. Am I going to have Fiesta pots?

I made plans earlier to buy certain colors next fall. I may try this again instead. It's exciting to see something different than expected when the weather is less than ideal outside.

Kalanchoes Potted Up

Hard to believe that I wrote to pot up Kalanchoe cuttings and actually did so and put them where I wrote they should go. Immediately I broke a bloom, watering other plants.

Kalanchoe cuttings

Work started on the Mule Barn on Monday. Freezes are coming so it may progress slowly.

Hyacinths are starting to open. I expected all the dark bulbs to be blue or purple. First opening is pink. I noticed in some of the NW Garden Show photos that they mixed all colors willy nilly in an explosion of color.

I like to separate mixed bulbs into similar bulb colors and see what kind of combos I get. My favorites are shades of pink and lavenders, or several blues together. Yellow and white works well too. Maybe next year I'll order off for more combos or all of a color for different spots.

I've been watering a good-sized potted Agapanthus from seed and a pot with several plants with similar leaves that I thought were also Agapanthus. I looked more closely today. I think the pot with the smaller leaves is a pot full of seedling Amaryllis with small bulbs formed. Won't that be a daisy? They are crowded and need separating.

You would think I would label better. Then there would not be all these little surprises, however.

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.

Hope for my Hapless Hyacinths

Remember when I discovered there were forgotten pears in the extra refrigerator into which I'd put my hyacinths to chill? I was certain that the experts were right and every little blossom embryo would be dead, dead.

Narcissus turned out well. How can they not, they don't have to hang out in a fridge for 9 weeks. You just plant bulbs in soil, water and wait.

Buds are emerging in all my pots, every bulb has buds.

Light colored bulbs are usually white or yellow.

I took a page from the Swedish bloggers and added moss.

Outside, foliage and buds are peeking out in places I had forgotten about.

Under this Camellia on a southern exposure, some mixed bulbs from years back are starting to bloom. These two are ahead of their companions.

 Seedling Camellia

These last two are early teasers from beds with hyacinths.

Which are more exciting to see, the first Hyacinths or the First Daffodils?