Greenhouse Filled by Bloom Day, Few Blossoms

Everything that summered outdoors in back inside. Really.

Tillandsia cyanea. These are bracts. The little flowers are bright blue when they appear.

 

Pentas 

 

Cyclamen was a gift last spring. 

It rebloomed after a summer rest.

 

 

Wax Begonias will bloom all winter.

The dark foliage is Alternanthera.

 

Is this Gusmania or Bilbergia? I can never remember. Does it matter?

Happy Bloom Day mid-autumn. Join other Bloom Day blogs at May Dreams Gardens 

to see what is blooming in other locations around the world.

 

Bloom Day Preview

Last night I realized how long it had been since I made a blog post. Spring sprang and then summer followed right behind.

We'll have a Brugmansia bloom in another night or two, maybe. I failed to mention before that when they first put out new growth, two of the stems fainted and fell over. I never knew why. I cut them off at ground level. The stems looked fine, there was no insect damage nor evidence of disease.

I got the Okra bed dug and seeds planted alphabetically before an inch of rain fell this afternoon. The electricity went off for 2 hours during which I had a nice nap which I needed after all that digging in the sun.

I bought Ferry-Morse seeds: Clear Clemson Superb and Louisiana Green Velvet.




In the Greenhouse, blooming:

My new Pelargonium, which we call zonal geranium.

Pentas cuttings needing planting out for butterflies.

Look closely behind; there is a green tomato.

My tomato plants have green tomatoes and lots of

blossoms on new plants and the old one. 

Just outside the greenhouse:

   
Calla Lilies, so far only in yellow.

 

Agapanthus bloom about to pop open. This is a seedling from seeds 'borrowed' off plants in a parking lot in Florida. 

The REAL Bloom Day post with more flowers is here: Bloom Day in the Hot and Humid Coastal South.

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.

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?

My Best Butterfly Plants for Summer

Everybody has been anxiously awaiting the summer influx of butterflies. They are a little late because, I guess, of the rains. Every day I am seeing a few more numbers and an occasional newcomer not spotted before this season.

At first glance I thought he was just another Tiger. Then I saw the black on his back and the lines of gold that distinguish a Black Swallowtail. The size gives him away, too. Tithonia was his nectar of choice.

Yellow Lantana is late getting started but this Checkerspot found it.

Pipevine Swallowtails are finding Pentas galore. The tall pinks and reds are their favorites but they find white Pentas to be good nectaring, too.

We're seeing Pipevines and Spicebush Swallowtails nectaring on the same plants.

Except for one plant that did not die back in winter,

Duranta is slow to bloom. This Gulf Frit found

the blooming one.

Pride of Barbados is blooming and Esperanza has commenced again.

I see Swallowtails visiting the Petunia patch but not in great numbers.

The best Butterfly attractions here at this time are

1. Tithonia
2. Pentas
3. Lantana
4. Pride of Barbados

Approaching fall, Pineapple Sage, Salvia leucantha and Duranta attract butterflies as well. Plantings for butterflies also provide nectar for hummingbirds. This morning I saw one on Tithonia and later on Pentas, happily sipping alongside butterflies.

Pentas and Pineapple Sage need carrying over winter as cuttings. I rooted more white Lantana for the bed on the south side of the greenhouse. Tithonia reseeds if you pull up the frost-killed plants and lay them with the seed heads where you want next year's plants to grow.

What are your best butterfly plants? 

Work, Busy Work, Getting Rooted Cuttings Planted

I was reading another blug where the writer said she worked outside as long as she could and then went inside to read and write. I go inside to make more lists.

I can cross off my lists the 3 dozen Pentas rooted over the winter.

April, 2012

Everything is later this year. This time last year, pale pink pentas were blooming where I'd set them in this bed, along with tall plants of Verbena on a Stick. Five of these pentas have put out new growth from old roots. I added five rooted cuttings, only two of which are yet brooming. There is one tiny Verbena bonariensis about 2 inches tall.

I doubt it makes any difference to Butterflies if Pentas are planted by color. White Pentas are in the Yellow Rose bed, old joined by new cuttings.

When the Pentas in this bed really get blooming, this Iris will just be spiky foliage.

Rose pink and what we call 'Miss Julie's Favorite' pink are in the Pink Rose bed, again old plants and new.  There were only 3 each of dwarf lavender and dwarf red with a white eye to put under the Magnolia. Red Pentas are in yet another bed.

There are more than a dozen Chartreuse Alternanthera rooted; a tray with several Datura seedlings needs to grow on a bit before they're planted. Brugmansia cuttings are in the ground. They were pale; greening up since planting.

This time last year Brugmansias were much bigger than this year.  The plants were bigger; this precocious Brug cutting has a bloom larger than the plant, so big that the bloom lies on the ground. Plants returning from roots are much bigger and greener, but there are no other signs of buds so far.

 

 

The Brug where I found the snake last week is the last to put out leaves, so far just tiny buds have appeared. I wonder if the reptile frightened it out of a month's growth? That's the same bed where I planted rose and pink Pentas today. I carefully pulled the pine straw back with a rake with a long handle before I planted and dug holes with post hole diggers with sharp edges.

 

Rhipsalidopsis, Easter or Mother's Day Cactus

 

 

 

Most of the rest of the greenhouse plants are Epiphytes that remain in pots, Bromeliads, some Kalanchoes for next winter's bloom and a few other exotics that can take heat and enjoy high humidity since I have to mist to keep temperatures down.

 

 Linking to Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday -- I have to remember to give the newly planted Brugs a bit of fertilizer so they will green on up. Go see what everybody has for the Flower Flaunt and encourage Tootsie, whose father needs prayers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bloom Day in the Greenhouse April 2013

 

Spring is really here! There are still plants to set out and plans to make.

 

Pentas

I ended up with 3 dozen cuttings at the end.

Graptopetalum and Sedum acre in a broken pot arrangement.

Neoregelia Bromeliad and pink Begonias

Fibrous rooted Begonia cuttings

 



I keep reading that Impatiens have fallen to a fatal fungus. I learned years back that in this hot climate, impatiens were going to demand oceans of twice-daily watering or they would faint and fall over. Wax-leaf begonias are a tough substitute.

Angel Wing Begonia

Cane Begonias are also easily rooted. I'm going to try planting some outside in the garden.

The Easter Cactus is a bit late. These are the first blooms open and more buds coming. What looks like snow on the Arrowhead vine is sawdust from a carpenter bee, making a nest under the bench.

Orchids are not really in the greenhouse. They prefer the climate in the house.

Orchids are not as finicky as I used to think and the blooms last for months!

 

Happy Bloom Day.

 

 

 

Bloom Day the Meme -- join at May Dreams Gardens with your host Carol.

Please remember to leave her a message.

Plans for Greenhouse Summer

The temperature reached 99.5 in the greenhouse today, with ventilating fan and mist. I was able to get it down by a few degrees by opening the vents on top; must watch the plants remaining inside for stress.

Pentas everywhere. Need to get them planted, butterflies are out.

Potted up one Brugmansia yesterday. Pentas await planting once I

decide just how the bed with Red Pentas is going to go. I may make

it smaller this year and omit Gomphrena.

 

White Pentas cuttings. The Yellow Rose bed Pentas from last year have

great new foliage, too.

 

 

Inside, the Easter Cactus is a little late, but putting on buds.

I found an Amaryllis bud on one of last year's plants. Nymph, which bloomed with no foliage, is now putting on new leaves as the last stem turns brown. Begonias are faring okay on the floor where it is

a little cooler.

 

The pest control crew is at work. Ike the Cat has moved to cooler quaters, creating himself a 'cave'

on the carport under a bench with his winter covers for a tent. Anoles are glad he left the building.

 

The other day I walked into the greenhouse and a fat toad was sitting in a pot of tiny segments from my Burro's Tail Sedum put to root. He was disgruntled at being made to move. I was not happy about my tiny rootlings being sat upon, either. At least two already had tiny plants forming.

I moved them to a high shelf. The toad hopped off under the potting bench. His name is Delmar.