Tropicals & Tender Perennials: So close to bloom, so close to frost, 1 by andycdn

andycdn wrote:
One of my babies bloomed!

Of my ten seedlings, I put two in the care of others.

Maria, who knows nothing about plants, got a bloom from the brug I gave her (I think my demanding fertilizing schedule paid off. She followed it better than I did). She brought the plant indoors from her apartment balcony in late September as frost season approached and put her in the south-facing window of her bedroom. Then she noticed there were some buds forming, one especially.

She called me around 10:30 pm last week to say, "I hope I'm not calling too late. I came into my apartment and thought someone had broken in, a woman wearing cheap perfume."

(you're supposed to laugh here)

The brug had opened, and Maria was overwhelmed by the scent.

This is a cross from Susie, Eventide x Butterfly, which I germinated this February. I was so pleased to have a bloom within a year!

My poor friend found the fragrance so overpowering she had to move the plant into her apartment hallway overnight so she could breathe and sleep.

I went over the next evening and shot these photos. As for the rest of mine, I'm putting them into dormancy and hoping I can keep them alive until spring's joyous renewal. They've lost all their leaves and I've sprayed with insecticidal soap for evident spider mite.

Andy