Blooming in January...

...in the greenhouse, of course, which is kinda cheating, but still, here it is. Four yr. old Epiphylum 'Gonway's Giant'. First and only bloom so far, but worth the wait!

Oh my .. that's luscious.

SIgh, I left mine outside this winter, it had been so reticent about blooming, perhaps I should have given it better care, that one is gorgeous.

On a happier note, my CHS edgeworthia in alive! No leaves and just little things that look like buds on the tops of the stems but it does appear to be living.

73 here today and I was outside surveying the damage. There, amongst the carnage, a rosemary was blooming and it looked so fresh and Spring like. There is hope. The camellias seemed to have put themselves on hold. There are plenty of healthy buds but nothing is opening. Strange.

Same here, Ardesia. Camelia japonica's are covered with buds---have been for 3 months---but not one of them opened yet. In contrast, the Sasanqua's have been steadily blooming since October and are still going strong. Congrats on your edgeworthia! Mine died within 3 weeks, as did everybody elses I've talked to. Wish I knew your secret!

Ignorance???? LOL

If greenhouses count .. my Kalanchoe is bursting into song.

Along with a Raspberry Swirl Bogainvillea.

HA! This one is outside!
It's an unknown verbena I got last Spring.
The bloom is actually lavender.
ardesia, I have an Epiphylum and like you, it might bloom if I didn't neglect it so much!
My camillias (both sasanqua) seem to be on hold. Buds are still on them and have been since after Thanksgiving.
Barb

StonoRiver - beautiful! Wish we lived closer. We are taking two (separate) on-line photo classes. The Captain had to photograph flowers - of course we had none so we actually bought flowers at the grocery store. How pathetic!

Entlie

All the other flowers are beautiful, too. Should have mentioned that. I love bouganvilla - had that in South East Asia, but I think it would be tricky here.

Entlie

Hmmm my camelia japonica's aren't blooming either. Lots of buds no blooms.

Entlie I gave up on Bouganvillea planted outside. I had one planted outside for a few years and it just never bloomed.

This geranium is on our sun-porch. I go out there with a cup of coffee in the am and play like it is spring. Sad, huh ?

Lol .. on a sunny day when it's 90+ degrees in the greenhouse I stand inside, close my eyes, start to sweat and pretend it's summer .. sigh.

ahh the things we do to get our 'summer' fixes lol...BTW my Cam's are loaded with buds and right prior to that ice storm 3 weeks ago a few had just started to bloom = now they are tighter than a clam...was hoping this warm spell this week would entice them out - but log 30's starting tonight...{{sigh}}

Core HHI: don't give up on your Bouganvillea just yet... Five or 6 years ago, I grew a "Barbara Karst" in the GH and the thing took it over. Pruned it back to 1' , moved it outside in the spring along with all the prunings, fully meaning to throw them in the woods when I had time. I never "had the time" (trust you know how THAT goes!)... One of the "prunings" rooted, and is now routinely a 4'-7' shrub every year. But it never blossomed. Last year it did. Minimally, but it definately had blooms. We're clearly in a "marginal" zone for these things...

I saw a maple tree with buds on it today. Looks like spring is almost here or the maple is a little confused.

My hydrangeas have leaf buds all over them and my Snowflakes, Leucojum are just starting to bloom.

However, my back yard is a swamp/bog.

I went out to check my fruit trees and sure enough! There are buds. i also noticed buds on a cherry tree at a neighbors house.
DavesGarden had a link to an article on forcing fruit tree branches inside on their facebook page.
It's a great article: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/766/

Beach Barbie and Ardesia: I ignored my epiphyllum's too, after 4 years of TLC and no blossoms. So last year I just stuck them out in the "shaded forest"for the summer. Didn't even put an emitter to them, and E. "Unforgettable" bloomed for weeks! It was truly gorgeous. Then this thing(Gonway's Giant) unexpectably bloomed in the GH this winter. I think they don't like to be fussed over...perseverance, luck, (and AGE?) appears to be more a success factor than TLC... But with both plants, I have to say they are worth the "effort"... I'm keeping them both, and have rooted cuttings of each to grow out....

That's good to hear since mine lives hanging from a tree during the summer. I'll keep the hope!
Barb

IF "Unforgettable" blooms again this year, I'll post pictures Beach_Barbie. It is truly aptly named! I think these are just "tough love" plants. I'd given up on the 2 Epiphylums I'd carefully "nurtured" for 3 years and just "put them out" in the woods behind the GH last spring, and forgot about them (I'd already decided they were headed for the compost pile come the fall). Couple of months later, I walked back to tend to my "real" plants one day and caught a flash of color out of the corner of my eye off in the woods. It was the first of many "Unforgettable" blooms! This thing had no fertilizer, no water (other than the sparse rainfall or "total deluge" we get here, no TLC, no nothing...and they BOTH bloomed this year! Don't think that's a coincidence. Both epiphyllums are going "out in the woods" this spring with no support from me. Don't think it's just "age", although that is certainly part of it... More later in the year

I inadvertently lied, Ardesia! That "dead" Edgworthia I got at Plantasia last year has 6 blossoms on it! I swear I thought the thing was dead! Totally defoliated last July, and no sign of life thereafter. I just left it out on a bench last fall figuring I could use the container in the spring. I did leave an emitter on the pot (till the first frost), but only because I had nothing better to do with it.Now it's blooming, and I've got a "roll the dice" situation: do I just continue to ignore it and hope for the best, or do I up-pot it and 1) apply my deadly TLC or 2) Up-pot it and continue to ignore it, or 3), simply leave it alone to fend for itself? Interesting conundrum...

All my edgeworthias are blooming, love it! Stono, I'd put it in a shady spot in the ground. My little guy is doing well from last year, and so are some others I'd planted. I had a beautiful one in the back yard, but then a massive willow oak died and it got too much sun and bit the dust. Sigh.

My other edgeworthia relative, the daphne, is blooming. Love it! My insane dog ran circles around it, so now it's raised up and has a big bowl around it. Seems to be a good habitat for it, it's gorgeous and the fragrance carries as much as gardenias. I'll go take it's picture soon.

Jenny

Finally!!! A camellia is blooming. Pope Pius IX.

They are popping out all over here in Summerville.

Mine are blooming like crazy. So nice not to having damaging freezes so far. Edgeworthias and daphne also blooming-)

I have not been able to grow daphne yet. I'm blaming it on the humidity we have so close to the ocean.

I'll have to take some pictures everything is going into full bloom. My plums are blooming now and I saw some azaleas blooming on Hilton Head.