Vicarious winter gardening - or Show me da blooms!

Oh this is so bad. I have been using all my will power not to buy house plants. I get neglectful somewhere in the middle of the summer when the garden is in high gear, so only those of stout constitution that can survive outside for the summer endure. I didn't want to add to the chore of dragging plants in and out. Looking at the 2 beautiful blooming cactus Don Shirer posted and listening to the discussion on how to make them rebloom must have penetrated my subconscious. While in HD I saw a woman pass by with a well budded Thanksgiving cactus in her shopping cart. I had no intention of purchasing one but when I turned she roughly shoved the plant into an tiny empty spot on the plant table. I just wanted to make sure the plant was OK. I didn't want the plant until I a saw row after row of tiny "teeth" on the ends of the leaf segments. Buds, such unusual growth, I took a closer look. The plant came home with me, I blame all of you.

Fortunately they had no pink and red geraniums( wrong season of course) that I had started thinking how nice they would look blooming together in a line along the cool front window sill after seeing grammypheobes photo.Very festive for the holidays and not the dreaded poinsettia. Of course that would require moving all those plants to...

This message was edited Dec 2, 2007 4:55 PM

sempervirens, that looks white, did you get a white one?? I think they are very elegant, don't see them very often. What ever color it is, it sure is loaded with buds. Thats going to be an awesome display!!

pixie, Yes it is white, but you never know what will happen when they open. I love white flowers in general, would love to have a white moon garden outside. I guess because it's white the starting buds look like baby teeth all lined up. Are the white ones really more uncommon?

I don't know if they are more uncommon or if it's just when ever I look, the white ones are already sold.

I never see white ones either - semper, post a photo of it blooming, please!

semper - love the cactus. I have never seen a white one either and can't wait to see a photo of it in bloom. I miss having mine around - it's at my DD#1 cause I have a crib where mine used to be. Eleanor

Absolutely, I will post the photo if and when it blooms.

Alpine strawberries after the snow storm. The rain that followed washed most of the snow away.
Can you guess I'm in gardening withdrawal and desperately trying to find something blooming?
Spring is how far away?

Too far. (sigh)

I think that Spring is over 100 days away. I'll have to check my calendar and count the days. I love, absolutely LOVE, that white blooming cactus! And you have it in a hanging basket, too. I would not have thought to put one in a hanging basket. Does anyone know how deep the soil has to be? Of course you do.

At the risk of this thread being interpreted as a "don't you wish you lived in Florida" thread, I will share a couple more pretty blooms before deciding whether enough is enough, as they say! To commemorate our 19th wedding anniversary yesterday, my DH wanted to buy a couple of "Fort Myers" hibiscus's because he loves their unusual shade of yellow and because I knew the family who hybridized this cultivar. So we bought 2 small plants and he planted a new "peanut" shaped garden in the front yard for them. I will take a shot of the Fort Myers plants when I can get a nice one. I also loved the "Painted Lady" hibiscus, so we bought one of those as well (3 lovely plants for $16.00!) and planted it in the back yard near my bird bath. Here is a shot of it this morning after we planted it. I love the color!

And here is a bloom on the Wild Cotton trees we planted as part of our new "living fence" attempt. The bloom starts out yellow, turns to pink and white and then eventually becomes a cotton boll. Very unusual. The trees have a lot of new growth on them, so I think they are establishing nicely.

Actually, I think the Wild Cottons are classified as shrubs and not trees even though they grow pretty tall. Ooops.

And I forgot to point out the cotton boll you can see in the lower part of the photo of the cotton flower.......

Louise, that hibiscus is lovely. And what a neat shrub/tree the Wild Cotton is, id like to see it as it changes colors!

Isn't it pretty, Celeste? It is hard to catch it because it closes so quickly. I tried to get a shot of the pink/white, but it looked pretty ugly all shriveled up. I'll see if I can catch this one for you - ugly or not....it IS very interesting! So is the cotton.... I'm so glad to see the new growth. I hope that means that it will be reaching "privacy" level for us sooner than later!

Both are beautiful, Louise.

Beautiful blooms Louise!! Eleanor

Thanks, Victor and Eleanor! Glad you enjoyed seeing them.

*sigh*
I want a winter home in Florida. That hibiscus (the pink one) is just glorious. I am so jealous.

No jealousy please, Candyce! We are all blessed to have a beautiful winter in different settings. The snowy winter shots people are sharing are just so nice! I do love that Painted Lady hibiscus. It was the first thing that grabbed my attention this morning. We had a lovely, cool evening with low humidity last night. I'm so glad to have the a/c turned off again! Did you get much snow??? I'll try to get a pretty shot of the Fort Myers Hibiscus as soon as one opens. Here is my Buttercup this morning. It was waving in the breeze, so it isn't as crisp as I'd like.

Up here in the cold and frozen Northeast corner of the Monadnock Region, we got just about 6" when all was said and done. I think that Sherrie may have gotten more. She's the furthest north of the three of us.

I love the photo. That's a beautiful buttercup!

It's the most wonderful time of the year. I HATE THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. I have not been outside yet. DH said we got 10 inches.

Celeste - I took a shot of the same Wild Cotton flower in the post above to show you the change in color. It was quite breezy tonight, so it isn't as clear as I'd like, but I think you can see the pink and white phase here as the flower begins to close. The flowers are very short-lived, and then they become cotton. So interesting. This one's for you.......

Pretty blooms DonnieBrook, Painted lady is stunning. I have good news and bad news about my HD white Holiday cactus. The good news is the older larger blooms have started to open and they are beautiful white with just 2 drops of lipstick pink. Very showy. The bad news is I'm losing a lot of the smaller buds, they're just dropping off if I touch the plant. Maybe shock from the move? I'm also closely monitoring for bugs. I have it in a very cool window that can be a little drafty. It is about 4 ft. from the stove so it might get a blast of warmth occasionally.

This message was edited Dec 6, 2007 8:47 AM

This message was edited Dec 8, 2007 6:12 AM

Here is a close up of one of the flowers.

Oh! That is so beautiful!
I hope someone knows why your blossoms are dropping, as I'll have to be on the lookout for that myself. I am seeing three flower buds on mine, and I can't WAIT until they open!!

Louise, that is an interesting little plant! It almost looke like a mini rose. I think it's so neat when flower changes color during the bloom period.
sempervirens, That cactus is gorgeous with hot pink against the white! Sorry the other buds are dropping off, hope it is just from the move.

Gorgeous cactus, Semper! I too hope it is just the move. Maybe too much watering is also possible? I would LOVE to find a white one like that with that cool pink lipstick!!

Celeste - I agree fully......it is such a mystery to understand how the flower colors change so much from beginning to end.

Semper - the blooms are beautiful!! Eleanor

Ok.........After reading about the weather in the north in the weather thread, I think some color may be in order for you guys. The first is my palm tree basket of petunias......

And here are the paperwhites my DH planted......

I'm going to harvest these greens tomorrow for a nice salad.......

I have a few little tomatoes starting........

argggghhh

......and a basket of verbena filling out nicely.......

Finally for tonight......I dug up 2 amaryllis's and planted them when we got here a month ago. This one seems to be happy in Florida.....

So there you have it for the night, My Friends! Hope some color brings a smile to your faces in the chilly temps up there. Sunset at 3:59....OMG. It's so much later here......I think it's still around 5:30..... Can't believe that difference!! Stay warm Everyone!!

Louise - thank you so much!! The blooms and greens are beautiful. It is just what the doctor ordered - glimpses of spring and summer!!! Ahhhh!! There will be life after winter! Eleanor

Thanks, Eleanor! Hang in there! Spring will be here before we know it! You hang in there too, 3G!!! Grab your garden catalogues and tell me what you are planning to order!

Kassia - 2 of your BES vines are beginning their climb up the lattice trellis. I'm so excited!!!! Thank you again.....I'll show you the flowers when they bloom! They are sharing a big flower pot with the green beans. LOL

the blooms are beautiful Louise.... but I am jealous over the tomatos

Louise, that vibrant verbena was just what I needed! Thank you for sharing!!!