Bloom Day January 2010...

Quite honestly, the only plants that are truly blooming are my beloved, cheerful Johnnies. Maybe that is cheating because if not tricked into blooming in the fall, they wouldn’t bloom until the spring.



But I am so thankful to have them. And they don’t seem to complain about being persuaded to flower throughout the winter for me.




The African violet my sister-in-law brought me at Thanksgiving is still blooming, so I think it is probably o.k. for me to take credit for keeping it going. Although, now that I have said that, it will probably stop blooming and then die.

{Saintpaulia}

I am starting to see leaf buds on many of my plants which gives me hope that spring actually will come this year. But there aren’t many flower buds yet. My camellia is one of the ones with flower buds.

{Camellia - I don't know the rest; I've lost the plant tag.}

The buds on this daphne will soon open to their fragrant white blooms.

{Daphne odora 'Alba'}

And you can already see the pink forming on this daphne.

{Daphne odora}

My Purple Rain pansies look a bit bedraggled, but they continue to struggle on. I guess winter is taking its toll on them as it is on me.

{Viola x wittrockiana 'Purple Rain'}

It finally warmed up enough that I was able to look into my greenhouse without fear of heat escaping and I was absolutely thrilled to find that everything is doing well. It was such a relief to know that my plants stayed warm enough not to be damaged while it was so cold outside. And I found a tiny pink bud!

{Erodium reichardii 'Charm'}

One of my pitcher plants has a bud on it. I think that is the bud I am most excited about right now.

{Sarracenia flava}

But my Johnnies continue to be my favorites as they unabashedly cheer me on through winter.


Have a beautiful day!

A thank you...

My sister-in-law arrived for Thanksgiving with a thank-you card for me featuring a photo of a beautiful African violet plant. I thought, now that was just sweet, especially since she had written that the violet plant reminded them of me.



Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I walked into my bedroom a little while later to find THE plant sitting on my bedroom floor! Of course, I instantly forgot why I had gone into the room and had to carry the African violet (Saintpaulia) back out to thank her and to show it to everyone else.




Can I actually give it what it needs? You know, plenty of light, enough humidity, the right room temperature, no drafts, keep it evenly moist, watering from the bottom, making sure the leaves don't get wet, and making sure the water is not too cold, give is the right amount of fertilizer at the right time, repotting it every six months. Uhmmm, I think that's all. I'll do my best because it sure is a charming plant and I would like to keep it around for a long time! Thank you, M!





Oh, and Luca thinks that having his chin rubbed is MUCH more important than photographing an African violet!





Have a beautiful day!