Late Bloomer

YOU, SLACKER!

Oh, sure... Now you decide to bloom.

Now that Christmas is over and gifts have been given.

After you were shoved to the side, another plant purchased, and gifted instead. Was this a secret plot to remain amongst your friends in my sunny window?

Yeah, yeah. You're pretty. But, no A for effort from me.

Howsabout an A+ for dragging your feet?

I planted you the same day as the rest of the gang ~ with all my Amaryllis bulbs ~ who are out the door and off to happy homes. 14 long weeks ago!

 

* Okay! I'll admit it... I talk to my plants and sometimes I give 'em hell. Don't you?

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ December

Find more blogger's blossoms at Carol's place. She's the inventor of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Mini Roses enjoy the view from my sunny window.

Truth be told I don't care for my house all that much. It's old and desperately in need of updating. But, it has this bright, sunny window that always brings a smile to my face.

In fact, that's why I fell in love with the joint. That and the fact it's located across the road from a nature preserve that makes for some interesting sightseeing.

Paper Yellows

Paper Whites are ever so popular but I see too much white in winter. To get a job in my sunny window you need to be a warmer color. :)

Giganto Amarylis!

I had big ideas for this place 7 years ago. A fixer upper! I was naively excited ~ how hard could it be to fix up an old house?
 

Turns out, way too hard. I'm better at planting flowers than I am at pounding nails. :)

* I've got lots of indoor bloomers for GBBD, though they won't be here for long. I've grown most of these little darlings for Christmas gifts.

Wordless Wednesday: Flowers in my Sunny Window

To meet more Wordless Wednesday participants, click here.

Time to Enjoy The Best of This and That

The 1st of the Christmas Amaryllis bulbs makes an early showing.

My new found friend, Healthy Gardener, gifted me with the 'Best Blog Award' and invited me to pass this along to 15 favorite blogs I've recently discovered.

I met Gloria through Blotanical, purely by searching for South Dakota bloggers ~ because that's where I was born and raised. And, while I wholeheartedly agree we can bloom wherever we are planted, there's also a deep connection with people who's roots are wiggling around in the same familiar mud as you.

The 2nd of the Christmas Cactus gals joins in the fun.

It got me thinking about Thanksgiving ~ I always give thanks for the usual important stuff. This year I'm also giving thanks for one strange thing that needs a bit of clarification: TIME!

The whole concept of having 'enough time' is foreign to me. I work full time, I have a demanding volunteer second job, an all-consuming 'full time' passion toward gardening... then there's the horses... squeeze family into that mess and, well, you get the picture.

This 3 year old unpredictable Poinsettia has taken her usual stance toward the holidays: Undecided. Sporting half red leaves, half green leaves ~ she has 1 month to get with the program.

I've never had a moment to spare. Until now.

This year, life is suddenly manageable. For the first time since I became addicted to blogging way back in 2006, I can take leisurely strolls around the blogosphere, meeting new people and learning all sorts of new things. Because, this year, thankfully, I have some free time!

* This list is in no particular order ~ except for the first one because it's pretty dang cool to have a concert pianist as a friend...

• To the Minnesota Gardener who took a deep breath and a leap of faith and put it out there... filming herself performing a Schumann Sonata.
• To the savvy silly sisters, Just-a-Mere and Iron Needles, who get me laughing on the best and worst of days.
• To the Empress of Dirt for her neat perspective on pretty much everything.
• To A Corner Garden who's cozy posts and cute dog, Heidi, always entertain.
• To The Village Voice who's yummy recipes have bailed me out of more than one sticky wicket.
• To the Totally Inept Balcony Gardener who is anything but.
• To the Sunflower Ranch who's Writer Challenges keep me on my toes.
• To Gardening with Grace who just so happens to live in Oregon, my favorite spot in the universe. Bonus! We both love Clematis flowering vines.
• To the Backyard Farm who not only has cute chickens, she grows as much of her own food as possible.
• To Flower Hill Farm for lovely photography and interesting stories, whenever I need an escape.
  
• To the Shady Gardener because I have no shade so she teaches me a thing or two.
• To Flowers and Weeds for her fun tutorials and highly entertaining new garden project.
• To the Witless Wanderer who hasn't lifted a finger on her blog in oh so long but I know why... she's writing a novel!
• And, last but definitely not least, to the Darling of the Dahlia Society, Karen, who's fine eye for flowers and fur is a joy to behold.

THE FINE PRINT:
If you want to participate, please grab this award and then pay it forward to 15 of your favorite recent blog discoveries. If you don't want to participate, please don't feel any pressure to do so.

Please note ~ this award asks that I highlight 15 blogs. There are many more I wanted to list. Some I didn't list because you already have the award. Some I didn't list because I know how popular you are and you'll no doubt get the award from someone else! Some of you don't want the awards! And so it goes...

The Hobgoblin of Little Budgets

Seems a tad ridiculous that I'd be planning (planting?) for the holidays when I haven't even figured out my scary Halloween costume...

But I couldn't resist when I spotted Amaryllis bulbs on sale for 5 bucks.

I s'pose I could just give everyone on my Christmas list a bulb. They come in cute little boxes. Except that giving just the bulb is a clear indicator I'm a 5 buck cheapskate.

So, I planted these bulbs today, in high hopes I'd be dazzling folks with bright, red flowers when I gift them to friends two months from now. In full bloom they should look like they're worth way more than 5 dollars.

Maybe even 10.

* Ralph Waldo Emerson's: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" was a jab at uncreative people.

I realize my Amaryllis bulbs aren't all that creative. But, they're affordable. And, they're gorgeous. Therefore I think they'll do the trick.

PS: If I were growing them for myself, I'd simply sprout them in water. Amaryllis bulbs forced in a vase vs. soil tend to bloom in half the time. (About 4 weeks vs. 8.)

The Over-Achieving Poinsettia

This holiday season I have under-achievers:

And, over-achievers! Check out last year's Poinsettia. She's turning red without all the pomp & circumstance.

Some gardeners like to show off their skills.

So, they put their Poinsettias on a super strict regimen: 8 weeks with exactly 10 hours of sunlight and 14 hours of solid darkness.

That's the only way to get these pretty perennials to turn red.

Or, so they say. Mine turns a variegated red & green without any effort at all.

The truth about Poinsettias is that their bright red leaves are naturally celebrating what the rest of us are lamenting - the long, dark days of winter.

December 12th is National Poinsettia Day. Pick one up for me, too.

Miracle Diets & Amaryllis Bulbs

Atkins, The Zone - who needs 'em?

During the course of this year, I have discovered 3 miracle diets that put these popular diets to shame!

I fondly call the 1st one the Oyster Diet. Wanna lose 10 pounds fast? Simply slurp one bad oyster and wait for the excitement to begin. (Try not to throw up on your date.)

Diet #2 is equally effective. It's called Certain Types of Sushi (aka raw salmon and cilantro.)

This left a sick soapy taste in my mouth and zero desire to eat anything for two solid weeks. (I was all Zen about throwing up on my client for this one because he forced me to eat it.)

By far the most effective is the Pistachio Diet. Take one innocent looking shell-on pistachio, pop it in your mouth and crunch down hard. Then wait 8 painful days for your dentist to fix the broken tooth.

While I was lying around feeling sorry for myself my pretty Amaryllis burst into flower. She's my test bunny for the upcoming holidays (because the growing times are unpredictable.)

Amaryllis bulbs make great Christmas gifts but the flower is lots more impressive than the bulb. Try growing them now so they are in full bloom when you give them as gifts. This is my sneaky trick to make a $5 present look like it's worth a million bucks. :))

* Amaryllis bulbs need 6-8 weeks to reach flowering stage. Keep away from direct sunlight and they will bloom for about a month.

Screamin' Deals on Cheery Bulbs

Hazel picks through sale tables to rescue suffering plants and give them a good home. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff, too. Mostly because I love a screaming deal.

Amaryllis bulbs, after the holidays, are generally marked down to a dollar or two. They might look a little odd, since they're probably growing inside their boxes (they'll grow without water, soil or sunlight.) But, they're still perfectly good flowers waiting for a happy home.

Grab them off the sale table. Give them a drink. Come February, they'll reward you with gigantic, colorful blooms.

* Plant in peat moss mixture or set roots in water, securing bulb in a base of pebbles.

Christmas Amaryllis

There are two kinds of people in the world and I'm not talking Democrats and Republicans. No, this is about that odd group who are already done with their Christmas shopping.

I don't want to be too critical of them (on the off chance I'm on their gift-giving list!) But, as I trudge up the hill from my mailbox, each day, I can't help but grumble at the weight of my load.

I'm up to my eyeballs in holiday catalogs! Glossy color photos and deferred payments ('til February!) has, in no way, inspired me to start shopping. It's too early. I'll worry about that in December.

What I am worried about is something that probably hasn't occurred to you, or anyone else of sound mind.

It's time to get your Amaryllis growing!

Second only to Poinsettias, these big gorgeous flowers make absolutely breathtaking holiday centerpieces. Popular gifts for flower lovers (like me!)

The only problem is, they're sold in bulb form and most take 4-6 weeks to bloom. So, buy them now. That way, you'll have gorgeous flowers for Christmas, or Kwanzaa, or any other holiday that conveniently lands in December.

Tips:

• Plant in a heavy pot so they won't tip over. (Good quality bulbs grow to be huge plants, producing multiple flowers, some 6 inches wide.)
• Start bulbs in a sunny window.
• Go light on watering until flower stalk begins to grow.
• Keep soil moist while plant is growing and blooming.
• Rotate pot, exposing all sides to the sun. That way the stalk will grow straight vs. leaning toward the window.

Where to Buy:
That depends entirely on how much you like your friends. The best quality bulbs come from Jackson and Perkins. Walmart sells lower quality bulbs for 5 bucks. Jane gave me these beauties last year (photo below). I doubt they were from Wally World. Five weeks of happy blooms!