I Got Babies !!

"Alright do not look at me that way."
Some feat for an old lady, huh?
Okay, so they are not of the human variety.





Iceberg


The violet leaves that I thought was going to be
written into the old garden log as " do not try this
experiment in futility ever again " are starting to
actually grow and get new leaves.





Wrangler's Dixie

You gardeners with all these green thumbs and fingers
may think " what is the big deal" or " poor woman"
but to all of my old blogging friends who have seen my
admitted failures in botany know it is an accomplishment.
By the way, green thumbs comes from pinching off those
plants not from actually growing them. Even I can deadhead
and pinch with the best of them. LOL!

Anyway.... I am glad to finally see some growth
coming from them and I still have two more pots of
violet leaves starts that the jury is still waiting out on.

Amaryillis Picotee is putting on her finale blooms
for this winter so I wanted to share it one more time
with everyone. Besides from a few bulbs starting to
show some promise and the excitement over the violets,
well that is all I got blooming now friends.










And I know, I know, I promised to not show of the
"Ragtime " amaryllis any more this winter, but what the
heck they are in the same planter.







I want to tell all of you who are getting socked in with
the recent round of snow storms to stay safe and warm
and do not forget the birds.
We have been getting a little each day for a week
and expected to get up to six more inches today to
add to the five or six, or twelve ( it depends on which
snow drift you step off into) that we already have.
So I made sure this morning that the birds had
filled feeders and water. I also see a pot of chili in the
near future.

Growing outdoors....






The Lavender is slowly disappearing
from one snow to the other and will be out of
sight after today. That will be a good thing because
it will be insulated from the cold winds then.





The yellow "Capistrano" rhododendron now has
a broken branches, poor baby.




And the leaves on all of the rhododendrons are
curling up from the cold.



Joy, maybe I should have brought this pot
indoors for the winter.





And instead of sunflowers and daisies I am now
growing snow-flowers. Anyone in the market for one?





So enjoy Picotee and....

Happy Dreams of Spring to Everyone!

Dreaming of a White Christmas ?

Blooms in the woods.

No, this is not a posting on snow in the garden
although a mess of weather seems to be coming our
way but of the white blooms that were in my garden
last Spring and Summer.

The Honey Locust trees around the house.
The bees love it when they start blooming.





Clematis Silver Moon





Fragrant White Dianthus plumarius





White Geraniums pelargonium





Peach Leafed White Campanula Bell Flower





Black Berry Blooms

White Astilbe (Goats beard, false spirea)




White Armeria (sea thrift)



White Delpinium



Elderberry blooms



White Achillea Yarrow



White Monarda Bee balm



Becky Shasta Daisy

White wave Petunia



White Bush Morning Glory convolvulus cneorum




Morning Glory Vine



Tall Phlox David White



Giant White Siberian Lily



Anemone Honorine Jobert




White Tulip

African Violet

And...............
Amaryllis White Christmas

This and The Other

Where did November go?
It went whizzing right by me
somewhere along the way. With all of
the talk of Christmas decorations being
made or put up it got me into the mood to get at
least the outdoor decorations up today while the
weather was still fair.
A final cutting of and stowing away of the mums
to the basement was made. The window boxes were
clean out of frozen and mushy impatiens and other
flowers and decorated with pine, poinsettia, pine cones
and ribbons arrangements. The front porch with its fall
decor was replaced with the Country Christmas decorations
that are used every year. I do not decorate for Christmas as
I use to when the children were small but just add touches around
indoors. It was just more fun to go all out for it when
there were little ones about.
Meanwhile indoors.....

This white geranium that was brought indoors to
spend the winter has a few blooms opening on it.
The blooms are a lot smaller than when grown out
doors in the sun.





The African violet leaves are still looking good
but I do not see and growth coming out of them yet.
It has been over three weeks so I am hoping to see
some growth anytime now.

I am especially anxious to see the 'Wrangles
Dixie' get growing. It has pretty pink variegated
edges on the leaves.





With the cold weather the birdfeeders are seeing
a lot more activity. I saw my first Junco last week
just before we got our first touch of snow.




I am hoping the raccoons are sleeping now and will
leave the feeders alone. After two were wrecked by
them I started bringing the feeders in at dark.
Maybe it will be safe now to leave them up overnight.



Happy Gardening Everyone!

Streptocarpus Plants

In a previous posting I mentioned that two
new plants had been added to the indoor plant
collection.These starts came from an online purchase
from 'The Violet Barn' which also sells them on Ebay
auctions. Going over Rob's website makes your eyes
grow big and round, and a gardener heart go pitty-pat.
(and no I am not affiliated)
For someone who is new to the whole African Violet
and Streptocarpus growing scene I was amazed at the
beauty and the varieties that can be found.
Since I am always looking for flowers to grow indoors
to hold me through the cold, dreary Winter until Spring
arrives these little beauties were just what I needed.
Also my house has no windows that catch direct sunlight
so I am always looking for flowers that will grow in indirect
lighting or just bright light.
I was very pleased with the size of the starter plants
and now they are awaiting new violet pots to be planted into.
Here are the two new Streptocarpus that arrived:




'Streptocarpus Roulette Red'




And 'Streptocarpus Ink Blot'
She is really prettier than this blurry picture shows it.

Detailed Plant Care Instructions ,which I always need plenty of,
is also provided at the Violet Barn website.
Simple instructions though are:

Lighting: Most gesneriads prefer bright light and can be
grown under florescent lights which will always keep
them blooming.

Watering: Use room temperature water, when the
soil surface feels dry to the touch.

Feeding: Regular fertilizing is needed for maximum
growth and bloom so feed with each watering.

Atmosphere: African violets and most other gesneriads
thrive in the same conditions in which people are comfortable
living in - not too hot or not too cold and 40 to 50 % humidity.

Soil: Use a light soil-less mix, consisting of 30 to 50%
vermiculite or perlite. Soil should be light and fluffy.

Potting: Fresh soil about every six months.
They need repotting when the root ball fills the pots
and then only in pots no bigger than a 1/2 inch larger
than the root ball.

Propagation: Use a light rooting medium. Violets can
be rooted from stem cuttings by cutting the leaf stem at 1/2
to 3/4 and pushed into lightly moistened mix.
For streptocarpus, remove the midrib from a leaf, then
firmly insert the two halves into media.Te leaves can be
protected by placing in a clear plastic bag or covered
container. Placed in moderate light.

Today is also Fertilizer Friday sponsored by Tootsie
from Tootsie Time so join us in ' Flaunting Your Flowers.'

Happy Gardening Everyone!