Defying the deep freeze
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- Naomi_Mathews
- silvan
- Renie_Burghardt
- silvan
- jerrib
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» Naomi_Mathews - Great Garden Tours!
Thanks, Van!Just what I needed today was your wonderful "virtual" garden tour to remind me that soon -- after many of us will have defied yet another winter's deep freeze -- our gardens will be gently awakened by Mother Nature and spring to life!
We have visited the awesome Butchart Gardens many times over the years, and have it on our list of "places to go" this summer! One of my daughters has had the great pleasure of visiting Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, and returned with many fabulous photos of this beautiful Eden. She was so inspired with it that she made lovely blank stationery cards (6 to a set) with beautiful glossy photos on each card with envelopes for us and each of her siblings last Christmas! That was a really "cool" gift, and I mentioned to her that she should market those beauties! Of course, I'll never USE mine, they're just too lovely to look at!
As to your deep freeze trip -- Brrrrrrrrr. I'm glad you made it home safe! And to come home to orchids blooming -- how wonderful! You must take some photos and post them for all of us to enjoy.
Great article -- I enjoyed the tour!
-- posted by Naomi_Mathews
» Renie_Burghardt - Defying The Deep Freeze!
Me too, Silvan, me too! Right about now I'm wishing I was in Hawaii, or somewhere else warm and tropical.Seriously, it's not quite as cold in the Ozarks as it is in Ontario, but cold enough for this old gal! 12F this morning, and snow in the forecast for tomorrow. Maybe my Y2K rations will come in handy yet!
I loved the virtual tours. What a feast for winter weary eyes! Hope you're staying warm and cozy among all your greenery. Mine are a real blessing at this time of the year. I would be lost without indoor plants to brighten a bleak winter day. Enjoyed the article!
-- posted by Renie_Burghardt
» silvan - Flowering tropicals a special blessing
Me too, Reni. The weather has stayed pretty cold here, but the sun is moving North! We've had clear weather, and yesterday morning when the sun rose, a golden glow burst on the kitchen cupboards beside where I was fixing my toast. The sunbeam had to shine through my bedroom's southeast window, through the door into the living room and through the kitchen door to say hello to me that way. It made me think of Stonehenge. My canary is excited and has been singing beautifully every morning for the past couple of weeks.Of my houseplants, I am especially fond of the ones flowering right now. Besides the Cattleya I mentioned in the article, I have three Phalaenopsis or moth orchids in bloom (two white and one deep pink), and two others with buds on them. Phalaenopsis are the easiest orchids to grow indoors and their flowers last for at least a couple months. Today I bought a Dischidias orchid that must have fallen off the shelf and broken a stem because it was marked down (orchids are usually too expensive!)
Outside the orchid clan I have an Oxalis (shamrock) with burgundy leaves and pink flowers that has recovered from last summer's neglect and is now blooming. It is one of my easiest houseplants to grow as long as it gets a guaranteed place in one of my brightest windows and I don't overwater it (which is tempting because it is so lush and delicate, and cousin to the dainty woodland Oxalis that grows at the cottage).
In my hall the crown-of-thorns and an Echeveria are flowering hotly in the afternoon sun despite a single pane, drafty West window.
Perhaps my favourite is the white azalea beside the Cattleya in the south window at the head of my bed. It is like the one I sent Mom for Easter last year, and I'll have to consult her because she is expert at getting azaleas to bloom just as bountifully year after year (some rhododendrons can be grown outdoors here, but most azaleas are not hardy). I'm also pleased with a little bonsai azalea which I purchased last fall and have not trained or potted yet. It loves the bright, drafty, humid bathroom window and has put out four pink flowers, one or two at a time over the past month. It is much subtler than the double white, but enchanting with its miniature tree form and tiny leaves.
I'm still a novice with bonsai and orchids, but plan to post articles on them later this winter. I enjoy bonsai because they are an artistic study of nature, and the only trees I can have at my home. Orchids intrigue me because they are epiphytes (they grow on other plants) and my daughters have been learning about epiphytes and other tropical plants from The Magic School Bus Explores the Rain Forest.
~Van
-- posted by silvan
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