trying not to kill the beautiful things
It’s been a mild winter so far in Northwest Ohio (Zone 6). Even so, the only blooms in sight are indoors: an African violet and two colors of kalanchoe.
I’m glad to have a few spots of color during the winter! As always, thanks to Carol Michel for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.
There’s not much bloom action happening outside right now in my Zone 6 garden in northwest Ohio; all the color is indoors.
Above: I received this African violet as a birthday gift from a co-worker at my previous job, some 15 years ago now. Since then, I’ve started a second plant from it… or is this the second plant?
Below: I only recently learned that the correct pronunciation of this plant’s name is not, in fact, kuh-LAN-cho — it’s kal-uhn-KO-ee. However you pronounce it, I have several kalanchoes that bloom in different colors, descended from cuttings from a former co-worker at my current employer about five or six years back.
This purple shamrock was a gift from a coworker who still works with me (hi, N! *waves*), also about five or six years ago. Even though it’s not currently in bloom, it still adds a welcome dash of color to my home.
I promise, not all of my houseplants were gifts from co-workers… just the more colorful ones, I guess.
Thanks as always to Carol Michel for hosting Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day on the 15th of each month! As Elizabeth Lawrence said, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.”
We finally got a killing frost a couple days back, followed by high winds and rain today. Up until then, though, a few blooms were hanging in there in my Zone 6 garden.
The nasturtiums kept on keeping on right up until the temps dropped below freezing.
Even after the frost, this volunteer zebra mallow was perky and colorful. Not until today’s high winds did it start to look like it was done for the season.
I’ve already blogged about Crocus sativus a couple of times, so I’ll just note that I managed to harvest saffron threads from six crocuses before the frost. Eighteen saffron threads should be enough to make one recipe of something delicious. Hopefully I’ll get more blooms (and a bigger saffron harvest) after they’ve settled in for a year.
Indoors, the Thanksgiving cactus is almost in bloom, and a couple of kalanchoes are providing orange and fuchsia accents… but I’ll save photos of those for next month, when the outdoors is bereft of blooms to share.
Thanks as always to Carol Michel for hosting Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day on the 15th of each month! As Elizabeth Lawrence said, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.”
Yesterday morning, I looked out the kitchen window to find the birdbath covered with a delicate coating of ice. Seems it’s finally time to clean it out and bring it indoors for the winter.
This saffron crocus is a welcome bit of color as the rest of the blooms and foliage are fading. I just need a few more of these beauties to bloom before I can make some saffronated rice.