Tag Archives: Houseplants

In a Vase on Monday: Sumatra

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My title may seem strange, but don’t worry – I haven’t fled a Bavarian winter and flown off to Indonesia for some warm sunshine and golden beaches (although it does sound good!).

No, ‘Sumatra’ is my latest Hippeastrum to flower!

Actually it looks remarkably similar to the last one that flowered (La Paz), but I am not complaining. (Aside: I think La Paz would interest me more than Sumatra – how about you?)

It is a little past its best, but another stem is flowering now too, so I cut this one knowing it would go perfectly in the Etsy vase I treated myself to last autumn. 😃

I thought I’d use a flower frog to help it stand upright, but my smallest frog doesn’t fit the narrow neck of the vase, so I went out to find some foliage to help keep Sumatra straight. A couple of Hazel twigs and some Broom do the job nicely, and a few small sprigs of pussy willow Salix caprea yet to open.

While I was outside I also picked some stems of Forsythia to force. My Mum in the UK says her Forsythia is showing colour already. Have any of you in the UK noticed the same? I wonder when it will flower here, since it hasn’t been excessively cold this winter apart from a freezing fortnight in January. These sprigs will no doubt open really quickly indoors, so hopefully they will feature in a vase next Monday. 😉

Do go and visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Her Monday vase is full of golden spring promise.

Thanks for visiting!

In a Vase on Monday: Emerging From Winter

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The garden is a muddy mess, and far too wet to tidy up, but a few flowers are slowly starting to emerge and I too am starting to emerge from my winter hibernation. It is carnival season here and as soon as that is over I feel that spring can’t be far off. Well, I can hope…

The Primulas have been the second flower to appear this year, after the Cyclamen, although they still look rather raggedy. I found a perfect – but small – pale yellow one, which I picked for today’s vase.

And so it wasn’t lonely, I added a frilly pink Primula from a pot I have indoors…

…and some Violas I bought recently. The silvery sprig of Helichrysum italicum (curry plant) adds a little sparkle.

Another crochet project has just been completed, so I will be catching up on some blogs and reading my garden magazine in the next few days.

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And perhaps I will make another doily for standing houseplants and vases on while I wait for the garden to dry up.

What do you do in bad weather when you can’t work in your garden?

Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting this weekly meme.

🌷🐝🌷

 

Plant Therapy 🤣

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I blame it on Frank. And Kimberley. A conspiracy of winter-weary gardeners encouraging me to go on a spending spree at the garden centre. (Thanks Frank! Thanks Kimberley! 😆)

In case you are wondering what I am talking about, Kimberley of Cosmos and Cleome recently posted here about the Ten Days of Plantness; a new holiday that Frank at Sorta Like Suburbia had apparently invented (See here and here). Frank confessed a few days later (he even baked a cake to celebrate!) and I must admit I was easily persuaded to join in. The idea was, to buy ten plants in the ten days between January 12th and 21st in order to prevent winter sticking around for much longer. Well, I missed the deadline, but a trip to the garden centre (now open again after a winter break) was bound to happen sooner or later. And the sight of all these tiny violas when I got there was magical – and the scent of them too!

I am not terribly successful with houseplants and have managed to kill, or at least severely damage several this winter through overwatering or neglect. Greenfly then whitefly invested several pots and I fear they will not survive the spraying with soapy water. So some replacements were definitely necessary. Does this sound like I am trying to justify spending xx euros (the cost of a meal out for two perhaps)?

Anyway, here is what I got….

First of all, an Aloe. I’ve got one already and haven’t managed to kill it off yet, so I am assuming this may be a good idea to stick with what I know. Yes, that is ivy next to the Aloe… it will never make it into the garden, but it will be added to an outdoor container in spring. Various violas and primulas also jumped into my shopping trolley, including the beautiful pale lavender/white one you can see above, a yellow one…

…and this gorgeous frilly pink one. 🩷

Then this beautiful pink flower caught my eye. I have never seen one before and do not usually buy such big and rather pricey plants. But this really appealed to me…

It is a Dendrobium ‘Berry Oda’. It will go where the Christmas cactus (that didn’t flower again) stood. The cactus clearly needs a new location… any tips welcome.

In the background you can see a bunch of pink tulips, tinged with creamy yellow. One broke while I was arranging them, but not to worry, I bought a new vase (😆) which was perfect…

Next to the vase above is a teeny weeny African Violet. Not sure how long it will last as it really is minute, but I will do my best. And the green plant next to it is called a Caribbean Chlorophytum Comosum ‘Bonnie’. Completely new to me but will look good in the spot where my Poinsettia stood over Christmas and New Year. (Don’t ask… Poinsettias never seem to survive longer than six weeks here).

And finally a small pot of Muscari and a white Cyclamen. I have several dormant Cyclamen at the moment. (At least, I hope they are only dormant!) but none in flower. I love white ones as they really brighten up a grey day.

I think I actually ended up with more than ten plants. 🤣

The only disappointment was that the garden centre had no Hellebores worth buying. They had clearly been neglected in their pots during the winter closure and were almost beyond saving. I expect some new stock will appear soon though, and I will just have to go again! 😉

Have you been to a garden centre recently? Or bought a new plant?

Have a good week

and

Happy (indoor) Gardening!

🌷🌷🌷

In a Vase on Monday: Desperate Measures

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The inevitable gloom I feel after removing all the Christmas decorations (well, I still haven’t taken down ALL the outdoor lights 😉) made me resort to desperate measures today. Nothing vase-worthy is in the frozen garden, so I bought myself a bunch of tulips (barely open yet) and a pot of mini Narcissi and cut a flowering stem of my Hippeastrum ‘La Paz’.

I think it worked, and the gloom has been dispelled for now!

Hard to imagine that Kris at Late to the Garden Party had this Hippeastrum growing and flowering in her garden last week. My single indoor bulb has produced three stems of flowers so far, with another bud on the way, so I am very pleased with it!

By next week we might notice a few more minutes of daylight, but it looks as if the temperatures will remain below zero for the next fortnight. So the garden will slumber on. Even our garden centres are closed! I will no doubt find myself buying more tulips from the supermarket in the coming weeks; despite the pleasure dried seedheads and grasses can bring, I crave colour in winter… like this lovely Narcissus – the only one in the pot flowering so far and what a wonderful burst of sunshine yellow it is!

Contributing to the weekly vase meme that Cathy at Rambling in the Garden hosts is a good way to remain in touch with plant life during my hibernation. Why not visit her lovely blog and see what she and others are sharing their vases today.

Have a good week!

In a Vase on Monday: Carmen

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I am cheating today, as I do not actually have anything new for a vase. But I do love joining in Cathy’s meme (see Rambling in the Garden) so here is a photo of ‘Carmen’, my gorgeous velvety red Hippeastrum which started flowering on January 2nd. 😃

It has a second bud just appearing, so will bring me pleasure for a while yet. And I have a pink one waiting to be brought into a warmer room for spring flowering.

And to substantiate the fact that my garden is offering nothing but soggy grasses here is a photo of the landscape at the weekend.

I look forward to seeing what other contributors to In a Vase on Monday have found today, especially those in warmer parts of the world!

Have a good week everyone!