Amaryllis For The Holidays

This is the time of the year you can get the Amaryllis bulbs and starting growing them for the holidays.

It's dark and overcast outside so I used my manual settings to get lighten things up.  As you can also see in the background my "Thanksgiving" cactus is in full bloom!

We were at Home Depot and I spotted these wax coated Amaryllis that you don't have to water. A couple of years ago I ran across this idea of growing them in a tall glass cylinder at a garden center.  I shared a post of my visit to Terrain in Pennsylvania which you can see "here".  Lots of inspiration for the holidays there!

I thought I'd share the basic info for growing these which as you can see is going to be very easy!

I had two glass cylinder vases that I knew would work.  I decided to dress it up a bit to  so I picked up some gold painted glass chips and reindeer moss (Michael's).

I had some wired ribbon that I figured would give it a bit more of a festive look.  The larger check is new from JoAnn's.  The also have it in a much larger 4" size.   

I used the whole container of gold pieces and made a little indent in the center for the bulb to rest.

The bulb comes with a wire stand so you can set it on any surface to grow.

The bulb is heavy so I layered a bunch of the moss knowing that the bulb would crush it down a bit.

And here they are!  I hope they don't grow too fast!  One thing I never liked about growing Amaryllis is how long the leaves are plus the stem of the flower can get a bit tippy so I hope this will work out well and cure those issues.  If you try this just make sure your cylinder is large enough to place these in.  For reference the inside measurement of my cylinders is 4 1/4" across.  

I love what the ribbon added!

I hope you liked this and find some inspiration from it!

I will be joining:

Dishing It & Digging It
Inspire Me Tuesday
Celebrate Your Story

It's only March 12th but it feels like spring!

It seems like all of us are experiencing an early start to spring. I can't tell you how happy I am that all our snow has melted already with the exception of the giant piles of snow that are man made from all the snow clearing that has to be done in parking lots etc. 

 Backing up a little- I took this in January on a pretty sunlit day.  There is a buffalo farm not far from us and they just looked so cozy this day relaxing in the sun I had to take a picture.

 I couldn't help but admire how the snow accented our big ash tree one Sunday morning in February.  

 Notice this area on the tree- it looks like a heart doesn't it?  It was close to Valentine's Day and I thought that was interesting!

The backyard garden area...though it looks like a lot of snow it was much less as compared to our normal snowfall...no one is complaining about that part!

The turkey's have been visiting....they scatter easily when they spot me taking pictures

The winter garden...This is why I don't clear everything away until spring...love the ornamentation of the dried plants in the winter.

Last fall I set a pot of daffodils (that I never planted in the ground from last spring- LAZY) right next to my rose shrub last fall.... eventually it was buried by much more snow.  My plan was to dig it out and bring it in for some early blooms to enjoy.

As you can see in this picture the snow piled on pretty high.  We had several warm ups and melt downs which made for very dense icy snow and I literally couldn't dig them out.

We've gone from this to...

this in a few weeks...

Today the deck is empty and all the snow is gone! Hooray!!  It's not pretty but just being able to see the ground makes me happy!

About 2 weeks ago the Christmas Cactus started to bloom again. 

I intended to join the Sunlit Sunday party when I took these pictures but got distracted.

Finally due to the fast thawing we're experiencing I was able to dig out the pot of daffodils.  They had started to grow late last fall because it warmed up again.  All the green that appeared seemed to just go into a state of suspension.

I set them on the floor where they'd get some sun and in only a few days they've really taken off.  This is all the same greenery you saw in the picture before. 

Enjoying every minute of the sunlit days around here and looking forward to being outdoors again in the garden.

I will be joining-

Sunlit Sunday

Blue Hour and Flowers

Greetings fellow plant lovers and gardeners!!

You may have noticed my new blog look thanks to my friend Linda at 
Life and Linda who transforms my blogs for me!  I give her an idea and she waves her magic wand and gives me what I asked for!  She's been busy transforming several blogs in the past few months and has a link at the top of her page you can see them at.   I recommend her not only because I think she's talented, but because she does it for a super reasonable price!

I know we all are fed up with winter (at least those of us still blanketed in the white stuff!)  We are experiencing some nice warmish weather (40's) which means "hooray" the snow is melting!  

I'm an early riser- I love it when I catch the sunrise. A beautiful glow appeared and I snapped off a few shots.  I think this qualifies as a "blue hour"  photo.  That Beatles song "Here Comes the Sun" always pops in my head (fairly frequently)!

I love the pretty colors in the sky.  Truly like a rainbow!  Amber, pinks, purples, and blues!

I kept the camera around hoping for some nice sunshine to highlight my flowers that have just appeared this week on the Christmas Cactus. 

I guess rest of the day will be warm but not sunny... perhaps it will dot in and out?  No complaints from me though... We have had a sun filled week and it puts everyone in a good mood.  

Ah yes I did catch this a couple of days ago while having my morning coffee.  These tulips were nearly a week old and pretty much past their peak but I had to snap off a shot when the sun came beaming in!  (Not bad for a cell phone picture!) 
I can hardly wait to see my own tulips popping up but that will probably be another month before that happens!  I also can't wait to wash my windows! After a long winter the windows sure get dirty!

I'm joining My Little Home and Garden 

for

Sunlit Sunday

Thank-you for visiting!

Liz

 

Paperwhites and Christmas

Narcisuss Papyraceus- 

a/k/a Paperwhites
They seem to be a favorite flower to 
plant and have bloom at Christmas time!
Mixed with red they are spectacular!

This photo is from January 2011 when

my Paperwhites were blooming.

It seemed as though the tall stems 

had found each other and 

were gracefully hugging.

This year I tried a new idea. 

I have this handled box that was sitting around with 

three glass jars in it. 

While staring at the bulbs at the 

store it came to me to use the jars for them.

I put a dressing of some artificial greens around the jars 

to give it a little more body.

I layered moss and stones around the bulbs

They're growing but it will be a few weeks before I see flowers.  

In the corner by my sink I've relocated the Christmas Cactus and wrapped the pot with some burlap and satin ribbons.

The flowers are pretty and I'm pleased to see more buds coming!

I've dressed my window with this Church 

and a small village like piece that lights up too.  The Church has little lights and the tree spins.  It has a manger on the left, carolers and the Christmas tree.  It's fun to watch while it's on.

I want to thank-you for following me 

these past 2+ years that I've

been doing this garden blog.

I'll come back and show you the 

flowers in my handled 

box once they are blooming!

In the meantime I want to wish you a

Merry Christmas to all!

Liz

I will be joining

Rose Vignettes blog for

Fresh Cut Fridays

Can you say "Kalanchoe"

Can you say "Kalanchoe" !! LOL.... 

I picked these up during out Easter visit at the local nursery that I have to always visit when we go home to Rochester.

 I was smitten with them the minute I saw them at the nursery.  I just transplanted them into the cute pottery pieces I got there too.

 They are a type of succulent and popular because of their long lasting flowers.  These look the same as they did when I got them a few weeks ago.

 The Christmas Cactus is still blooming and I need to transplant it too.  I gave the Baby Tears plant a severe haircut recently.  I plan to split it up into several plants when I take it outside for the summer.  I'll take the Cyclamen outside too and see how it does!

 My daffodils along the path to the back patio are blooming.  We had rain all night which will perk everything up!

 These Jack Frost Brunnera are blooming now and I love them because they bloom for a very long time and the plant continues to grow so you get a great display!  Mine lasted a month last year!  

I swear I got all the oak leaves out and yet I see more that I missed! You can see some of the Hosta coming up in the background.  

This Sweet Woodruff has flowers and should be making a nice display soon.  It's been bitten a bit from the frosts too.

These violas are so sweet. They pop up every so often in a new place like this one did!  I just looked at some photo's from last year and I was at this point with plants in the middle of May!  We are definitely ahead of our normal growing season!

We haven't started the fountain yet or even uncovered the garden benches.  I spent yesterday cleaning up some of the beds and bringing out some of my pottery and garden ornamentation.

It's a bit chilly today so I think I'll stay indoors!  

Hope you are having a great day!

I'm joining Tootsie Time for
Fertilizer Friday
 Thanks for stopping by!