Back in December, Abbey’s rose was the last one blooming in my garden. I repotted it and brought it inside for the winter, unsure of what to expect. Happily, it just started blooming. A small victory over winter! (Pun intended: this cute bloom is about the size of my thumbnail.)
A lovely day to you!
Back in early October, we had unseasonably cold weather. So I snipped about a dozen branches from the basil plants in my garden and put them into water, hoping to extend their usable life by a few weeks. To my surprise they rooted and thrived in my kitchen. (I was surprised because I have never had luck keeping potted basil plants inside.) To my even greater surprise, I was able to keep them going for six months … well at least one of them. Because I used their leaves all winter, I am down to the last stem on my last branch. They were incredibly easy to keep going. I just changed the water and washed out the jars about once a week. What a wonderful, unexpected run of fresh basil. It is still too early to put new plants into the ground, as basil is not very cold hardy. However, I can start a few pots and just bring them in when the temperatures are about to dip too low. Yay! No need to be without this wonderful herb!
Have a lovely weekend!
The foliage on my amaryllises from last Christmas only just died back a few weeks ago. Since it took so long for them to go dormant, I was starting to wonder whether I would have any flowers from the bulbs this winter. Then a few new leaves started to appear in each pot a few days ago. There is hope yet!
Every autumn, I buy tulip bulbs to force into bloom late winter. The flowers are a cheerful reminder that spring is on its way …
If it weren’t for my houseplants, especially blooming ones, I would suffer terrible garden withdrawal pains during the winter months. Thankfully, several of my phalaenopsis orchids, which I keep by a kitchen window, have recently started blooming again. Here are a few photos of these beauties that I took this afternoon. I hope that you enjoy them.
I keep plants by a few of my kitchen windows. These photos look inside two of the orchids in my ‘inside garden”.
A Taste of Morning 