This chime has a ghost
My cousin who left us
and took with him sunshine and laughter and love.
And left behind darkness.
A shadow
of where he used to be
in our family.
FLOWER
The Chime and its Ghost
Uncategorized
Subtle Beauty
I do love an occasional screaming flower.
But my heart belongs to the quiet ones.
The ones with the dainty detail, that makes you look twice and pause.
Like this Picotee Amaryllis.
Yes it is white, but with a green throat and a hint of red around the margins.
Beside the screaming red and white “incorrect bloomer”, it may be overlooked.
But let it stand quietly alone, it inspires awe.
FLOWER
Bougainvillea Blooms and Bracts
I got this plant for my mother as a Mother’s Day gift last spring.
We have divided it into three. Now my sister and I have one also.
The bracts were an unusual light pink when I purchased it.
Mine is now blooming white,
except for one pink spot.
The three flowers are in the center, each emerging from a bract.
The bracts are the colorful part. The tiny blooms are usually white.
FLOWER
The Cutest Daffodils in the World
I have many daffodils.
Tall and short, yellow and white, white and white, orange and white and even some doubles.
I love them all, but one type always stands out the most and shines the brightest.
Even though it is the tiniest.
I love it that there are clusters of them all over my gardens.
My parents gave me a pot of them blooming one spring over two decades ago.
I have been dividing them and sharing them for over twenty years.
They are like little spots of sunshine.
Tete a Tete is the cutest daffodil in the world.
It is a miniature Narcissus. Its name comes from the fact that many stems have two flowers.
They look like they are having a little chat.
I would like to mention the unusual vase that belonged to a dear friend Beth.
It has a eight-parted, fluted, clear glass vase and a silver stand decorated with roses.
She would love to know that I have shared it on my blog.
FLOWER
Bloomed Incorrectly?
Last month I posted photos of an Amaryllis blooming.
I expected it to be a peach color. I have many reds and whites.
I wrote to the supplier and told them that the bulb I ordered,
Amaryllis Exotica, had turned out to be a double red/white.
Their emailed reply stated that they were sorry
that the bulb BLOOMED INCORRECTLY and that they would ship another.
I just received an email that a new bulb was being shipped at no cost to me.
Now folks, really?
Why not admit that a person packed and shipped the wrong bulb?
Why blame the poor bulb?
What is this world coming to, when we blame a plant instead of a person?
Let’s admit that a mistake was made.
I will let you know if the new bulb BLOOMS CORRECTLY in a few months.
FLOWER
Pseudo Spring
Don’t get me wrong northern friends,
I am enjoying these days of 70 and even 80 degrees here in North Carolina.
My bunnies are very happy to get out in their yard almost every day.
But I am a biologist and a plant mama.
I have been keeping garden journals of this same garden since 1996.
It’s too early for all the growth I am seeing.
I fear a freeze will kill much of this growth back.
Some plants have “back-up buds”, but many don’t.
I am glad that I brought in more plants than usual this year.
I always fear a hard winter.
How ironic that I have saved these stowaways from a pseudo spring instead.
FLOWER
Mona Lavender
My dear Plectranthus friend seems to be mealy-bug free after the musical cleansing.
All the attention lead to a growth spurt, then a potting up and a pruning. Now it is almost as tall as the Exotica Amaryllis.
I love purple. Not only are its tiny blooms lavender and purple,
but the leaves have a dark purple underside.
This plant has spent the winter indoors by a sunny window.
It is a Zone 10 from South Africa. I am in Zone 7.
FLOWER
Painted Plants
Really????
I put this in the same category with dyed chicks at Easter.
Somebody ‘splain this to me.
FLOWER
By the time he returned home that night from his job at a healthcare company, he had resolved to flee Syria. He talked it over with his wife, informed his mother, and then reached out online to an underground group known for smuggling Syrians into Jordan. Again he was fortunate: the smugglers had space in […]
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