The bulbs that keep on giving

Several years ago I got a couple of Amaryllis bulbs on clearance after Christmas. I wasn't very interested in these plants since I had never seen one in person before, but for $1 or whatever the ridiculously low price was, I'd take a chance.

Five or six years later, these plants have been blooming for me every winter, requiring almost no attention during the summer growing season. The only thing I need to do is remember to move them into a dark corner of the garage in early autumn.

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More exploration!

I haven't been near my garden the last couple of days, and have had really no time to write decent posts. I usually prepare a few topics in advance when I know it will be difficult to take new photos, but with holiday prep I just didn't have time. So I apologize for the brevity.

This dragonfly was one of several of the same species that were found along the walking path at Simpson Park -- the small but wonderful park I've lived near for 20 years but only discovered this past summer.

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Protect!

A few years back when I started growing bamboos (which was in the 2007-2008 timeframe), I took a lot of care to protect them during the winter. The advice I got was to ensure that the young plants had as many green leaves in the spring as possible, and that meant wrapping small plants to protect them from cold, dry winds, tarping plants to the ground, and even building a temporary greenhouse.

Since the plants are larger now, I have more of them than I know what to do with, and I got tired of looking at ugly plastic sheets in the garden all winter, I've stopped with most of those extreme measures. That's not to say I don't do some things to protect my favorite plants from the coldest weather though.

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Bee right back

I need to take a short break from posting anything significant -- if what I post ever is.

Things should be back to normal tomorrow, but we'll see. If you're looking for something interesting to read, how about this index of my favorite posts of my second full year of blogging?

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The obvious solution

As you may remember, earlier this year I bought several cold-hardy but moisture-hating Agaves and Yuccas. My goal was to get them into planting beds this year, along with my cold-hardy cactus.

That goal was not met (but I did create some soil mounds as a first step), so the potted plants remain on my driveway. I was concerned about that one Agave during the summer, but it seems like that was nothing to worry about. I do have other concerns though...

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pond ice art

Nor surprisingly, the pond has built up a layer of ice. A few days ago when it was still forming the sun was out and the frozen pond in sunlight is irresistible to me.

Last year I had just a lifeless sheet of frozen water to photograph. This year though there's a biosystem under the ice, and that makes it so much more interesting.

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Happy Christmas!

Wishing everybody a warm and happy holiday!

I hope you're spending time with friends and family, and are as content and comfortable as a stray cat in a protected corner of a friendly garden!

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Glass of art

I water the small aloe in my kitchen window quite infrequently and very sparingly, as there are no drainage holes in its glass planter.

Still, an interesting mix of algae and other unidentified organisms have grown in the space between the soil and the glass. Quite colorful and beautiful in the sunlight...

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Windowsill Aloes

If you've been reading my posts for a while and really paying attention to details, you may know that my house has very limited south-facing window space for plants. In fact I have exactly two windows that face south, one that is about 8" (20cm) wide with no sill, and the window in front of the kitchen sink.

Still though, I manage to keep a few plants here throughout the year, adding a couple more during the winter months. Right now the two plants are both Aloes.

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