Tropical ~Cayman~ Kinda Dreams...

...on this Connecticut shore...

...baby, it's cold outside!

xoabb

expect anything!

4 Stalks a Bloomin'

Dear Amaryllis
The Beauty You've Shared With Me
Thanks! Next Year Too...Please?

~~~
xoabb

Boy, Do We Have Bloomage!

Above behold our ever-blooming Miss Amaryllis in all her magnificent glory. (I've decided that any flower that's as pretty as an amaryllis must be a girl flower, and no, don't go sendin' me botany lessons, this is just my romantic opinion, 'k?) Though she's still beautiful, she's no longer perfect like she was the first year she bloomed. The blossom, that the first year was purely red is no longer (like this one that Kacey photographed), the four buds on each stalk never bloom at the same time, and some of the blossoms are usually deformed - but still beautiful (to me at least) in their own way. Though I don't remember there being two bulbs, there are now, and the second bulb has two bloom stalks growing out of it. I wonder what color they'll be!

Aren't they just beauteous?

We have other bloomage going on as well. It's a crazy year! The bougainvilla never blooms in the winter time. Guess Miss Bougie up there thinks it's spring - she's covered with blossoms.

I know, I know, I really should trim back this pathetic-looking hibiscus. But nearly every stem has a bud on it...

...and when the flowers are this pretty, I just can't bring myself to trim.

Even Miss Geranium is getting in on the act.

~~~

Flowers in winter.
Aren't they a beautiful sight?
They warm one's soul, yes?

~~~

xoabb

And What Do We Have Here??

The two amaryllis bulbs you see above are at least 12 years old. My Mom and Dad usually send one or two amaryllis plants just enough before Christmas so they're blooming by then. When the bulbs are through blooming, they are usually just thrown away.

I personally have a very hard time throwing any plant that's even barely alive away, so I stuck the two bulbs in a pot in our garage, and forgot all about them.

Springtime rolls around and I need a pot to put aloe vera plants in. I use the pot I'd put the amaryllis bulbs in, totally forgetting I'd done that as there's no sign of the bulbs left. Fast-forward 2 or 3 years. All of a sudden, in the middle of the aloe plants, lo and behold, I notice a shoot coming up....yep, it was the resurrecting amaryllis!

One or both have been blooming at least every other year since! As you can see, this year both bulbs will bloom. Wonder what we'll get? They were solid deep red the first year and they've never been that again. Pictures to come when we finally have blooms!

~~~
xoabb

P. S. Black Watch plaid ribbon as an amaryllis tie-up. Don't ya LOVE it??