Friday, December 9, 2016

Flowers in Winter

I have a soft spot for neglected houseplants for sale. Usually you can get them dirt cheap (pun intended) when you point out their sad condition to a sales person.

Two years ago I bought two pitiful looking African violets that were almost dead at Walmart. I only paid a couple of dollars each for them. I took them home, gave them lots of tender loving care, and just look at them now. They live beside a sunny window in my bedroom.



Two weeks ago I rescued two dried out, drooping Christmas cactus from the produce section at the grocery store. They were the last two that looked salvageable. I brought them home and potted them up together in a medium size pot. They perked right up and are looking nice.



This last photo is of flowers I can't take any credit for. I picked these camellias in my back yard. They remind me of winter roses and are brightening up my kitchen window.


It's nice having flowers in December!

15 comments:

  1. Like people, plants thrive on love and care.

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  2. I adore your flowers and I love having flowers in winter.
    Your plants are so lovely.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. Thank you! I like having green living things around me at home.

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  3. All they need is some loving care, which you seem to be great at. They look beautiful!

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    1. Thank you! I just try to pay a little attention to them every day.

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  4. We still have a few flowers in the garden, but I don't know what they're called. Your Camellias are stunning.

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    1. Aren't they beautiful? They start blooming when the weather gets really cold. We have four nice old camellias in our yard that keep us supplied with flowers almost all winter.

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  5. You could have fooled me there with the camellias - had you said they were roses, I would have believed you!
    All your flowers are beautiful and I am sure they add extra brightness to your house.
    I have more a black thumb than a green one, I'm afraid, and never buy house plants for myself, knowing I will most likely slowly but surely kill them off. But I have a potted azalea and an orchid in the Third Room, and surprisingly enough, both are thriving - probably because I leave them well alone and only give them a sip of water on Saturdays (both) and Wednesdays (azalea only). The azalea seems to think it is March or April, as it is covered in beautiful pink flowers, and the orchid is at its most beautiful with creamy white flowers.
    Last Sunday, when I had my family over for coffee and cake, my sister brought me an amaryllis which is still firmly closed in the bud. And on Friday, when my girl friends where here for the Schrottwichteln, one of them brought me a mini-poinsettia, which now sits on my kitchen table.

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  6. I have lots of houseplants and I also have a beautiful African violet flowering at the moment. I buy mini cyclamen at this time of year and I have 6 in this room and another 2 on the kitchen windowsill. They brighten up these dull dark mornings. 8.15am and very gloomy outside!

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  7. Your house plants look great. I do not buy potted plants for the house, for much the same reasons as the Librarian. I do love flowers though and keep many vases filled with cut flowers all through the year and flowers are always on my shopping list along with the groceries.

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  8. When we lived in Connecticut we weren't far from an incredible African violets nursery. We had about a dozen and rotated them between upstairs and grow lights in the basement. Still, not with as much success as you've had. AND we have a stunning Christmas cactus that hasn't bloomed since we brought it home 2 years ago!

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  9. The camellias are amazing. You should wear one in your hair when you dress in your ballgown.

    Love,
    Janie

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