I have no luck growing roses so I buy them. Same with freesia. Orchids? No biggie. Most are either in bloom or setting buds.

My Phaelenopsis has a spike, but one of the tiny buds has fallen.. I hope the rest develop.
A friend at work who is wonderful in every other way, does NOT have any interest in growing plants. She got a gift orchid several months ago, most likely a Phael. I asked last week, if she still had it. No, all the flowers finally fell off so she thought it was dead.
Yeah, I practically choked!

I noticed yesterday that my miniature phal is blooming! There are 8-10 tiny white flowers along the spike. My one remaining 'full size' orchid is tying to hang on, but I fear it won't make it to spring.

My vanilla orchid rotted off at the ground. I have it pinned down to the soil in hopes that the aerial roots will take hold.

The amaryllis are still going strong. The Red Lion are about done, the yellow Fantasy is ok, but having issues. The white ones are also having issues. The sheath that encloses the buds is drying out and I have to manually remove it so the buds can continue to grow and open.

All of the alocasia and calocasia are straining for the light. Hey, at least they're still growing. We're going to have some serious root crowding come spring though. We're either going to have to get bigger pots or finally put them in the ground. Some of our neighbors leave theirs in the ground over the winter. I wonder how deep I'd have to plant them?

Pardon my preening. I, the Clod of Handicrafts, came through at DD's wedding.

Beautiful, Lisa. Please feel free to share more!

Gorgeous, Lisa! The ivory, green, and gold are classy and classic.

RIck, those elephant ears seem to resist going dormant inside. I cut off one of mine as it was covered in spider mite, and discarded the loose surface soil too. I have a warmer bed that I feel sure is a zone 8 or maybe better, but haven't tried leaving an EE out there. I can tell you, I had a Black Runner in a spot that is NOT particularly warm last year. I dug the main plant, but one small runner did live and sprout this spring.

I got an Amaryllis kit for MIL, but it's being very slow. My own garden ones, I will check on potting next weekend.

I got some garden goodies to show. First, my new gnome, named Axel Grease, in honor of the motorcycles in our garage


Next, I got 2 packs of water gel beads from Michaels craft store. These things are fun. Tiny, tiny beads that swell up to about 1/4 to 3/8 inchdiameter with enough water and room to expand. I used them in some cute little bottles from Michaels also. And one vase is the glass bottle from a spice grinder from the grocery store.

Sally, are these the same thing?


Here's Old Faithful in bloom. It's D. Violet Fizz from DrDawg.

Lisa, that looks like Gervase in bloom behind the orchid. My Gervase has been in full bloom almost two weeks now. The stalk on mine is really tall and impressive with the four big blooms all opening at the same time.

Aspen, my Amaryllis is Flamenco Queen and she's been dancing for 12 days now. Planning to pot up Gervase New Years Day.

Beautiful Lisa, Just beautiful.
Sally Got to get one of those for Ric

My Gervase is still going strong. The other one that is doing well is the Blushing Bride bulb I got from Rick's order.