I saw that sunset too! Wasn't it stunning? And quick - No sooner was the sky pink, purple, and orange, poof, it was dark.

I love watching the birds too. We get a lot of migratory birds through here beginning about now and through February.

It is a rather ugly time of year. Time to nest - read, puzzle, nap - it's that "there's a time and a season" thing, eh?

I'm trying to figure out the best place to put these amaryllis pots so the foliage can keep on growing, but out of my way. I'm wondering if they'd mind if they were in a spot with less light. There is a window with a shelf nearby where they'd get some light but not much. They're through blooming anyway, and they are taking up too much space where they are.

So do you know, Vic? Can they get by with less light now that they aren't blooming? Will it keep the foliage from growing? The foliage stores the food for the bulb for next year, so it needs to grow. I just don't know about the amount of light.

What do you think?

Can you tell I'm looking for projects? I already cleaned the kitchen floor twice this week.
Boredom. Ugh.

If you're looking for projects, you can come down to GA and clean my house! And rip up my carpet, and lay my floor tile, and fix the flat tire on my wheelbarrow so you can finish spreading last year's wood chips, and...

I'm glad the cardinals came to brighten your day -- I used to get them all the time, when I had two conifers in my front yard. The conifers were done in by the GA drought/heat, so I don't see the cardinals as much. Can't wait until I can afford to plant a new conifer

Sharon, I can't answer that definitively. You need to ask a "real" gardener but what you're saying makes sense to me. I grew a forced amaryllis at Christmas once and ultimately planted it outside in my garden but for the life of me, I can't remember what I did between bloom time and planting it

Mary, if you will tree-mail me your address, I will send you some saplings whenever I run across them. They won't be the white pine or blue spruce, just the basic pines that grow here everywhere.

I don't clean very well. I do one big project at a time and count it done. Like my kitchen floor which is momentarily spotless. Notice I didn't mention the other floors. Nor my bedroom. I'm not a good candidate for your job, Flit. Maybe the tiling, but maybe not since my back is out of whack with this cold spell.

Yup. I'm thinking the amaryllis will be fine without as much light. Now that's a project in itself since I opted to plant those amaryllis in community pots back in November when I got them as gifts and all my pots were outside in the potting shed and not easy to get to in the cold. So I grabbed 3 of the larger ones. Now I need to move them elsewhere and move a couple of bigger house plants to take their place.

My mind thinks my body is about 25.
Just moving those plants will take the rest of the day.
Oomph.

Vic, honey, thanks for the offer, but I have more pine seedlings than I can keep ripped out -- they're what I call "telephone pole pines" -- tall and straight, with needles a the tip-top. I had planted an Arizona Cypress last year, but I either planted it at the wrong time or in the wrong place, cause it lasted 2 months. I've had a new hole dug/amended since Oct, but haven't been able to spare the $30 for the new cypress. At this point, I'm waiting for fall.

Sharon, my mind and body have that same disconnect, and it sounds like we have the same ideas re: cleaning. I keep the kitchen floor mostly clean -- my grammaw dog sleeps in there at night and is easily confused about whether she's inside or outside. But I have a heck of time finding any counter space, because what little I have is always cluttered. Somehow, "cleaning the kitchen" never translates to finding the counter tops.

Plants are moved.
The dishwasher is dead. Could be it's nearing 18 years old though. And hasn't been used much since I don't cook much especially in the past 5 years or so.
But the dishes are clean now.
All 6 cups and one soup bowl.
Spoons.

But the top of my table.
Let's not go there at the moment.

Now I'm going to have to look up Arizona cypress.

Now whatever makes you think you can grow a native southwestern cypress down southeast where you are, Flit??
You reckon it might not be too wet over there?

Sure is pretty though.

Sharon said:Now whatever makes you think you can grow a native southwestern cypress down southeast where you are, Flit??
You reckon it might not be too wet over there?

Sure is pretty though.

My semi-local native nursery tells me I can grow it here, as long as I have a well-drained spot in my red georgia clay for it, and I trust them.

Well good. Just seems like it might be too humid, and clay packed too tight, but then I'm not sure where you are located, so there's that. Hope it works. They are pretty trees.

Did that sound flippant? I didn't mean it to. I was just thinking of the humidity.
Wishing I could grow it here. Sorry, Flit.
It's been one of those days.

It's crappy soil in Texas too, so the soil shouldn't be an issue... I saw them growing beautifully in Austin, and they have the same basic climate as I do, so all should be well.

This picture is from the wildflower center in Austin last Feb

Sharon said:Did that sound flippant? I didn't mean it to. I was just thinking of the humidity.
Wishing I could grow it here. Sorry, Flit.
It's been one of those days.

not flippant... my reply was delayed while I searched my cavernous hard drives for a photo

Pretty. Is the green as soft as it looks?

Pretty much - it's not a prickly tree at all...

Here's a close-up of the needles/fruit of the one I planted






I was heartbroken when I came back from a road-trip and it was brown-- felt like a murderer.


and yet another edit -- the original location was next to where the 2 conifers had originally been, slightly shifted in the hopes of it being a better spot. The new location will be in the near-center of the oval that's in the near-center of my yard - what I call my memorial garden since I planted it with money we made from selling my folks' house. If I rearrange my office slightly, I'll still be able to see it from my desk during the day.

Pretty.

It resembles cedar.

January blahs are here too. Winters are too long. Winter is between gardening seasons which are too short.

I only know Eastern Red Cedar and it's similar but the needles are flat, flatter than the picture looks.

Six more weeks. I'm going to give it 6 more weeks then I'll probably go out there and dig in the dirt anyway. No matter the weather. IF I can wait 6 more weeks.
Ack.

I think we all need to make a dirt box, similar to the sand boxes we played in as kids. Put it in a shed or garage, and when we need a "dig in the dirt" fix, we could put a little space heater beside it to keep us from freezing, and play to our heart's content while we wait for winter to work its way through

I'd have to have a grow light because it's for sure I'd plant something in it.