Bloom Days January 2008

Welcome to the second Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post for Faire Garden. Following the advice of the organizer of this event, Carol at May Dreams Gardens, this little red primrose was purchased at the grocery to ensure there was some color for January’s photos.

The sunroom/greenhouse lived up to the expectations however, with several of its inhabitants in bloom. This abutilon hybrid, variety unknown, was in a mixed container planting of perennials from a big box store, marked down at the end of the season. So far the conditions indoors are to its liking.

This close up shows the darker veining well.

This impatiens is a volunteer seedling that must have blown in to the pot from the wall planting a couple of years ago. During warm weather the pot sits on a bench in the covered back doorway. It got cut way back when the pot was brought inside but still has managed to produce a flower.

div>The reason for the orchids is their winter bloom period. This oncidium “Sharry Baby’ is a workhorse plant with several blooms through the year.

The paphiopedilums offer exotic flowers, ease of care and smaller plants. Other orchids have been given the heave ho in favor of the paphs. This is P. ‘Oriental Mystique’.

The vanda alliance grows with no growing medium. There are four different plants encased in a birdola bird feeder, roots dangling. There was no tag on the one blooming now, it is referred to as the large vanda.

Blooming for over a month and starting to lose its color is this brassia ‘Fritz Boedeker’. We usually get two, sometimes three blooms from this guy per year.

We have now moved outdoors where not much is going on except the pansies. Their little faces are so sweet. Note the daffodil foliage peeking up in the background.

Previously the subject of a posting, the heaths are starting to bloom. This one is erica darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’. It has been nearly impossible to get a decent picture of these flowers. The close ups are always out of focus and washed out. This one isn’t that great either.

More pretty violas in another bed.

I wanted you to be able to see the dark blue outline of the middle yellow petals. Sometimes we hold viola beauty contests, since each flower is slightly different than the next. This would surely be a semi finalist.

The name of this hardy geranium is not known. The brilliant red leaves had not been noticed until this year in the search for color on the fifteenth of each month.

Carolin jessamine, gelsemium sempervirens, has many buds and this one opened on cue for the bloom day.

Wrapping up with these violas in the blue pot. Next month should see many more flowers from which to choose for their portraits to be published for bloom day . But this month’s efforts by the plants to oblige were far from shabby.

Frances

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