Foggy and damp definitely described the view out of the front window this morning. We could barely see any of the neighborhood houses. I went into our family room and turned on the electric fireplace. You can see it below. I love the way it cozies up the room.
Next I went to the kitchen to make my morning cup of coffee, in my snowman mug.
Before long, the sun broke through and I was out in the garden, checking on my plants. Not long ago I showed you my flowering Thanksgiving cactus. Well, now it’s the day before Christmas, and my Christmas Cactus is very close to blooming. You can see it below.
It always amazes me to see how these plants know exactly what to do. I ‘m keeping the Christmas Cactus inside for a few days, so we can enjoy the beautiful color up close.
Tag Archives: Gardening
Inside Gardening
Inside Gardening is what I had to do. Our weather in southern California has been unbelievably hot. 117 degrees here yesterday. My potted plants were drying out as quickly as I watered them. Today I brought my plants in one at a time and worked on them in the house. I flooded each plant with room temperature water and pruned each plant if needed. I am really missing my usual time in the garden, but it is just too hot to be outside for very long.
On one of my quick trips outdoors, I snapped this photo. The water in our fountain looked so refreshing I just had to take a photo. It is cooler out this evening and I think the heat spell might be coming to an end.
A Remarkable Lantana
This poor Lantana suffered when I missed watering it during a hot spell this fall and never seemed to recover. It looked dead for weeks and I planned to throw it out and use the pot for another plant. I’d stopped watering it and aside from our recent rain it stayed dry. Yesterday was gorgeous and I spent several hours in the back yard working with my plants.When I got to this one I was very surprised to see new growth.This plant is part of my butterfly garden, which you can read about here. I ‘m not sure of its color, because Lantana comes in a variety of colors. It will be fun to find out. Below you can see the beautiful new green growth. It could easily be replaced, but as I’ve said in the past, my plants are part of the family and I do all I can to keep them healthy and happy.
I am hoping that in a few weeks, I will be posting a photo of a healthy flowering Lantana. Look for it in a future post.
Echeveria ‘Lola’, a Beautiful Succulent
The Echeveria ‘Lola’ is a beautiful silver/gray succulent with lovely rosettes that can be up to 6 inches in diameter. A hardy grower in Zones 10,11,12, it also makes an excellent house plant. Continue reading
Is This a Thanksgiving or a Christmas Cactus?
Christmas Cactus, or Thanksgiving Cactus? I’m still not sure, but I’m leaning more towards Christmas, because of the more rounded shape and thickness of the leaves. When I originally bought it many years ago, I probably chose it for the beautiful flowers, and didn’t pay much attention to whether it was a Christmas or Thanksgiving variety. Continue reading