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The beauty of Amaryllis

Over the holiday, I bought a beautiful Amaryllis from Krogers. It was not in bloom, but the stalk was well developed. It looked like a candle with an enclosed flame. It was cool looking and the picture of the bloom was beautiful, so I bought my first Amaryllis. I had no idea how much joy watching this plant bloom would afford me.

My first stunning bloom


Then after the holiday, krogers had a few boxes of amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs for $3.99. I bought a box of each, read the planting directions and watched in awe as the plant grew from a bulb to stunning plants in a matter of a few weeks. Heck, the paperwhites grew inches in a matter of a few hours in a day. Amazing indeed.

My First Paperwhite Bulb


My First Amaryllis Bulb


The Amaryllis had 3 additional huge blooms. Last week I moved my amaryllis on my front porch and it fell over and broke in the center of the stalk. Actually, my son came in the house to deliver the bad news. He said it just fell over when he came in the door. It was an accident. I was very sad, and threw the plant away in anger. Then, I went back, got it out the trash and replanted it. Hopefully if I do everything correctly, I will have blooms by Christmas of this year.

I ordered 2 additional amaryllis bulbs from American Meadows. They were one of the few places I found online that I could still purchase amaryllis bulbs. I ordered a "Jumbo Amaryllis Lemon Star" and by God, the bulb is humongous. just got it today and I have already planted it. I am going to journal the progress of this bulb. I am like a little girl waiting for a brand new doll....so excited. So, I will have to come up with another blog specific to this amaryllis journey.

The second amaryllis I purchased is a Charisma bulb. That bulb is pretty big too. They sent me a third amaryllis for free called a moonlight amaryllis.

I will plant them in a few weeks so that I have beautiful bulbs through Feb and into March.

American Meadows also sent me a package of wild flowers and beef steak tomato seeds. Yippee. They may have a customer for life...cuz their products are guaranteed.







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Stone Cold

My tropical plants in the dead of winter



I really like this picture. My tropical plants against the background of leafless trees and white snow. It is cold in Ohio. I supplement the lighting with T5 grow lights.

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My cuttings

A few Saturdays back I decided to try to propagate a few of my plants. I have never attempted to propagate a plant, so I had to do some reading on it. So, I bought some rooting powder and some great seed growing potting mix. I read up on the individual plants that I wanted to propagate.
Plant #1 My spiderplant baby.


This cutting stayed attached to mom for a little over 2 weeks while planted in the soil. I accidentally dislodged him from mommy and noticed he had two little root legs...so I cut him away from mama and he is on his own.

Plant #2 Wandering Jew Stems (2 stems)


I read that these plants are invasive and grow like a weed, so when I accidentally pulled off a few good stems as I pulled dried leave, I placed the pulled plants in the soil and pressed them in the dirt....and look at it...grew about 2 inches in 2 weeks. I did nothing special...no root powder...nothing. Just some water and sun.

Plant #3 Persian Shield Cutting


I read and did everything to get this cutting to root. I used the root powder, enclosed it in a plastic bag for humidity and placed under a grow light. See the two baby leaves in the middle? They are new baby leaves...so that's a great sign! One more week in the bag and then I will keep it in the open.

Plant #4 Aglaonema cutting



Now this cutting has been treated with tender care like the Persian shield but it is not looking as hopeful. It appears to be drying out and not taking. I will see what another week will bring.

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Relief says my plants

As I posted in my previous blog, I decided to totally drench a few of my plants that seem to be struggling in my dry winter home. I checked on them when I awoke and they appeared to be super happy. They were all bright and perky and rejuvenated. I decided to treat all my plants in the same manner, so I spent 3.5 hours watering all my plants....not including my ponytail palms. Wow....what task. I will wait and see how all my other plants respond to the soaking and if they respond well, how often in-between regular waterings would I have to repeat this time consuming task.

I am not overly concerned about the over-watering because my house is so dry, but maybe I should be concern since I am a newbie at this. Well my gut says it is all good.

Check out one of my cute little ferns that I bought from Meijers last week.

DRYOPTERIS FILIX-MAS LINEARIS POLYDACTYLA





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Thirsty Plants

Several of my plants have been looking drier than normal despite my attention to watering them. It concerns me when my plants appear to to struggle...it really makes me feel bad. I am new to gardening and houseplants, so I read up on the care of each plant and I watch all my plants for signs of distress.

I have a few variegated Ivy's and I am finding that their leaves are drying up even with proper watering. Some of my other plants are distressed as well as evidenced by brown leaf edges. So, I figured perhaps it is the dryness of the house. I purchased a couple of thermometers and found that the humidity was only 32% with the humidifiers running!!! My plants are dry! I put a tray of pebbles with water under the ivy and some of my distressed plants to bring the humidity up around the plants. I still did not feel satisfied. Then I got the idea that I should soak the plants in water in the sink and fully let the water drain out. Then I know they are getting the water they need throughout their roots. This is a bold move door me, but my inner compass says it is all good. The plants needed it. Well, we will see about that.

My gorgeous prayer plant.



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Spiderplant #1

This is my first spider plant. I bought this plant at DeHavens in Findlay a few months back. It loves the bay window. I have a supplemental grow light in the window and it is responding well. Babies galore lol.


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