It’s been a while, starting off the New Year with what’s blooming in January. Let’s look outside first, because the list is rather small. We’ve got one last Sternbergia lutea that just came up and bloomed. Again, this is from one of the bulbs that I planted last fall, so I am sure its internal time clock is really off. Look at those wrinkled stamens!
The rosemary and the black-eyed susan (barely) are still blooming, but I couldn’t find any Johnny-jump-ups. They’ve all disappeared since December.
I also still have a few flowers on my strawberry tree.
That’s about it blooming outdoors. We’ll get to some greenhouse flowers in a moment.
It’s been raining a lot. The rhubarb is beginning to grow (left) and this saxifrage (Saxifraga x urbium ‘Aureopunctata’ – right) provides a nice burst of color on a dark, dreary, rainy day. The blue and yellow needles on Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Treasure Island’ (bottom) look best in winter.
Some plants are not appreciating all the rain, like my Opuntia ‘Golden Lion’. It rotted at the base and keeled over. I’ve since taken the top half inside and have made some cuttings from the healthy parts.
Agave parryi ‘JC Raulston’ also looking worse for the wear this winter. Eight days ago, only the lower leaves were wrinkling up and rotting. Now, more spots of rot are appearing on the upper leaves and the little baby pup I noted last month has become mush. I guess covering this agave up with a pot didn’t protect it as much as I had hoped.
The creek is moving along quite swiftly with all the rain.
Switching to some flowers blooming in the greenhouse. It’s orchid season. Here is a cattleya orchid.
A moth orchid (Phaleonopsis).
And, an oncidium orchid (my favorite orchid genus). The greenhouse smells lovely.
A lot of succulents are blooming too, including this Crassula hybrid ‘Springtime’
A Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi?).
A crown-of-thorns (Euphorbia milii) that popped up from seed in one of my other plants. Now, it’s blooming next to a fuzzy blue Echeveria setosa.
These next few were hard to photograph because the flowers were perched on long, arching stems. Not much for the camera to focus on. Echeveria ‘Lola’.
Haworthia herbacea
And, my favorite, Aloe ‘Blimey Limey’.
That’s it for now. Hope your New Year is productive, healthy, and happy!
The plants in your greenhouse look fabulous. I’ve always wanted a greenhouse but haven’t been able to justify the need for one; however, this month’s deluge makes the idea seem arguably more reasonable. The begonias in my shade house for one thing aren’t looking so good. Ditto for some of the Hippeastrum/Amaryllis I have outside in pots.
Best wishes for many winter plant survivors and a beautiful spring to come.
Weird weather everywhere makes it hard to grow things. It’s always surprising though how things that seemed to have survived previous, similar weather events suddenly succumb. Obviously there is some difference that we don’t see. I still have hope though. Some things pull through even though I thought they were doomed. Spring is on its way!
Have you shown an overall photo of your greenhouse? I’d love to see it! (that Echeveria setosa is cute as can be) I’m so sad to see the state of your Agave parryi ‘JC Raulston’, I really thought those plants were basically indestructible here in Oregon.
These plants are in a corner of my greenhouse at work on one of the benches we can’t use because of some temperature issues. My home hobby greenhouse is here (https://botanicachaotica.com/in-the-greenhouse/). Much less elegant, but I hope to upgrade someday.
I was a little surprised that JCR looked so bad so quickly. There might still be a chance because the center is still firm. It just goes to show how harsh it is out here. The A. bracteosa, however, looks healthy and appears completely unfazed by winter so far.
Seems like a greenhouse makes winter bearable when there’s cold and rot outdoors. You have some lovely plants indoors and out. Outdoors the Chamaecyparis is a beauty, and in the greenhouse the succulents are just as beautiful as the orchids.
I’ve been wanting to get some Sternbergia because I’ve read they do great with summer dry conditions–maybe next year.
This is our second (or third) year for Sternbergia. They’ve made it through record heat and drought here without any issues. They seem to be a win/win!
The orchids are lovely, but sorry about your agave. With 2′ of gravel, one would think it would have made it through… Makes me worried about one I put in a client’s garden. Will have to go by and see how it’s faring…
It’s surprising how I thought we had a relatively mild winter, but several plants sure disagreed! I might try another JC
Raulston in the future. We’ll see!