Flowers So Precious

This time of year, when the snow is piled high around us, I long to see some flower color and form. It's not even February and I'm getting tired of the white, grays and browns around me.

The Amaryllis so far have been a bust. I do have one that's starting to sprout on the kitchen table. We'll see what it does. These are last year's bulbs and I couldn't find any pots I had to put them into a larger-sized container, so they got popped into a similar-sized pot. I don't know if they have enough room to grow roots and be the beauties they were last year.

Didn't order paperwhites and bulbs for forcing - just didn't have the scratch when the time came to get them. Besides, I don't have the requirements, like a dedicated refrigerator, for forced bulbs and didn't have the patience to mess with them.

There is one plant I have great luck with as it likes to grow cool, so I've got a crop of miniatures in the greenhouse right now. Sorry for the wash-out from the flash, but these are my pretty pink cyclamen. If you look very hard you can see a bit of red in the background as well. The pinks are last year's crop, still loaded with upswept blooms. For a bright spot on a cold, January night, cyclamen really do the trick.

The greenhouse has been closed over the New Year's holiday and the aphids have exploded the last time I was there on Sunday. They are so hard to control unless you spray the insecticidal soap almost daily. The new seeds of the various greens are emerging, though and since I ripped it all out due to the aphids, I'll have to sow more arugula.

Just read the Organic Gardening magazines list of things to do in January for zone 6 and they say it is time to sow those long-germinating and teeny seeds. I can't believe it is time already. I have to get a propane heater for the big greenhouse so I can get started with seeding. I probably have over 200 varieties of flowers, herbs and veggies that I want to start!