Monday, December 15, 2008

The Hunting of the Bloom

'Just the place for a Snark! 'the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair. *

Oops, wrong hunting party, sorry.
Rosa Moonlight

If you're wondering whether I found any blooms on my hunt for GBBD organised by Carol of MDG, the long answer is: I hunted high and I hunted low and lo and behold what did I stumble on after searching for hours and hours (minutes actually) apart from the usual suspects such as this one
and this
and this one?
A marigold in a wheelbarrow! Colour me surprised. What else did I find outside?
A yellow Primula in the potager,
one lonely, slightly moth eaten Periwinkle
a yellow wildflower (one of 3 blooms actually, amazing isn't it?)
and, although we've had several frosts and some snow, the white borage is still going strong.
In the Victorian greenhouse the Solanum crispum album is flowering its little heart out and the pelargoniums are still going to the blooming ball.
On the terrace the Camellia is about to burst forth in vivid pink
while the Christmas box has flowers that are hardly noticeable, but their scent makes more than up for it. Sorry, there is no scratch and sniff widget available yet.
In the front garden the Winter Jasmin is flowering with gay abandon and so is the exceptionally long flowering Rosa Moonlight.
As you can see she is still forming buds! In December!! Simply amazing!!!

After my hunt I quickly went inside as it is quite nippy here. Inside I continued my hunt for more blooms and this is what I found:
A soft pink Cyclamen and some Hyacinths,
an orchid,
some African Violets,
well hidden away from the Horrible Wreaker Of Havoc amongst said plants,
aka Vita Le Chat Terrible, lurking in the conservatory behind several Cyclamen and a beautiful Christmas Cactus.
While in the conservatory my nose started to twitch as it caught the scent of the wonderful blossom on my little lime tree.
And dangling from the ceiling are the pretty red flowers of the Aeschynanthus. Well this is me, all bloomed out how about your blooms gentle reader?

copyright 2008: Y.E.W. Heuzen

* The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll

You can travel round the world, you can take loads of drugs, you can read poetry, indulge in weird sex, but at the end of it all, you must look after your own garden.
Tom Hodgskinson, Digging for Anarchy, 2006

19 comments:

emmat said...

i can't believe you managed to find any flowers after that snow storm!

Anonymous said...

Yolanda Elizabet - So many blooms!
The Rosa Moonlight is amazing, and I love your Solanum crispum album
Wish there was scratch and sniff for the sweet box :)
Happy GBBD

Gail said...

Fantastic bloom YE, I do like the winter blooming jasmine and the roses. Roses are impressively hardy this year (or is it every year)! There are more garden blooms on blogs then I would have thought! If I kept a journal I might know if this is unusual behavior for my garden or not! Have a good week! Gail

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It has been too cold for too long here to have any blooms outside. I am just lucky my indoor plants are still living. Your collection of blooms are very nice to see.

Cheryl said...

Is it not amazing Yolanda that a little flower, that looks so fragile, refuses to give up despite the weather.....I love the marigold in the wheelbarrow......

I have Christmas Box....their fragrance is delightful....I plan to buy some more......

You have some wonderful indoor blooks.....love the orchid....

Anonymous said...

Yes, an amazing collection for mid December! That orchid is stunning, Yolanda, and so striking against a pale wall. I'm sure Vita is keeping watch for the real Decimator, right? ...Right?

Glo said...

Bloomin' lovely! A colourful assortment to brighten the day. Seek and YE shall find, and so YE did!

We're covered in snow here, and it's bloomin' cold!!

Shirley said...

Great stuff Yolanda :-)

So glad you went ‘a hunting’ ;-) Our plants really haven’t lasted as long as last year’s. What a good number you have indoors too! I’m one of these gardeners that doesn’t ‘do’ indoor plants – except for the occasional orchid every now and again :-D

I particularly enjoyed seeing your white borage – mine is long gone! My post is up now too if you would like to visit :-D

Anonymous said...

Hi YE, our love Moonlight is really showing off for you. Ours have buds but the onslaught of freezing temps have put the blooming hopes in cold storage, for now. Maybe later she will unfurl in a warm spell. Love the Chat with the cyclamens, a perfect picture.
Frances

Katarina said...

Yolanda Elizabet, you are still surrounded my masses of pretty blooms - both outside and inside! I'm amazed...and jealous... ; )

Katarina

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

Wow! You found a lot of thing in bloom. I think you may have more than I do!

Cindy

Karin said...

Wonderful, you really have a lot of flowers blooming at the moment. Would love to grow Camellia myself but I don't have the possibilty now (maybe in the new greenhouse!). Have a nice week my friend!

Kram Karin

Naturegirl said...

Yolanda finding all these flowers this time of year was well worth your hunt!
I knew I'd see one of the undergardeners..Miss Meow luring around your winter garden of Bliss!
-^.^- NG

Anonymous said...

YE: That is really not fair to have so many blooms in December is it? The rose looks perfect and I know it is fragrant if it is in your garden.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

What delightful suprises you've found. I wish I had even just one of the many pretties you have.

Carol Michel said...

So you can have indoor plants and cats. So many gardeners use cats as an excuse not to have indoor plants. And as always, your garden has some nice blooms, too.

Thanks for joining in for bloom day!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Lori said...

Oooh, Yolanda Elizabet, I'm pretty sure your solanum crispum album is the same thing as the white potato vine that grows up my fence in Austin, Texas!

I did a google search and was surprised to find that some people grow it as a bush, not a vine. Mine's climbed over a 7 foot fence in less than two years! It's blooming its awesome little head off right now right outside the window even though it's been down in the 30's here over the last week or so. :D

Annie in Austin said...

Your blooms are so abundant, Yolanda - not just a few here and there but in genuine quantity. The Moonlight rose impresses again, and I love that you also want some winter fragrance - in my garden that comes from Sweet Olive instead of Sweet Box.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

lisa said...

Such a nice Bloom Day in your house AND garden...lucky girl! I sure hope my lipstick vine grows up to bloom like yours one day!