Month: December 2016

Sometimes, A Brown Thumb

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I’m new with poinsettias.  Like I was with daylilies and garlic 5 years ago. And, so, I’m down one from last week. Another is in ICU with my begonias.  They don’t like cold. That’s for sure.

I also have a couple new additions. This little deeper orange guy is cool.

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And, this pink and red dapple replaces my sweet peppermint colored one.

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This one has neat red and white coloring. It was the closest thing to peppermint I could find.

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It funny how much less fragile poinsettias are after a summer in the garden. These guys are bloomed as throw aways. I’m guessing I’ll loose more, but still excited to see which ones choose to stay.

 

Poinsettia Addict or Daylily Grieving?

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I am surprised at my addiction to poinsettias and amaryllis this year.  I have always liked them, but never wanted to be surrounded by so many.  Maybe it is because I am working from home and they add a certain joy.  Maybe it is stress management for a new job.  Maybe it is cause (despite a lot of blunders) I got my orange one from last year to bloom.  Or, possible it is daylily withdraw.  Or, all of the above.

This week, I picked up a few more.  Today, I went back for the variegated one, and the first one I picked up lost a limb when I went to look for a pot.  The woman in floral saw me replace it with another.  It was an odd moment, but I did not bump it with any force, so my guess is that it was partially off before.  I felt bad . . . but they have made a huge profit off of my poinsettia journey this year.  And, these were $9, so they kept their profit 🙂  They should give poinsettia points instead of gas points.

So, here are the new ones.  (I am not sure on names on most of these and am wanting a book with that info if anyone knows of one):

dapple-pink

A dappled pink one (above).

dark-pink

A dark pink one (above).  My beautiful lighter pink one is dying 😦

ice-punch

This one is called Ice Punch, I believe (above).

pepermint

This one is huge – reminds me of peppermint (above).

verigated-red

This one is a variegated red one.  Yes, I finally got a red one . . . but it is unique!

I have ideas for the short day lighting these guys need to rebloom.  This year, I tried the cellar with some extra light on a timer.  To cold and dark, so while it bloomed, it dropped a lot of leaves.  Very leggy now beneath those blooms.  Next year, I will try a much warmer closet and add more lights for the first 4 weeks.  After that, they will go up on the bookshelf in my basement room, with boosted lights via timer.  I am hopeful that this will work . . . and keep me gardening into fall without overwhelming myself with covering and uncovering these.  Oh, and I also need to follow the pruning and fertilizer routine much better than this year.

I am guessing some will not make it to spring, but most will.  They will be out in my garden this summer with the daylilies.  I am jazzed by a winter hobby.  But, it is time to call it good and stay out of the poinsettias!