There's a scarcity of blooms, but an abundance of snow in our neck of the woods on this December Bloom Day, due to another snow storm last Friday. It socked us with about 8 inches of new snow. We were lucky enough to avoid the ice storms and power loss that many in the Northeast experienced.
The only plant putting on a show at the moment is this pretty Christmas Cactus (Zygo Cactus).
I love the way the buds are a purplish pink but the flowers turn out to be more of a reddish shade.
The front gardens are buried under snow. No blooms to be found there on this mid-December day.
The Azalea that was looking so pretty in the fall, dressed in a deep shade of burgundy, is now wearing snowy white.
There's still a hint of purple in the Heuchera leaves.... 
.......while berries adorn the Burning Bush....
....and the Crab Apple (Malus).
My dear husband set up a place in the cellar, with fluorescent lights overhead, to overwinter some of my plants, so we have quite a nice little indoor garden downstairs.
A few of the Ivy Geraniums are down there (This is Taj Mahal)...
...but most are in two spare bedrooms upstairs. Some of them are blessing us with a few blooms at the moment.
If I look closely I can also find a few blooms on the following plants:
Columnia
Wax begonias - 3 varietiesReiger Begonia - just beginning to bloom
Angel Wing Begonia
Baby Wing Begonia
Diamond Frost Euphorbia
Happy Bloom Day everyone!
32 comments:
Hiya Kerri,
Those NY winters!
I remember them well. Being snowed in for weeks and snow covering half of the French doors. Brrrrrr.
I love your basement garden. I use long-life bulbs for my African violets. Too cold by the windows, so they stay in the middle of the room with 24 hour light.
And I am just considering having to pull down the awning on my kitchen window lest the African Violets start to burn.
I have just taken a tour of my herb garden when it was a trifle sunny for good non SLR digital photos. But we have had rain......the most in three years and I have dared to bother having a vegetable garden this year.
I love crab apples and have a malus at the back...I did have a beautiful one close to the house but it was so over run with horrible mealy bug growth that I had to remove it. I have a purple leaf one near by which survived and I purchased a lovely pale pink flowered one this year. No label but I am sure it is a crab apple.
I have two more tall self seeded ones down the back of the garden on the fence. They have yellow green crabs. I cannot imagine them in snow.
your blog has really nice photos, thanks for sharing them (eg letting us see them).
You are a gifted gardener to have the geraniums still blooming. Must be a nice contrast when you look at them and then at the outside :-)
That DH is a nice guy. I wish I had a downstairs to put lights in for some plants. I would have more inside.
The geranium bloomss look pretty displayed like that. The colors are subtle yet different.
It sounds like you are going to have a white christmas.
Kerri, I liked the way you displayed the geranium blossoms - so clear. The colors in my garden were mostly dazzling white over the weekend as we enduring the big ice storm I had to do 2 posts, one for Bloom Day and one for the much more dramatic ice storm.
Happy GBBD to you too Kerri. I love the way you've displayed all the different pelargonium blooms. And it's fun to see that whether you are in Austin Texas, upstate NY or in the Netherlands, you'll always find a Christmas Cactus flowering at this time of year.
I especially love the range of colors that can be found in your basement from that last photo!
It's lovely that you have something blooming. My Christmas cactus is being most uncooperative and my hibiscus is just hanging on, I'm afraid I may loose it. DH is really a sweetie :-) I agree with Pat, that is a very nice way to showcase the geranium blooms.
I think you have almost as much snow as we do and I'm very happy that you missed out on the ice! It's snowing here now and after yesterday's warm weather it is most unwelcome.
I love your indoor garden.
Been looking at those zygo cactus. What beautiful colors they are. Maybe I'll pick one up for my sunny kitchen window.
Marnie
Always so lovely to visit you Kerri. Your blog is such a beautiful, peaceful corner.
My Christmas Cactus appears to have a mind of its own. It prefers to bloom at Easter. I can understand that, but flowers in winter would be nice too :-)
Have a blessed Christmas Kerri.
Hi Kerri, It looks so cold there. I was thinking about you today when I was outside watering the garden. It is 75 degrees today! Your plants are beautiful. I have a Christmas catus, but all the blooms fell off in one day! I wish I had a green thumb like you.
What a fantastic idea, the indoor plant store. Lacking a cellar, I make do with windowsills, but since I can't bear to let everything perish outside, we do have some scruffy-looking pelargoniums and fuchsias around the place inside.
That looks so cold! Pretty, but...
Your cactus is beautiful! I didn't bring anything in this winter, so I have no December blooms.
Though you have few blooms, you have much beauty to show us, both indoors and out. I like the way you displayed the ivy geranium blossoms.
The photos of the snowy garden are making me very glad to be looking out on a cold garden but with green grass to delight the eye and plenty of evergreen shrubs.
Of course the Christmas cactus is looking fine in its' showy robes! My outside garden looks much like yours with just a dusting of snow.
I love your flowers, and think it's cool the way you laid out the geranium flowers, but, and I almost can't believe I'm saying this, your snow scenes are as pretty as the flowers. I really hate winter, but I guess being from Nebraska, it just seems natural right now to be experiencing the snow.
That is a lot of snow. Thank goodness we can get plants to bloom indoors.
Thanks for joining in for bloom day!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
our snow did not stay so we are back to cold wet yuck. my christmas cactus is recovering from a near death experience having been shamfully neglected earlier this year, its good now but will not flower, maybe next year!
those geraniums are so pretty.
Hi Kerri, You have a very nice Christmas cactus. I've never had one, can you believe that? Perhaps it's time I bring one home and attempt to grow it. Hmmm...I don't usually do too well with indoor plants:(
NY State gets a lot of snow, I know--I lived in the Albany area for several years when I was younger. I think we were in the snowbelt of the Catskill Mtns.
Well Kerri, take care, and have a wonderful Christmas! Jan
wonderful photos. The geraniums filled me with even more hope to see flowers on some I started by seed and may soon be blooming
We're 'socked in', surrounded by white also, Kerri ... bless you for posting vibrant color. I love my Christmas cactus, a twin to yours. Happy Holidays!
You are so blessed to have a husband who helps you winter your flowers. What a treasure!
Your Christmas Cactus is sure pretty. I have several and not a one is blooming. What's your secret?
Dear Kerri, Now I have seen your garden under a snowy white cover. It does not come as a surprise to me,that you have in winter an inside flowergarden. The zygo cactus looks lovely. It is interesting how they love to bloom inside in winter in the cold climate.
Have you done all your Christmas baking? I wish you and your family a very happy Christmas.
Kerri we've been hit w/ severe white out snow storms but there is beauty to be found!
Love all your blossoms on paper!
Great little greenhouse in the basement!
May the Spirit of Christmas leave its rich blessings in the hearts of you and yours. NG :)
My Christmas cactus is not blooming this season. Maybe it's because it bloomed three times during the spring and summer! Crazy Cactus is probably a better name for it! :-)
Hi Kerri, I want to think about flowers outside, with warm sunshine....is that to much to ask? We've had freezing rain, so we have layers of snow, ice, snow, and more freezing rain, and no way to shovel it's to thick, and salt won't touch it.... At least you have a bit of outdoors in your basement...that's really nice... I think of you often, when the weather man shows us that the storm is going your way....by the pictures of you outdoors, I think I wouldn't mind being stuck inside, looking out....it's beautiful on your land.....
Well wanted to tell you to have a Merry Christmas...Hopefully I can get out today so I can pick up my supplies for Christmas eve and day. Going to my daughter, but I'm bringing some of our traditional food....they like certain things from their childhood....Cheers! judy
So uncle Dean moved it from the Garage to the basement? Candy and I are moving into our duplex this January. We are looking forward to our two gardens (front and back). Candy is still trying to talk me out of growing my giant tomatoes.
I know how hard it is to find colors in this weather but you still seem to have ample of them around you, Kerri.....aren't you lucky! :) i loved the hint of the puple in the leaves......and those geraniums on display are pure eye candy for me right now........when it's snowing bucketloads outside......
Kerri, I am not sure if I will be visiting blogs again before 2009 so have a beautiful Christmas and New Year :)
Winter just does in a garden if you live somewhere like NY. However, it does look like you've got some color with the red berries and purple on the Heuchera leaves.
It will be January bloom day in a couple of weeks and here I am barely started visiting December! Kerri, I love the way you put the flower petals from the geraniums in a sort of artist's palette - that showed off the subtleties in the varying shades better than photos of the individual plants - and how nice to have a special room for them to prosper!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
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