Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - February '09

While quite a lot of our snow has melted due to a few days of warmer temperatures this past week ( we almost made it to 50ºF/10ºC last Wednesday), we still have patchy snow on the ground, and I don't expect to see snowdrop buds for at least another month. The sun shone brightly today, but the wind was cold and the temperature didn't climb above 30ºF/-1ºC. I have no doubt the snow will be back before long, but while we wait for winter to wear itself out my indoors blooms still provide some lovely color.

On December 10th I planted the two Amaryllis bulbs my dear husband brought home to me as an early Christmas gift, and they've been delighting us with beautiful blooms for the past week.

'Pink Diamond' has four glorious blooms and a faint, sweet fragrance.

Since I took this photo 'Romance' has opened a third magnificent double bloom.

Here they both are in the late afternoon sunshine today. Their beauty is so much appreciated by our winter-weary eyes!

Another star is sharing the limelight too - the Star Begonia I showed you last Bloom Day is actually blooming!

It has two bloom stalks and another is just begining to shoot up.

This plant was new to me this past summer so these are the first flowers I've seen on it. What a lovely surprise!

The little Palm is flowering again, as it did last year. This is the second cluster, and there are several more yet to open.

I'm overwintering this pretty burgundy leaved Wax Begonia, 'Bada Boom', and will take cuttings soon to plant in the gardens and window boxes.

The lovely pale pink Baby Wing Begonia is still blooming,

and so is the beautiful Rieger Begonia.

Molly likes to sit on the plant stand among these pretties and watch the birds....a practice that is firmly discouraged. She's managed to make herself extremely unpopular a few times by knocking one or two over.

The Columnea is being rather stingy with it's blooms...only providing us with one at a time. Perhaps it needs feeding.

It's sometimes called 'Goldfish Plant'. Can you see why?

The pretty geranium I showed in January's Bloom post is blooming nicely.

And this red Ivy Geranium has several blooms opening.

I love the soft shade of 'Butterfly' Ivy Geranium.

Ah, there's Jasmine watching the birds. She doesn't want to be left out. And there's just one flower on the Abutilon, but several buds are forming.

It's growing some healthy new leaves after being quite severely pruned at the beginning of winter.

I keep forgetting to mention that January 14th was the third anniversary of this blog, Colors of the Garden. Time sure flies when you're having fun, doesn't it? :)

Thanks, Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day.
If you'd like to see what's blooming in other gardens the world over, visit Carol to see a long list of GBBD participants.

Happy Bloom Day everyone!