A Pretty Profusion of Paperwhites

My goodness, I have a mind like a sieve.  I totally forgot about the paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta ‘Ziva’) that I moved into the garage when temperatures plummeted last week.  When I came across them yesterday, still hidden in the shadows, they had grown leggy and their flowers were flopping all over the place.  Luckily, however, I found the two pots of bulbs just in time for my annual collards and wine party scheduled for last evening.  After cutting several big handfuls of Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (also called gold dust) and pushing the branches into the soil around the paperwhites to keep their blooms corralled, they made the PERFECT welcome committee.

A paperwhite welcome!

As a bonus, here is a quick look at my Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day subject, Hippeastrum ‘Stardust’, which is just beginning to show its pretty face this morning.

Hippeastrum ‘Stardust’

 

When You Think You’ve Seen It All…

I’m in Virginia to help my mother celebrate her birthday today. When growing up, my mom’s family always cut the first fruitcake for her birthday and the last for my Aunt Jean’s on January 6. It’s been many years, however, since we’ve had fruitcake. On yesterday’s drive up from South Carolina, I stopped at the grocery store in town before driving out to the farm because I had forgotten candles for the cake. I thought I might grab a bouquet of flowers too, but this is what I found…

Grocery store Hippeastrum

Covered in green wax, impaled by a wire stand, and sprinkled with glitter.

A crime against nature! What would prompt someone to think of this? And then decide it was a good idea?

Wordless Wednesday–December 17, 2014

Hippeastrum ‘Blushing Bride’ (In the trade as a Hadeco Amaryllis, especially developed for pot culture–with stout stems and reliable blooms).