Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - February 2008

Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens.

Here in USDA Zone 5, the weather has been seasonable for February, which means some snow, some cold, some wintry mix, and did I mention the cold? If we are to have blooms, they'll be mostly indoors.

Indeed, the hyacinths I've been forcing in vases in my breakfast area window are all in various states of bloom. The scent is amazing, heavy and sweet, but uplifting.

As you can see from the picture, there is still some snow outside, especially outside this window which faces north. I'm sure those hyacinth are happy to be on the inside looking out.

Other flowers inside include:

Hybrid variegated leaf orchid, (Sarcoglottis speciosus x Stenorrhynchos speciosum). I think it looks a bit like a chicken's foot. Go look at the link to the picture and let me know if you agree. I'm growing it mostly for the variegated foliage, and once I get my act together, I plan to move it to my big terrarium.

Jewel orchid (Ludisia discolor). I featured this orchid in my January GBBD post, so I won't show it again. This is an easy orchid to grow, with sprays of smaller blooms, so if you want to dip your toe into the waters of orchid growing, you might try it. But be careful! You could end up falling in love with orchids and soon be planning to build an extra room onto your house so you have a place to grow all your orchids.

Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera sp.). I'm getting a few new blooms here and there on my Christmas Cactus. Every time I see them I wonder if I've left out some Christmas decoration someplace in the house. Don't you hate when you think you've put away all your Christmas decorations and then you find some knick knack or doo-dad that got left out?

I also have some red poinsettias still blooming and a few tiny pink blooms on a Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii). Thanks, Kim, for reminding me to include them.

Now, let's go outside.

Drumroll, please.

In February, which last year was a complete white out for bloom day, I have crocuses in bloom.

At this point, if you've read this far, you are probably groaning, "Not THAT crocus again! How many posts about that crocus is she going to do? I've seen enough of it".

But have you? Because look, there are now three buds! The two smaller buds showed up today, even after being buried for a day or so in some 'wintry' mix'. So it isn't a crocus, it is now three crocuses in bloom (or bud, don't get technical on me).

And that's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day this fine February day at May Dreams Gardens.

What's blooming in your garden? Join us for bloom day by posting on your own blog about what's blooming in your garden right now, outdoors or indoors. You can post pictures, lists, common names, botanical names, whatever you’d like to do to showcase your blooms today. Then leave a comment here, so we know where to find your blog and can visit to see and read about your bloom day blooms.

“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence