Category Archives: flower

flower, gardening

Tulip

Tulip2

It is always nice to try something new. Just to see if you succeed or not.

In the autumn I bought few tulip bulbs and planted them to a pot. I left the pot to my balcony and took it in after Christmas. Just before it came too cold outside.

Tulip bulbs do not care if the weather goes below the freezing point. But when in a pot minus 25 Celsius is too much for them. Luckily managed to take them in just before the cold hit the north with its full fury.

After a month I am now able to enjoy the results of my experiment. First blooms have opened. Four months before the ones planted outside are starting their show.

PS. It is simply too warm for the tulips inside. I would take them out but unfortunately it is too cold. Having them outside would make them bloom longer.

Tulip1

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flower, gardening

Cactus

Winter came to the north. It has been freezing outside these past few days. The coldness has crept everywhere and is keeping us as a hostage, forced to stay inside. Cactus

Past few winters have been mild but this one seems to have found itself and is biting us hard. We do not have much snow and low temperatures like we are having now are going to freeze the ground and go deep to the soil. Worried that it will wipe out the most delegate and fragile flowers from the garden.

Nothing we can do but wait for the spring to show us which ones have survived.

Since there is not much to do outside I decided to make an easy terrarium. Just quickly went outside and bought a cactus.

Selecting the one was not difficult. After managing to have few spikes in my fingers ended up selecting the one without them.

My choice seems to be a good one. At least it looks nice and my fingers do not hurt.

PS. Wrapping many layers of paper around the plant helps you to move it even if it is well below the freezing point outside.

Cactus2

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flower, gardening

Amaryllis

AmaryllisCan it be too early to have Christmas flowers? Is it nearly the time? Or am I a bit ahead of the season this year?

Once again I was weak and could not resist the temptation. This seems to happen to me too often.

Saw the bulbs in a shop and ended up having winter’s first two amaryllises at home.

I am fond of large and spectacular flowers. Something that cannot go unnoticed. This makes amaryllis a perfect choice for me. Large, luscious blooms that are full of color.

Now I am just trying to resist the urge to buy some more.

PS. Do not water amaryllis too often. It just ends up growing a long stem.

Amaryllis

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flower, gardening

Sonata Carmine

Sonata CarmineThe nights have been cold and the temperature has gone below the freezing point several times.

Nearly all the flowers are gone and nature is displaying autumn colors. The trees are starting to be bare from leaves and the lake has gotten a thin layer of ice on it in the mornings.

Usually it is gray and rainy but not this year. It has been a beautiful autumn here in the north. Clear and sunny days. Simply perfect weather for the season.

To my surprise my Sonata Carmines are still alive and blooming in the balcony. I did not expect this to happen but I must admit that I am delighted.

I am growing fonder of cosmos every year. I guess I need to start looking for new varieties.

PS. The summers up here in the north are a bit too short for the Sonata variety of cosmos.

Sonata Carmine

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flower, gardening

White Maverick

White MaverickSome of us are just tougher than the others and do not seem to care about the coolness.

Having a balcony high up seems to have its benefits. When you look down to the ground in the morning you can see the whiteness of the frost but it does not reach up to the balcony. If the frost manages to sneak higher it does not get as cold as on the ground level.

This usually gives the geraniums an additional month to bloom.

The Mavericks are still blooming and in this weather the blooms last long. The colors remain striking and it almost seems that the pelargoniums are having the time of their life.

With some luck they will make it to December. Incredibly resistant to the cold nights and low temperatures.

PS. Grew Nanos and Mavericks this year and it made me realize the huge difference between the different varieties of geranium. Nanos remained tiny and Mavericks filled the balcony with massive leafs. Both made beautiful flowers and did well in the pots they had.

White Maverick

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flower, gardening

Magnus

MagnusMagnus came to my life a year and half ago. His roots are in North America. A friend who looks modest in the spring but who shows its beauty late in the autumn.

We met by an accident. I was just spending an evening in the web when I noticed him. I knew immediately that he is the one I have been looking for. A missing piece.

There is something simple in Magnus’s. Tall and lean. A child-like shape of flowers.

For a coneflower Magnus is very typical. Not sophisticated nor fancy. Something you recognize to be a coneflower the minute you lay your eyes on him.

PS. Magnus has turned out to be very hardy. He does not mind the winters we have. Met him in http://www.viherpeukalot.fi.

Magnus

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flower, gardening

Teddy Bear

Teddy BearThe first frost will come any day now. It has not yet shown itself but you can feel it in the air. It will wipe out the flowers still standing and make us wait seven long months before it will be warm enough for the first spring flowers to bloom.

Our summers are short but full of light. Long days make everything grow fast. Like each day was their last and there would not be tomorrow.

Then comes the winter an endless feeling time period for a gardener. Nothing to do but wait and hope for an early spring.

On this sunny and beautiful autumn day I walked outside saying goodbyes to the few flowers still trying to bloom. Teddy Bear was still standing proudly. This year the summer was too cool for it. Barely it was able to open its flowers on time but there was not enough time for it to produce any seeds for the forthcoming spring.

Luckily I still have some left so I can enjoy its beauty next year as well.

PS. Teddy Bear is one of my favorites. Short but always creating an outstanding show for the audience.

Teddy Bear

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Casa Blanca

Casa BlancaI do not know what it is with the lilies. It seems that I managed to buy many new varieties in the spring without even realizing what I was doing.

I guess it is that they last several years and are easy to maintain. They come in so many different forms and colors. You simply never going to have enough of them.

Casa Blanca was the one who made the largest blooms this summer. It sure is a successful cross between speciosum lily of China and auratum lily of Japan.

Now have them in my balcony but going to take them to the summer cottage before the first frost.

PS. Bought the bulbs from Amsterdam Tulip Museum and regret that I only bought two. Should have taken a larger amount.

Casa Blanca

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flower, gardening

Red Flavour

Red Flavour

As long as I can remember my grandmother has always had tiger lilies. Orange ones under the window. Those lilies must have been there more than 60 years. In the same spot and blooming each year.

She is now long gone but still some of the lilies grow each year reminding me of her and all the summers I spent in the farm as a child.

So many good memories. So many happy summers.

When I saw a red variant of the lily, Red Flavour, I simply had to have it. Just to continue the tradition but also to add a flavour of my own to it.

Now the red ones are blooming for the first time. Hope that they bring joy to someone when I am long gone.

PS. Bought the Red Flavours from http://www.viherpeukalot.fi.

Red Flavour

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flower, gardening

Pieton

Pieton

It seems that I got a bit too exited in the spring. When I look into my balcony I just wonder how have I managed to squeeze all these plants in it. Now that everything has grown to full size it is a lot.

Well it was a long winter, and a long wait. So I may forgive myself over doing all the planting.

Anyway I am now on a two week vacation and my sister has promised to water the flowers. From the experience I can say that I will have less plants when I return. Not that she does not do her job but some of the pots I have are simply too small to have a long dry period.

It is autumn already up here in the north and less than a month to go for the first frost. It is inevitable that I must let my flowers go, eventually. Just want to prolong the goodbyes.

While I say the farewells to them I enjoy the bright colors of the Pietons. A lily which I planted way too late in June to the last empty pot I still happened to have, which I simply could not leave empty and unused.

PS. This lily seems to enjoy the direct sunlight and does not bloom well in a shade.

Pieton

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