Indoors the firs daffodils are starting to bloom. They brighten my mood and bring me joy.
The weather up here in the north has been grey with plenty of rain. Not something we are used to at this time of the year. Usually we have snow and sunshine but no such luck this time.
Well hope this means that spring will come early! Or am I just wishing this to be true?
PS. Daffodils last over a month if you have the possibility to keep them outside in the cool temperature.
This is now becoming a habit – a spring hyacinth in a pot.
I used to have hyacinths only during the Christmas time. Here in the north it has always been considered a flower for the holiday season.
Now that they have become available also during the spring I always end up buying one.
I know that the strong scent of the flower is too much for most of the people but for some reason I enjoy it. It really fills the apartment with sweet smell of a spring.
Still nearly three more months to go before the first flowers outside start to bloom. I even planted few hyacinths to the summer cottage. Not quite sure if they are going to make it through the winter. Lower than minus 30 Celsius temperatures we had during January might have been too much for them.
PS. Keep hyacinth outside if it is not too cold. It lasts much longer if you do this.
When it comes to irises there are incredible amount of different colors available and most of them are simply stunning.
Alida caught my eye in a local store and it ended up to my home. I simply could not resist those light blue flowers.
Now I am hunting for more. Trying to find different colors from the local shops. Currently have managed to find two.
PS. If you did not plant bulbs in the autumn now is a perfect time to buy them ready planted.
Dreaming of an early spring. While dreaming I have managed to fill the apartment with different kinds of pots. To me it is starting to seem that each time I go to a store I come home with a new pot.
Pixie iris was one of the flowers that managed to sneak in to the flat. Almost unnoticed it settled in.
Never had one and If I succeed growing it I will take it to the summer cottage when the snow is gone.
PS. Most of the spring flowers can take our winter and planting them to a garden guarantees that you can enjoy them year after year.
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.
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. 
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.
The 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.
I was certain that I was going to harvest yellow chilies this year! But was I wrong in my belief.
I bought Hungarian Yellow Wax seeds two years ago. Last year every thing went well. The plants grew nicely and I ended having tasty red chilies in the autumn.
Not exactly what I expected to end up with but just thought that silly me. Must have taken the seeds from a wrong package.
This year everything went well. The chilies grew green and were turning yellow when I left for a vacation.
When returning I had a plant full of red chilies waiting for me at home. This time I was sure that I had taken the correct seeds. I was about to blame the store from which I bought the seeds.
PS. After a short moment with Google I found out that Hungarian Yellow Wax chili peppers turn red when ripe.
Magnus 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.
The 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.
Gardening in the North 