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Sunday, December 31, 2017

The last shall be first

The last flower and post of 2017


"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let every new year find you a better man" Benjamin Franklin 


Its a hoop petticoat Narcissus and it needs an ID!!

This one came to me unlabeled needing an ID. So it's blooming right now, on the last day of the year, making it in my opinion strongly winter blooming. It's crazy super fragrant, like greenhouse filing with it's fragrance. I tried to do a little flower dissection, and I came up with what looks like 3 stamens elongated past the throat of the corolla, and three set down in the throat, pardon my poor botanical nomenclature. I have a book on the subject somewhere but it's buried in a library that needs thinning badly. 

 You can see the 3 exerted stamens here and there are three down in the throat, not sure if this is a flower maturity thing or not if the other three will continue to elongate.


Not the best  shot, but maybe you can make out the three stamens that are down in the throat of the corolla. 


So to recap, super fragrant, winter blooming hoop petticoat type, with sort of a light custard yellow color to it. If you have any idea what it is please post it up in the comments. 

So here we are at the end of another year, the hoop petticoat will be the last flower of 2017 and the first of 2018.


Frosty morning, 38 degrees outside at 10:00 am on New Years Eve.


Hope everyone has a fantastic and safe New Years if you are celebrating. Here is to a better one than the last.

Cheers, Mark

Monday, December 18, 2017

Happy Holidays


"Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!"
–Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers




Eucharis amazonica is blooming so that means Christmas is right around the corner.


It''s been a relatively quite December, right now this is the only bulb in my collection blooming and it's of course indoors as a houseplant. Normally a hoop petticoat Narcissus or two shows up around now, and while I do have Narcissus obsoletus budded up, only time will tell if it makes to be the outdoor bloomer for the month of December. 

Well, the Eucharis is doing it's think and filling the house with it's floral bouquet, mixed with the sent of Christmas tree and cinnamon candles. I love this time of year, Christmas is truly the holiday where you get to be a kid again, the anticipation of Christmas morning, or the age old traditions, like oozing, melted raclette cheese on baby potatoes at Christmas eve dinner. Family and fun, and the promise of a fresh start as the new year approaches. 

Wishing you all a festive and happy holiday season, the merriest of Christmas celebrations and if I don't get to it before the new year, a bright and fantastic start to 2018. 

Cheers, 

Mark

Monday, December 4, 2017

The coldest week so far

“All that is gold does not glitter,Not all those who wander are lost;The old that is strong does not wither,Deep roots are not reached by the frost."    J.R.R. Tolkien






So just a short little update on the garden conditions, Since I can't remember the last time I picked tomatoes in December. This has been one exceptionally long and productive harvest season. 

Keta inspects the the last of the tomato harvest, This weekend the super frost moon rose in the night sky and the  mercury is finally dropping to the point that even the hoop house plants that have hung on into December should finally cease.

It was 39 degrees at 4:30 pm on Sunday evening, I figured it would get into the 20's by morning so I quickly got the last of the tomatoes and peppers in. So this week is supposed to be the coldest one this season, and while we had a killing frost in the garden. This has really been one of the mildest, longest falls I can remember in a long time, the bees were still flying on the first of December. 


Fog burning off this afternoon, the forecast says lows in the 20's and highs in the 40's for this coming week.

Cheers,
Mark