Category: Flowers

It’s been snowing all bloomin’ day.

Everything’s covered with the fluffy white stuff, and it shows no sign of letting up.

If you’re a Southern Ontario gardner, this is not your favourite season — unless you’ve got one of those indoor greenhouse thingamijiggies and have already planted flower seeds.

I don’t have one of those things, so I opt for the least expensive flowers that can be bought at a store and will last a long time.

My pot of Cyclamen, bought last winter, bloomed and bloomed indoors till May, then continued to bloom outdoors through the summer. The secret is to keep the soil moist, but not wet. And at $5.99 at the nearby plant nursery, it was a gift!

As you may recall, my only real expertise in growing indoor plants is in getting Amaryllis bulbs to rebloom. 

After their indoor bloom ends (soon, if not already), I water them regularly (adding fertilizer) and let the leaves grow. In spring, I bring them outside in their pots and water them till August. I then allow the leaves to dry, shake off the soil, and keep the bulb in a brown paper bag in the cellar for about four months before potting them again. 

A bulb that costs $7.00 may give three different stems of blooms, then will rebloom at least once a year for a long time to come.

And then there’s This Thing Whose Name I Don’t Know.  Sold as cut flowers in grocery stores for about $6 or $7 a bunch, this lovely flower has staying power. I cut the stems short and keep adding fresh water everyday, and these flowers bloom for nearly two weeks — a real achievement among cut flowers.

No doubt one of you readers will know what it is. The grocery store clerk didn’t.

My best wishes,

Cynthia.