Desultory Update

I finally fertilized my plants.

Otherwise I have been slacking.

Here are my winter annuals. It's starting to warm up, so I don't know how much longer they're going to last. They keep getting bigger and adding blooms. I'll be sad to see them go.


Some days after work I drive through campus to go to the gym, and when I do, I pass Lake Alice. It's always beautiful around that time of day, and I always mean to take a picture. But even going only 20 mph, it's hard to get the camera out and on and photographing within, like, 30 seconds. The thing is slow. The other day I tried to get a picture, but just missed the lake. Maybe one of these days I will just pull over and get out of my car. Revolutionary.

Flowers from the Garden

I cut some of the flowers off my geranium and dianthus for my living room.

The vase is an old milk bottle I got from the flea market. It makes me think of Neely O'Hara stealing her neighbor's milk in Valley of the Dolls.

What's Growing around My House, Pt. 1

It's been alternately cold and rainy, or both cold and rainy, a lot lately. I guess I can admit without shocking anyone too much that I have also been lazy. So I haven't done much new planting in the past month or so--but I do check on my plants every few days to see if they need water, if the weeds are taking over the pots, etc.

In December or January Tom gave us all beautiful bromeliads. I know Kim gave me some instructions about planting the one I got, but to get it off the floor of my bedroom I just plunked it down into one of my planters that was otherwise filled with the brown, frost-killed remains of ye olde plants. The bromeliad seems to be doing ok, even though I haven't protected it during the cold snaps we've since endured.


My cyclamen has been loving the weather recently. I've been surprised that this puppy has survived at least two Florida summers--by all rights it really should have died of heat stroke by now. But I've been pretty careful to keep it in the shade.


My winter annuals are geeked about the weather, too. I love these things--they require no maintenance whatsoever. I planted the plugs in pots willy-nilly two or three months ago, and they've been growing and growing and growing and blooming ever since. I park in my driveway right near where I have them, and so I stop and admire them every day. Granted, my design skills are non-existent, but I don't care. It's all about the color.

I gave one of my pots (missing from this photo) to my grandmother to keep her company when she was in the hospital recently and was surprised by how excited she got about the pansies. "They look like they have little faces, Sarah," she said. I think they brightened her day a little.

Winter Annuals

My winter annuals are thriving, and I finally took a photo of them. From what I recall, there are dianthus, pansy, viola, and snapdragon. (My co-worker Jen kept hers all organized and labeled, but mine were randomly planted in containers. I like bright colors all mixed up.) They're getting bigger and more of them are blooming now.