Spring is here? Speak for yourself! We have 12 inches of snow on the ground here as of yesterday? :o(

Larry

I've had plenty of bloom in the yard, but nothing indoors unfortunately!
I could post outdoor pics, if you like.

Josh

The only plants that are flowering for me now are my Christmas Cacti (freaks) and my Mamillaria.

Mentha, what pics are you referring to? Toni

Come now Larry, You've got to have something interesting going on with all those AV's & other beauties.

bunnygurl,
It's not a freak for CC to bloom this time of year especially if it was forced for sale last year.

Toni,
I meant your pictures, lol

LOL silly.. I know you don't mean my pictures..after rereading your thread, guess you're looking for spring flowering pics.
I'm off and on the puter..Fri is big cleaning day, so during breaks, I read GW..should turn it off and finish..still have bird cages to clean..lol..

I'm taking pictures right now that I'll try to remember to post later. I won't say what they are of, though, since that would ruin the surprise!

Hint: They aren't outdoor flowers. We have Glories in the Snow blooming outside, but they are actually in the snow - deeper under than other places as a result of shoveling the walk. If you want outdoor flowers, though, I might be able to find a Lion's Tooth plant that's not buried.
-Jmcat

I found one...but the bloom has been sparse this year.
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If you don't mind, I'll sneak a few in from outside:
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Josh

Mentha,

Like Toni, I thought you were talking about outside flowers. Here is what's blooming inside.

Amaryllis Red Lion

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Kohleria El Crystal

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Oh I forgot to mention that my Anthurium is in bloom too. I bought it with one flower but it's since unfurled a second and a third is on the way.

Mentha, I've had my CC's for a while now so they weren't bought in flower. I like to buy them inexpensively when they're not in flower and then it's an exciting surprise to find out what color the blooms are. One's white and one's salmon. But I guess they just like to make they're own schedule.

greenman, I would almost kill for a Schlum bucklyi Yours is nice & healthy even if the blooms are sparce, the plant is beautiful.

Lary seeing your bloom almost makes me regret leaving the AV's at the nursery today in the care of somebody who can keep them alive, that is.

The only plants I have in bloom were purchased that way. They're beautiful blooms, but it's much more rewarding to say it bloomed while in your own care. Keep the great pics coming! I'm just sad I don't have anything to contribute this year. Our last place was a dungeon and I am now restocking my pots with new plants. Oh! I do have good to tell, however. Some leaf cuttings from my Echeveria nodulosa are rooting! Yay! I also have three leaves of a "Burrito" that ended up being bonuses of some other succulents I bought at Lowes. They must have fallen off the plant into the pot of one succulent. They're all rooting too!

hort_lvr_4life,
I love going to HD & looking for succulent strays. My daughter can get a whole bag full of leaves of this & that by just batting her eyes & asking. I always stuff any plant I buy with leaves of this & that. ;)

Really? They let her do that? And to think I saw a stray at Lowes the other night and didn't pick it up or ask for it. I don't know what it was, but it was really cool looking.

Well, She could be a 10 year old super model, tall, long blonde hair, & a stunning smile. People don't tend to say No to ten year old girls with a twinkle in their eye.

One time we went to HD, I gave her a slip off of a cool plant that had broken to ask for and the lady looked at this pathetic little stick & took her around the garden area snipping off blooms off the flowers!

When I see broken stems/leaves at HD, you best believe I take them. I don't tuck and hide either. When I buy a plant I stick the leaf or cutting in the pot..If I buy saucers, the leaves/cuttings are sitting on top.
They're going to sweep and toss anyway..they could care less if someone finds a cutting..it's another thing if someone stuck an entire plant inside their pants or coat pocket.
When I worked at HD, one night a couple came in..I knew something they were up to something, so I hung around, 'cleaning plants.' 10 mins later, it was time for my break so I thought, the heck with it.
Sure enough, when I returned, the woman (I assume it was she) unpotted several 6" (round potted) plants, and tried stuffing them in 4" (square) 4" pots..
This stupid #$%#$ found it physically impossible, leaving a bunch of unpotted plants and pots on a table and floor, for me to repot and clean. If I would have seen them again..........

As we speak, a thick-leaf Aeschynanthus, and some type of Crassula (both found at HD) are 'trying' to root.. the Crassula sprouted, don't know about Aeschynanthus. It might not take. Toni

Josh and Larry...beautiful beuatiful plants..
Josh, I had no idea Daffs grew in CA..Wow. What's the bush in pic 2?
Larry, love your Kohlera..

Hi, Toni!
We grow a ton of daffodils out here.
They start blooming in February...the narcissus, paperwhites....followed by the others. My yard is blooming right now with bright yellow and white and orange and nude colored daffodils. The on and off-ramps along the highways are absolutely LOADED with daffodil bulbs. It's quite a sight in spring.

That bush is a Daphne. Flowers every March, second or third week. It also has a nice, understated scent. The star jasmine, growing up the deck just behind the daphne, is a real powerhouse when it comes to summer fragrance. Some nights, when the air is warm, I could swear I'm in an exotic land...some courtyard with mango trees....

Josh

One of the bonuses from Lowes, a "Burrito" is now budding! New plant on its way!!! Yay! Oh, yeah! I just bought some Bromeliads and they're blooming. Again, not at my own hand, but they sure are beautiful. I bought some Mimosa Pudica as a little project for the boys. PLUS they have a plant they are allowed to touch; mine are off limits. "Look, but please don't touch. Thank you! :-)"

Here are acouple things blooming now....Aporocactus, and an Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum).

[IMG]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/vilcat/afewpics108.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/vilcat/afewpics107.jpg[/IMG]

Ok, sorry, here are the pictures...

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"Drunkard's Dream" (Hatiora), Orchid Cactus 'Marlborough', AV 'Horacio', and Bromeliad.

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Josh, your bulbs mature 1-2 months before ours..Here, bulb-plants make their appearance late Jan, early Feb. By late Feb/early March they're large enough to determine types. (for those of us who grow different varieties.)
Snow Crocus put on a show in Jan, snow and all, they never disappoint.
I haven't checked the last few days, (rain and more rain) but tulips, daffs and Hyacinths have grown..don't know if any flowered.
I'm still confused about Daffs in CA. lol. Thought they needed a cold period?? 5-6 wks of cold..Is that a myth? Did you say tulips grow there, too? What other bulbs?
Do you grow Elephant Ears? If so, are they hardy or need digging up and storing in autumn? I'm trying to figure out your winter climate..lol.
Does Star Jasmine stay outside year round?

Vilecat, your plants are beautiful. Flowers gorgeous. How do you get your Hatiora to bloom? My Hatiora is several years old, in a green house, but never flowers. What type of fertlizer does yours get? Flowering or All Purpose? Also, do you know your Hatiora's age? It's huge!

What is the plant in the last photo? Yellow flower. It's beautiful..yellow flowers, one of my fav colors.

The only gross, upsetting, living 'creature,' is in pic 5, posing on your African Violet. If that thing crawled on me, my family would have to call 911! lol..
Is it a turantula? sp. Yuck. That guy is huge! Is he a pet or happened to find your gh? Since you're in NH, he's probably a pet..lol..I'll stick to dogs, cats and birds. lol..Nice gh. What's its size?
Your Rat tail cactus and Epi are doing fantastic..love their blooms..What month did they start flowering? Is your gh kept warm or cool?
How on earth do you water hanging plants? lol. Especially the little orchid behind the Epi???
You mention a Bromiliad..I can't find it..Where's it located?
What's the hanging plant in pic 2 next to the red-flowering Epi?
One more question..lol..Does your AV live in the gh? The reason I'm asking is, some of your plants need chilling to bloom. Especially the Epi..AV's need warmth. See my point?

Our local conservatory is divided into 3 sections..One section is C&S's..including Epis..Their Epi's flower in late winter..the room is kept cold..really cold. Much different than room 2, tropical room. Section 3 is flowering plants, also kept cool.
My point is, each sections' climate differs, to extremes, from one another..C&S room cold and dry, tropical room warm and humid, flower room cool and semi-humid. So, how do you separate? Thanks, nice pics to all..Toni

Hey Toni, you make me laugh. CA is not the chamber of commerce day you see on Jan 1 all the time. Yes it gets cold here and lots of areas do get snow. We don't normally go by the USDA zones, most of us go by the Sunset western zones. Some areas garden all year. I sometimes like to think we have 2 growing seasons, winter and summer. Pansies do great here in winter but die off from heat in summer, so yes it gets cold for daffs. Now in socal for tulips...don't waste your time. One season only, they normally won't come back most of the time, depending on where you are. I have a lilac that grows and flowers and it's Blue Skies. It doesn't need the long cold temps others do, but by 100 degrees in aug-sept it's about done.

Toni, I think the creepy crawly on the AV is plastic : )

I love those Epis. I had a minor obsession with them years ago, until I realized how large they got, and how little space I had. I sadly relegated them to the "can't do" list. I've since moved to a larger place, however, I still consider myself space challenged. But last year, I said to heck with it, and got King Midas and a species white. I figure that from cuttings, it'll be a while before they get too huge, right? We'll see how it goes...

Toni, the spider is plastic...sorry it grossed you out, I like putting "surprises" in my plants. :)

My hatiora is quite old but has been flowering for years.
I keep it in the unheated (says above 50 degrees all winter) sunroom/greenhouse fall/winter and very dry. In spring I begin watering a bit and when flower buds show, I some years (like this year)bring it in my dining room in a south window. I fertilize sparingly with fish emulsion and hang the plant outside under a pine tree when weather warms up.

To water my hanging plants in the greenhouse, I either bring them to the kitchen sink or plunge them in a bucket of water which works well for the orchid baskets and tillandsias.

The yellow flower is a flower bract and flowers of a bromeliad.

My AVs are kept inside the house as the greenhouse is indeed too cool for them. I did kill some AVs in the summer by putting them in the greenhouse and have all the leaves burnt off them...so sad. Now they stay inside all year round.

Oh, and the hanging plant next to the Epi is Hoya keysii (at least that is what it was sold to me as), the flowers are white and smell kinda like daffodils to me. I have a little Hoya collection going on too, 8 or 9 different varieties. I start all these "little" collections that just keep getting bigger, like the Euphorbia collection...Yikes!...I got a lot of those! And the Epi collection...and the succulent collection...and the...well you see what I mean, I can't say "no" to plants!

Kathy

Well, a couple of pix:

these were taken yesterday at NY Botanic Garden, annual Orchid Show (this one w/ Brazilian theme). My 1st Botanic Garden pix w/ new camera, so bear w/ me:

The Gift Shop's Clivias

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another Clivia

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An Eyecatching Orchid (think it was called a Miltonia)

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The centerpiece in the Main Exhibit's entry hall opening to this Brazilian themed orchid show (this work by a prominent Brazilian landscape architect last named Burle Marx), surrounded by staged orchids (of lesser interest in this shot to me). Apparently this man's landscape work dramatically changed the nature of landscaping in the tropics by reflecting & incorporating into the landscape design, the spectacular & different nature of Brazilian plants. So glad I went!

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A closer shot, I really like this work; the more I look at it, the more I like it!

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A crazy lookin' bloom off a plant commonly known as Dutchman's Pipe -- how cool is this?!

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Spring isn't here! we are having a bit of a blizzard right now! oh, the crocus looked great this morning---not going to dig them out of the snow to see if they have survived the winds (50+mph gusts) still getting rain and snow at the same time.

Toni,
it gets plenty cold in my neck of the foothills! 30°F when I got up this morning.
Granted, no significant snow....but certainly more than a 5-6 week cold period.

Today, I did see some tulips blooming, but that was in Auburn, CA...a bit lower
in elevation than I am. I don't grow Elephant Ears, so I'm not sure if they're
hardy or not. Star Jasmine stays outside year round. It's planted below my
front deck, and it covers all of the railing. The foliage is damaged by the winter
cold, but it always grows anew in the summer.

Toni,
we're almost past the Daffodil bloom. But in the shadier spots in my yard, a few
flowers can still be found. Here are a few pics that I took today...
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Dendrobium "Dawn Maree x Frosty Dawn"
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A few things from our trip to the river bed on Wednesday

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& a few blooms at home

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and a few at my favorite nursery

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Gosh Mentha,

You do some really beautiful photo compilations, just marvelous!

Of course can I ask pls. those Hoya pix -- is that perhaps H shepardhii? So lovely those red centered white blooms. Mine w/ penduncles teasing me a whole year seem to be starting to bud up.

All grey & rainy here in NYC, quite bleary actually 'til your pix -- an especially nice shot in the arm -- so extra thanks for sharing it!

PG,
Yes it is H. shephardii, this seems to be the only hoya I've got to bloom besides multiflora, but it got a bad case of aphids & died.

Recently I learned from another thread that ZZ's flower and my monster thought it's time.
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Here's a few from outside

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Here are a few from a local park/garden

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OK, I finally have time now to post pictures of what's blooming here! There are several geraniums on my windowsill that have flowers, but I don't have pictures of them. I also had a new flower open a few days ago on the orchid that I have (Phalaenopsis), but no pictures there either. Outside, the Tulips, Grape Hyacinths, Hyacinths, and violets have started to open recently, but it would take too long to take and upload pictures of them for this post. I have several African Violet flowers open. I took about 80 pictures showing the progression of one opening, and tried to make an animation of them. However, I found that it didn't work correctly after having spent a few hours on it. So no animation, but here's one of the pictures:

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We have some Glories in the Snow blooming outside. Here's a picture from a few weeks ago, when they were actually in (under) the snow:

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In addition, there's a bunch of Lion's Tooth blooming in the yard:

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-Jmcat

Wow, learn something new, I had to look up Lion's Tooth. I have never known them as anything than Dandy Lions.

Mentha, I had the same reaction! ;)
I said to myself, "Lion's tooth? But that's a dandy lion!" Learn something new, indeed!

Josh

The name dandelion comes from the French "dent de lion," which (more or less) translates to lion's tooth or tooth of the lion. It's one of those flowers that is nice to have around, in that it blooms early and provides nectar for the bees. All parts of the plant are edible, too. Just make sure before you eat that you didn't pick a flower that a bee is visiting....
-Jmcat

Goblu..I guess when most mid-westerners think CA and Fl, general assumption is sun and warmth..especially compared to the mid-west..lol.
Though after meeting and talking to ppl on the net, ppl from CA and Fl, I've discovered not all parts of either state have 365 and 366 (leap year, lol) have warm, humid, sunny days.
Especially Southern Cal..It's surprising..Moreso, when I think about tropical birds, your wildlife, our pets, living outdoors during icy times. Guess they adapt.
During winter, when our birds are caged at bedtime, I bundle their cages so they're warm. lol.
Pansies do the same here..they do fine when temps are cool, even cold, but in mid-summer when temps are 90+, they die back. Stores that sell annuals/perrenials, build temporary gh's, are stocked with pansies. Now..A few roses, too, but pansies prefer the cold.
Ever hear of Arum? I planted an Arum bulb some time back..Besides Snow Crocus, the arum is the first to sprout..it's doing fine..once temps hit 80F, it halts growth, and after 90F, dies back..In late Sept/Oct, it resprouts..Arums have beautiful variegated leaves, and Spath=like flowers. Wonder where Arums originate?
So, you're saying planting tulips in Ca is a waste? About your lilac, did you say after a certain temp it dies..dies or goes dormant?

Quinn, that spider looks genuine..It'd make a fine Halloween decoration..sorry Kathy..lol..

Kathy, thanks for the Drunkard Dream info. Fish Emulsion, hmm, yet it blooms..Perhaps age has a lot to do with it.
You have the same problem I do..there is no way AV's would survive in my 'tiny' gh. Too cold and strong sun. They'd either freeze or scorch.
Same with Phals/orchids..I once placed a few Phals outside, between shelves, facing north, behind bushes..the following day leaves were sunburned. I had no idea which direction did the burning since all sides were obstructed. The only orchid that does well outside, in full west sun is a Den.
Kathy, is your gh connected to your home? If so, you are SO lucky, a connected gh/solarium is my dream. I have two watering options. Connecting a hose to the basement sink, or hauling 5 gallon jugs of water, making several trips. The only time jugs are necessary is when fertilizing and/or Superthriving, otherwise it's the hose..To be honest, I prefer using tepid water, water that's been sitting in containers at least 24 hours, but that's tiring, too much work, so it's mostly the hose..
That yellow flower is a Bromiliad? It sure looks nothing like a Brom flower, but beautiful!
Kerrii? It's hard to see..leaves resemble hoya, but I don't know about Kerrii..leaves look oval, no?

Karen, beautiful plants, especially the Dutchman's Pipe.

Sophie, Snow Crocus are pretty hardy, even after snowfall. I wouldn't dig them either..let nature take its course. Crazy weather, everywhere..

Josh, our Daffs finally opened, and yours are starting to fade. Again, we're 1-2 months apart. Your Daffs are so pretty..I particularly like the white w/yellow center..
Are your Jasmines evergreen? I bet your railing looks beautiful when in flower..and the fragrance!
On one side of our front railing grows Clamatis. They're pretty when in bloom, but it's short-lived. No fragrance. I wish. I'd love seeing a pic when your Star is blooming.

Evie, your orchid flower is beautiful. It looks waxy.

Mentha, your plants are doing wonderful! Your Hoya blooms are so pretty. I got H. shephardii, but it looks sad. Bought it on Ebay..It arrived looking unhealthy. Skimpy, weeps instead of hangs, it wilts rather than hangs. Got any ideas how I can 'pretty' it up?

Goblu, that Wisteria is absolutely beautiful! Wowee. I planted Wisteria several years ago..Last summer, it stood/hung about 12'..hubby thought it was a weed, and whacked it! I was not a happy camper.

Dandilions! Jmcat, you are more than welcome to come visit and help yourself to my 'Lion's tooth.' plants..lol.
People eat the leaves, use in salads and make teas. Never eat/drink a plant that was sprayed with chemicals. Neighbors on either side of us hire landscapers to spray using all types of chemicals. I hate when this is done. I'm alleric to one or more of these sprays..The landscapers arrive early in the morning, sometimes 6am, while most people are still in dreamland. I wake, feel I can't breath..I now check, and sure enough, warning signs are placed in front and side yards warning to stay off grass, or treated with chemicals.

Anyway, everyone's plants are doing great. Keep posting pics..Toni

Toni,

My blue skies lilac just goes dormant. It is coming back now, should be getting buds soon. It's not very big, just about 3 feet tall and it did flower last year. 100+ temps in aug-sept so leaves start to fry in the hot canyon breezes.
Yeah planting tulips here in the warmer areas they don't last. Too much trouble to dig up and cool etc and some won't come back anyway. So many other things we can grow.
I think in the mountains areas that get snow and if enough long enough cooling time can probably grow them with better results.
Tons of stuff blooming now, indian hawthorn, trees are really leafing out, salvias, lavenders other numerous shrubs too many to mention. Roses cut back in January are now flowering despite the wind whipping them to shreds.