Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for January 2011! Here in central Indiana, my USDA hardiness zone 5 garden is snow-covered and cold.
I made a half-hearted attempt to look outside for something of interest by opening the door and looking outside. Brrr… it is as cold as it looks. But it’s okay, this snow is not unexpected – we usually have snow in January. In fact if we didn’t have snow, we would wonder why not.
So we just deal with it and turn our attentions inside.
In my inside garden, a passalong Christmas cactus with orange blooms started blooming a week or so ago.
It’s past its prime, but in January “a bloom is a bloom”.
Some years I have amaryllis blooms in mid-January, but this year I just have buds.
Work with me here to imagine this blooming right now.
I’m also going to force hyacinth bulbs to bloom, but they are still chilling in the refrigerator. I plan to get then out this weekend and hope they’ll be blooming in a few weeks.
In the meantime, I’m reading a few gardening books and browsing through seed catalogs, watching out for rabbit holes and imagining a garden in May when the sky is blue, the grass is green, and the garden is all new again, and filled with blooms of all colors, with bunnies playfully jumping around in the shade, while overhead the birds sing a song that lures me out to the garden early and makes me want to stay until dusk.
Oh, wait, where am I? Oh, right. January. Not the bloomingest month in the garden, but it is still worthwhile to record whatever is blooming, nonetheless.
What’s blooming in your garden on this fine January day? Join in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and show us!
It’s easy to participate. Just post on your blog about what is blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month and then come back here to leave your link in the Mister Linky widget below along with a comment to entice us to come for a virtual visit.
“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” – Elizabeth Lawrence
It does look chilly outside. I don't blame you for not going out. We don't get snow here at any time of the year, so we're quite fortunate to see blooms almost all year round. Of course with our 'wet' season in full stride right now, some plants do suffer.
I thought you Christmas cactus looked pretty good … it certainly is a great colour. Hope that Amaryllis blooms for you very soon, and the Hyacinths start showing their beauty as well.
It's always great fun joining in with this meme and I'm looking forward to seeing what's on display around the world.
Bloom Day is a tough one for those of us snow covered.So indoor plants it is for color. Thank goodness for places like Malaysia and Australia.
Man, I sure don't miss gardening in the Midwest. I feel a little guilty having so many blooms in January. I spent 30 years living in the frozen tundra, so I don't feel too guilty.
It's cold and gray here but I did manage to find a bloom of interest! Looking forward to seeing your hyacinth bulbs Carol. As always, thanks for hosting!
I just joined the blogging world and I'm excited to join in Bloom Day! It will be fun to share my actual blooms of the garden in a few months, but for now it's just what's alive inside.. Thanks for hosting this-I love seeing the posts of gardeners in warmer parts of the world, especially when it's been in single digits the last few nights in my garden! …
Thanks for having this fun meme. I'm posting the blooms of wildflowers in a Nature Park that we just visited a few days ago. Hope you enjoy those flying flowers as much as I do.
No snow here on the west coast (of course), but lots of rain this year. All my flowers are wet. I got an amaryllis for Christmas, but I haven't started it yet.
Only 65 days until spring (and 106 days until May).
Hi Carol,thanks again for hosting this Blooming Day, its fun and we got to see what is blooming elswhere. Though your garden looked sooo cold and bleak, your beautiful blooming cactus and your budding amaryllis (I imagine its going to be big and gorgeous!) are good enough for Blooming day.
I don't blame you a bit for not wanting to go outside to see what's what. Your Christmas cactus is beautiful and your amaryllis shows promises of some beautiful blooms very soon. Thank you for hosting Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day.
I CAN imagine that amaryllis blooming right now! Now if mine would only bloom… wait for it, wait for it. But I do have some lovely blooms to share… come see!
Hi Carol – that does indeed look chilly! Like you I've been enjoying indoor plants like scent of the Barbie pink hyacinths my niece and nephew bought me for Christmas.
However, the extra special bloom I've saved up for Blooms Day is the earliest flowering of snowdrops I've seeen in my garden.
I hope it brings hope to everyone who's snowed in like you!
On New Year's day I had only one blooming plant in my garden…
Today I count six different ones… maybe even seven.
Very lovely January blooms. I guess I am lucky my garden still has flowers, but I must say I would love to see the city covered in white like that.
If we did not have January, May would not be as lovely. Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day to you and thank you once again.
You no doubt have May Dreams for your garden now Carol. I am doing that too. My garden looks much like yours right now. Not much going on inside either. Just a couple of buds. I will have to get pictures today and post them. Your indoor blooms look great even though they are a little past prime. Love seeing that color.
What a wonderful color your Christmas cactus blooms have Carol! I haven't seen orange ones before.
We have a few indoor blooms here, and I didn't even look out a window for anything interesting outdoors – Brrrr!
Thank you for hosting Bloom Day!
No "bloom day" post for me today, it's too darn cold and snowy out there. But I certainly enjoyed your post, carol.
Beautiful new snow outdoors but only dying paperwhites indoors. A rather spare January Bloom Day here.
My landscape matches yours and the temp is 2 degrees. The coldest yet so far. My plant collection essentially matches yours too. But it has lots of promise. Thank heaven for abutilon.
Those cactus blooms look pretty good to me! I just put my hyacinth bulbs in vases this week, and I rescued my amaryllis bulb from the garage, so there is nothing at all blooming here. Still, I'll find something to post, though I'll be late–I don't like to miss Bloom Day!
Hi, Carol, Thanks again for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! 🙂 With all the snow and cold, it's nice to be able to look at flowers somewhere! 🙂
Thank you for hosting this wonderful where gardeners around the world unite once a month to show off their gardens. Snow is something I wish I could touch and see for real.
Just read a great article in Better Homes and Gardens that reminds us of how great it is to have houseplants that clean up to 85 percent of the pollutants from the air.
Here in the frozen tundra of Chicago I am enjoying tending to my little indoor garden, thanks to your encouragement.
I've forgotten to bring in my hyacinths. Thanks for the reminder. I completely agree with you, in January, a bloom's a bloom. We Northerners with frozen gardens will take what we can get. Thanks for hosting!
Hi Carol – its been awhile since I last participated, but I'm glad to be 'back in the saddle' again! It's nice to hear I'm not the only one who gets inconsistent blooms from their amaryllis. I've finally given up on them – there's something about ME and amaryllis that don't work! sigh….
The picture of your snow-covered landscape looks like mine in reality. In my recent tropical dreams, though, the image is much different.
We've already had the snow, 2 record December snow falls in the UK, but now we're hoping it's past and we're into spring, – my bulbs are thinking so…
Happy Bloom Day Carol~Thank you for hosting! You're the best~ gail
Brrrr indeed, Carol. Thanks for hosting in spite of the cold. Happy bloom day, keep dreaming!
How delightful to see your Christmas cactus blooms! I posted mine, too. I adore them!
Carol, there aren't many blooms to go around this time of year. I'm with you – we take what we can get (bark!) and I'm still waiting for my amaryliss too… Thanks for hosting!
Your Christmas Cactus is 20 years old?! Oh, do a post about how you care for it. Yes, mine is alive, but I'm sure she complains about my care. Sooo delighted to find another dedicated CC lover.
At least you get a break. Why not come down for a visit until the snow melts? I guarantee there will lots of stuff to do in the warm sunshine 🙂
I enjoyed your post. Mine was similar with a different take on blooms in winter.
This time of year is why I live in the southwest. The days & nights R just right for growing. Have a super great day.
http://mysouthwestramblings.blogspot.com/2011/01/glimmer-of-spring.html
Your flowering cactus is quite a rarity here. Thanks for hosting the GBBD.
Unfortunately a grey and overcast day so not brilliant photos for Bloom Day January 2011. But a fair number of plants flowering in the garden. Loads of Christmas cactus in bloom in the greenhouse and house in all shades of pink, crimson and white. All this despite a damp and cold winter … even for Scilly!
I wish we had a covering of snow! I think it improves the winter garden. But then isn't it nice to find a warm spot and sit down with the catalogues dreaming of spring. Right now I'm going to visit a few tropical gardens I am hoping to find on your Bloom Day posting. Enjoy your Christmas cactus.
The Professor Sargent Camellia blooms in my garden from January through March. The red of these blooms and the red of the pyracantha and nandina berries provide cheery color through the winter months.
I like how you made (or at least started to!) an effort to search for blooms in all that snow! Your indoor blooms are great. I get about 1 flower per year on my Christmas cactus. It's a pretty special flower though! 🙂
No snow here now, although we had some earlier in the week. The snow in your garden looks pretty deep. I can't get my Christmas cactus to bloom since I bought it in bloom a year ago. I've got a few blooms outside, but nothing too spectacular.
No blooms from me, just a requiem for the Dahlias that won't, after all, be gracing my garden this year 🙁 I will cheer myself up by admiring other people's flowers!
Well, I just love the color of the blooms on your cactus. And I can imagine that Amaryllis blooming – they are so big and bold. And well, my backyard garden looks just about as cold and snowy as yours. I always look forward to bloom day!
That does it! I need more houseplants! 🙂 Nice that your Christmas cacti held off until now.
My Thanksgiving cactus has 2 blooms and 2 buds. And yesterday my husband surprised me with a little pot of roses from the grocery store. Come see!
After a cool and rainy December, it is warm and sunny now in So.Cal — and it is manzanita time! Happy GBBD to all.
We are experiencing some of our typical overcast foggy days here in Jan in central CA but there are always a few lone blooms from summer that hang on. And the lyrics from "Annie"…"the sun'll come out tomorrow" give us me hope!
So much snow in that picture! I am thankful to not be there…
My post reminds me of your quote (“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year”)…as I nearly have flowers this month. Nearly.
Lotta indoor gardens here. Thank goodness as they get us through. January makes us all wish we had conservatories.
I gave a pot of hyacinths to a friend before xmas and he says they are all in bloom! Geez.
I could only find hellebore and heather blooms in the garden this morning- neither were very open. I wish we got more snow.
Had to get creative for my bloom day post this month — it's slim pickin's out there! Like you, I had to come inside to find a bloom. We'll take what we can get 🙂 Thanks, once again, for hosing GBBD!
My blooms are indoors blooms – I hope this counts!
Not much to show this chilly January morning, but what I've got has been posted. Happy Bloom Day to all and thank you for hosting, Carol.
Thank you for hosting this fun blog feature on such a cold January Day. Like you, my Christmas Cactus is done and the Amaryllis are just beginning buds.
I found a few blossoms and lots of promises for February.
Seedscatterer Nell Jean
Carol,
We're growing a lot of snow this GBBD, which at the moment is very pretty and requires no dead-heading… plus, Mr. TG helps with the shovelling. Thanks for hosting, as always, this infectious meme.
H.
Definitely a time for planning rather than doing in the garden. Thank goodness for late-blooming Christmas cacti, right? I have a similar colored one that reminds me slightly of shrimp. Hope your amaryllis blooms for you soon and stay warm while dreaming of spring…
this is my first GBBD…thought this new year I was "gonna' do it…had some great pics from our January 1st thaw…thx for the opportunity Carol…
For the first year ever, I am actually able to post a photo of something blooming outside in my garden right now. My excitement over this is unbounded.
My amaryllis is way behind also. I think I left it in cold storage too long. We will have to compare when they begin to bloom. Sorry for the late post. Regards, Greg.
So happy to have blooms for GBBD! Thanks again, Carol!
While nothing is blooming outside, I found the most gorgeous cyclamen while on an excursion to find some bird seed.
"Work with me here…" that made me smile. Ah, January with its changeable mood isn't much of a bloom day is it? Thanks for continuing the tradition and letting us play along.~~Dee
My garden looks a lot like yours, Carol. Your Christmas cactus is lovely. -Jean
Snow here too. But I am kind of excited about planning a new year.
Peace and greening to all. Ruthie
cidesig
I wish I could get my Christmas cactus to bloom. Since there are zero blooms here…inside and/or out…I was 'forced' to pull another 'Garden Bloggers' Blooming Bird Day' surprise. You forgave me when I did this before (in 2008)–and I linked to that post to prove it (!) so hopefully you'll do the same now;-)
Wow – 4 wonderful years, I might add. Bringing us all together in the spirit of Bloom Day is a great gift to all your garden blogging friends. Thank you. And I like looking at your snow, even if there aren't any blooms out there right now. It won't be long. I have a freak blue bonnet in mine!
Thank you again for this lovely opportunity Carol! I am learning so much from all of you wonderful Garden Bloggers!This months lesson: I need to educate myself on, and buy some indoor plants!
can't wait to explore some of your commentators from warmer climes to bask vicariously. Thanks, as always, for giving us this opportunity.
We still have snow on the ground here today but it's swiftly melting. Love living in Tennessee! It was 45 degrees out today and that was enough to entice me outside to snap some pics. Stay warm!
No, January is not the bloomiest month but it's the last one until some little ephemerals appear, at least down here (unless we have more weird weather!). Stay warm!
I have one plant defying the weather and blooming in the Short Grass Prairie (it's the first flower I've ever seen outside in January here!) and several others blooming in the greenhouse.
Is it May yet?
Yay for Christmas Cacti! Can't wait to see your amaryllis bloom.
Thanks so much for hosting GBBD! It's good to know it's May somewhere in the world. It's nice to see all the Southern Hemisphere and California garden blooms on a dreary day like we're having in Central Texas.
It's chilly here in northeastern Illinois, too, and the view from my windows looks much like yours.
I'm sure your Amaryllis will be gorgeous when it blooms.
My 1st Bloomday !
The snow looks so tranquil–and exotic to my eyes. Here's wishing you more blooms inside next month, and it's always May inside those gorgeous garden books!
Here, on the Gulf Coast, there are still a few plants blooming. While, I am so happy to have flowers, I would like a little snow.
Jan
Always Growing
Central Pennsylvania is enjoying some serious cold. There is a modest blanket of snow, and seed-starting is close to two months away. It may be time to start lettuce under lights just for the novelty of a genuinely fresh salad in winter. Will be browsing seed web sites in the next few weeks. Can't imagine I'll have photos to share on February 15th.
I came late to your garden party this month but couldn't resist sharing the one amaryllis bulb blooming in my indoor Connecticut garden. Without it I'd have to fashion blooms from snowflakes.
Brrr, it's cold over here too, Carol! The snow showers just keep on coming and tonight the cold wind's a-blowing. 0ºF predicted for tomorrow's low.
Dreams of May gardens are all that's sustaining me at the moment!
I feel like hibernating. Wake me when it's over!
Your Christmas Cactus has more blooms than mine (one!), and your Amaryllis will be a most welcome sight when it blooms.
Happy Bloom Day!
it looks cold up there carol… i'm imagining that amaryllis right along with you… bloom, bloom, bloom…
Your bulb with the spears proudly making their way into the world are about the most exciting image to a gardener. Love the shot.
Rosie
Day late and a dollar short. But I included a 'mason jar marco' along with Bloom Day scans: http://remarc.com/craig/?p=1161
I'm participating for the first time this month. 23 and a half plants in bloom, though not all the flowers are pretty.
Happy New Year, Carol, and happy first Bloom Day of 2011! I haven't participated for a while, but this time of year cries out for us to show off some blooms. I too am slightly late, but here, and with a lot blooming in the house, thanks to my ongoing obsession with indoor plants.
I do have blooms down on my corner of Katy in south central Texas. Mosey on over and take a look!
Thank you for hosting us! This is my first GBBD, in German, but if it´s neccessary to post in English I´ll try!
Have a lovely week!
Thanks for hosting this. I am one day late with the posting, but Bloggers' Day gave me a reason to look for blooms inside. I think I will have to visit the links on your blog to get my flower fix during this time of the year.
I can't believe I almost missed it. I wish that I could have more pictures of flowers….but spring is coming.
Well, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one to be a day late in posting. I suppose that if I had an anomalous crocus or scilla to report I would have been right on time. Thank goodness for snowdrops and indoor plants :).
Well, I just posted what's blooming on my site and hoped to be able to put it on this site only to find I'm a month late.:-(
I found a few blooms outside, heather, hellebores, Sarcococca, and dandelions, the rest are indoors. -Hannah
http://www.weedingonthewildside.blogspot.com