Kaseys Korner

Amaryllis 'Exotic Star'

and a Christmas wrap up.

First things first tho because we always have our priorities in order around here! ;-)

Amaryllis 'Exotic Star:'

Another holiday bloomer. 

Purchased as a fill-in for 'Papillio' which hasn't re-bloomed in over three years (squashing any notions of an "Amaryllis Whisperer" in this house...)

At least 'Exotic Star' is prolific ~ below you can see two of the three bloom stalks she generously produced:

No reason for discontent tho.  Besides 'Exotic Star' and 'Cherry Nymph' (which continues to be sensational), a serious talk was had with the Clivia. 

It (or rather the bloom stalk) was told to "get up out of the foliage and grow!"  ha

Who says plants can't listen? 

There is a believer in this house because look what happened:

A bit of a stalk!  Woo hoo.  More talks are planned!

Outdoors a chinook (or snow eater) wind blew throughout the day yesterday and uncovered a bit of the frozen tundra also known as our garden.   Who knew what excitement a few visible blades of grass could create??  All things are relative, right? 

I'm sure we'll see more of this before winter is over:

but for now a twinge of spring fever is stirring...

It's a safe bet that twinge will switch to full on "spring fever mode" after the holidays are completely over. 

Meanwhile there is Peppermint Cheesecake cake to finish (recipe from the December 2011 issue of Southern Living:)

A real hardship....  :-) 

And a Christmas Day mishap (everyone needs one, right?) involving the Lantana topiary I was carefully cultivating. 

Completely decimated by a green-seeking puppers:

We can now testify with 100% certainty that Lantana is NOT toxic to dogs! 

Hopefully it will make a comeback (in its new elevated position, safe from the reach of a certain small, four-legged friend!)

 

 

Amaryllis 'Cherry Nymph'

opened on Christmas Day:

A more perfect holiday bloom could not be imagined.

An exquisite combo of red, green & a touch of white. 

Compounded by two bloom scapes opening simultaneously.

Double flowering blooms = double deliciousness.

What a wondrous Christmas treat....

Thank you 'Cherry Nymph' for beautifying our holiday.   You're another "keeper" Amaryllis with exceptionally impeccable timing! 

Would you mind repeating the performance next year???!!

Christmas in sight

The jolly red-suited man could be here any minute.  We're as ready as we're gonna be. 

FIVE trees twinkle across the house ~ four in the great room & one in my office. 

Two of the five are table top trees ~ just so you know I'm not crazy!

A black & white one (which came out of "retirement" this year but has been featured here before)

plus a newly designed one ~ the grapevine "nature" tree:

Conceived in an effort to bring the garden indoors.  Also where the moss spheres come in:

Anything (and almost everything nature related) found its way onto the buffet top.  The base of the birdhouse was removed in order to have it sit properly on top of the tree:

I think it's my favorite this season. 

A close second, the snowflake & joy tree, shown below during the day:

then again at night:

A sliver of the black (and pink) tree in my office can be glimpsed just to the left of the snowflake tree.  For some reason, I haven't photographed it??

Maybe because I've been too busy baking and packaging biscotti (along with hand stamping tags):

not to mention wrapping presents:

It's been a whirlwind of activity but we're down to the finish line now. 

Nothing left but to relax and enjoy the moment. 

I think a Cranberry Lime Margarita can help with that! 

Merry Christmas everyone ~ hope it's a wonderful holiday for all.

Turning up the heat

with some indoor blooms ~ enough of the frost already!

Temperatures soared immediately when buds were discovered on the Clivia.

Forgiveness was granted for its perplexing habit of blooming way down in the foliage (instead of up on a proper stalk) because who's kidding who ~ the color is AMAZING:

Bloom on ~ the perfect balm for a winter weary soul.

Attempts to cultivate a lantana topiary caused the thermostat to inch upward even more when it became loaded with buds/blooms. 

Okay, maybe not so much in the above photo but look below:

If that isn't an instant tropical escape I don't know what is!

The value of a winter bloom can never be overrated ~ my northern gardener friends know this all too well.

One more thing bound to blow the mercury:

Paph Orchid 'Robert McCabe' ~ on track to be open for Christmas!

Could be the warmest holiday ever.....

(we'll just skip over the part where staying indoors is necessary to achieve that!)

 

Frosted! Part II

I can't remember a winter fall with so many frosty, foggy days?  Yesterday was yet another but this time, the frost stayed on some plants the entire day!  Now THAT rarely happens.  Usually, by noon, the sun is out and the frost has melted off. 

One thing these circumstances produce are "postcard perfect" compositions almost anywhere the camera is pointed. Persevering that late into the day also gives this "not so early bird" photographer the ample opportunity needed to capture the scenery!

Frosted branches from the yew pathway:

Frosted evergreens at the entrance to our subdivision:

Frosted berries:

A neighbors decorated light post:

and most exciting of all ~ the frosty mornings have brought in two red tail hawks:

For several days now, they have been perching (??) just around the corner from my house! 

Their forms are so large & impressive, they're almost impossible to miss (although I'd bet some of my neighbors haven't noticed them yet.)

The first day I only saw one and had to ask my dad what it was ~ I couldn't see any red on the tail so I wasn't sure it was a red tail:

He identified it as a juvenile which could explain why I was confused. 

Yesterday, the red was a lot more evident or maybe these are both different birds??

Either way, their presence has been a very different addition (not to mention the element of excitement they bring) to the neighborhood.  It will be interesting to see how long they stay. 

As far as the frost, I'm ready for a break!  I bet you couldn't guess that was coming...  ;-)

 

 

 

 

Amaryllis 'Prelude'

Another frosty morning here ~ we sure have had a LOT of those lately. 

Lucky for me, Amaryllis 'Prelude' has bloomed to ward off the chill.

Now there is a beauty to melt the frostiest of hearts!

It's melting mine ~ already I feel the cold draining out and the warmth seeping in.

So glad to have 'Prelude' keeping me company as I hustle around the house this morning. 

Hustle I am too as today I'm preparing for tonights book club meeting ~ I'm hosting this month.  There's no book, just a pot luck dinner.  My contribution:  Cranberry Lime margaritas plus ham & turkey sliders.  If I get to it before they disappear, I'll photograph the margaritas for you!

No matter what anyone else brings, Amaryllis 'Prelude' will be the perfect accompaniment.  It couldn't have been planned better!

Hope everyone is staying warm ~ after tonight I hope to have more time to visit around blog land.  I feel like I've been super busy lately, like many of you I'm sure. 

Frosted!

Twas the 6th day of December and not a twig, branch, leaf, blade of grass, etc., etc. (you get the picture) was left untouched by frost.  Wait ~ December 6th??  Isn't it still officially fall?  No one would believe that in my neck of the woods. 

The tree line across the street from my house screams "winter:"

Notice the snow covered ground too??  Sure looks like Winter to me.

It settled in on October 26th (the date of our first snowstorm) and refuses to give Fall it's rightful time back!

Blog readers prepare yourselves for a looonnngg stretch of the "winter blues" compliments of yours truly.

When winter bullies in after only one month of Fall it doesn't take a calculator to figure that's FIVE months of gnarly white cold versus the three dedicated on the calendar.

Totally disproportionate, don't you think? 

This gardener would prefer if the months were skewed the opposite way!

Maybe Spring will figure out a way to chip off some time on that end?

You know that's what this girl's hoping for....

would it be too much to hope

for baby flickers this spring??   What I saw today has me encouraged along those lines...

High temps were in the single digits (staggering, right?) even with bright blue, cloudless skies. 

Despite the month & the arctic air, it must not ever be too early to browse for potential nesting sites??

After first feasting at the suet feeder followed by a drink at the bird bath, the nest box was spied.

It's been landed on before & even been peeked into but never has a flicker gone all the way inside or shown the amount of interest I witnessed today!!! 

A considerable amount of time was spent inside the box punctuated by periodic checks out the entrance hole. 

When curiosity was finally satisfied (I hope positively), it flew from the box above over to the birdhouse on top of my tuteur!

This one is NOT designed for a flicker, in fact, I'm sure the opening is not even close to being big enough.

It didn't matter ~ an examination was made anyway. 

I am SO getting some wood chips this spring and filling the first box so I can encourage them to "excavate" it.   The possibilities are good, don't you think???