Kaseys Korner

Amaryllis 'Double Dream'

One of my all-time favorite Amaryllis.

Could there be anything more lovely??

Amaryllis 'Bright Nymph'

Amaryllis 'Apricot Parfait'

A couple more Amaryllis photos and a message.

Amaryllis 'Apricot Parfait'

And now the message:  I've made a decision that I've been thinking about for quite a while ~

I've decided to no longer keep blogging.  

The few people who follow my blog know that the past four years have been filled with heartache and loss.  After each one, my heart was into blogging less and less and my posts more and more sporadic.

Above:  Amaryllis 'Rembrandt Van Rijn'

I won't close my Typepad account immediately but there will be no future posts.  

Amaryllis 'Half & Half'

It never really "took off" anyway & some of the other reasons I started it are no longer pertinent.  Most of my traffic is from Pinterest and people pinning my photos.

Muscari "Azureum'

I can't imagine giving up photography so hopefully I will pop up with an Instagram account (or something) in the future as a forum to share photos.

For those of you who have left me kind messages over the past 8 years, thank you.  I've appreciated them all.  I feel I "know" you although most of us have never met.  Maybe that will be remedied one day...  For now I want to concentrate on a few different avenues and ending the blog will free up a little time and relieve a little pressure (for even tho I haven't been posting often, it's always on my mind that I "should.")  All the Best ~ I will be with you in spirit this gardening season and quietly doing my part to make it a good one.  

 

Amaryllis 'Pink Glory'

A weather foreward before we get to the most incredible "wait-worthy" Amaryllis I've shared to date....

Our winter has been consistently cold & snowy (have I mentioned this before??!!  or more likely, how many times have I mentioned it?!!)  ha ha.  I haven't seen the ground in my back garden since Thanksgiving weekend until, finally, at the end of January, a tiny little patch of earth was exposed ~ can you see it in the two photos below, to the right of my blue raised bed??

My dog was so excited.  He's been plowing thru snow for over two months now and being a senior citizen, it's not an activity he enjoys anymore.  

HOWEVER, his reprieve & the slight thaw was extremely temporary.

On the morning of Feb 2nd, (3 days after the above photos were taken) we woke up to 15.1" of fresh snow.  

Can I get a collective groan??  

Please make it loud & excruciating, if you please, to match how I'm feeling buried in this never ending pile of white.  ugh.

Above:  Hanging out the entire snowy day, intent on getting a meal.

Okay, now that's out of my system, we can move on!  I just wanted everyone to be aware that NOT all of us are experiencing a warm 'El Nino' winter...  or maybe I was hoping for a little sympathy?!!!!  :)

But here, HERE is a bloom that must have been expressly designed to buoy spirits.  'Pink Glory' has impeccable timing too, her blooms coinciding with the arrival of our latest snowstorm.  How did she know???

I've been beyond eager to get an up close & personal look at her ~ I fell instantly in love when I saw her photo on the Royal Colors website last Fall.  Although it's unusual for me to place an overseas order, I just couldn't forget her and caved to temptation.  I was hoping, in real life, her beauty would exceed her photograph.  I have not been disappointed.

The impulse to click "buy" feels completely justified....

She's a little reminiscent of 'Gervase' (the reddish/pink striping?) but with the added bonus of being double, or is it just me??

Regardless, I definitely have another bulb added to my list of favorites.  

btw, in case you're wondering how long this endless parade of Amaryllis will continue, I promise to group the next blooms in one post & find other topics to focus on after that.  I have a pantry re-do I'm currently busying myself with, maybe that will be finished to share soon?   Hope you are staying warm!

Amaryllis 'Caprice'

I believe I warned you there were a whole "slew" of Amaryllis bulbs lined up, just waiting for their turn in the spotlight?!!!

Today it's 'Caprice'.

She reminds me of 'Apple Blossom' but a tad richer in color?

The fun in trying new varieties of Amaryllis is to discover new favorites, at least for me!

and although 'Caprice' is beautiful (& heaven knows I love PINK!) it's really hard to trump 'Cherry Nymph' ~ in bud right now!

It's long been a favorite and besides 'Double Dream' & 'Exotic Nymph', no one else has come close.  

Now you know who's next too!!!

Otherwise, I'm finally getting the last of my Christmas decorations down.  

It's the latest I've ever been taking it down but it was still difficult to do.  I really, really loved the tree this year & just didn't want to pack it away!

but now I'm starting to get excited for Spring!!

I have some grape hyacinth bulbs coming up (that I potted for forcing this fall) and of course, a few more Amaryllis in bud so there will continue to be flowers in January & February.  I'm glad the month is drawing to a close tho, it's always the hardest one out of the year for me.  Plus it's also great to see more daylight!  I believe I just may survive another winter!!  ha ha 

 

Amaryllis 'Nymph'

Not much but photos today....

A question tho for all you photographers, I re-calibrated my monitor today  & the following two 'Nymph' photos were edited after the recalibration.  

Notice any difference???  It seems like the color might be a bit "warmer?"

Plus another little beauty ~ sweet Ivory Russe!

Hope you're having a good day ~ it's windy and cold here but at least not snowing (today!)

Amaryllis 'Moon Scene'

the next to bloom in a succession of Amaryllis bulbs.

if these beautiful bulbs don't hold appeal for you (gasp!), you might want to avoid my blog over the next few weeks.

I have quite a few in various stages of growth that will be gracing future posts! 

Yippee.  

Hard to beat an Amaryllis bloom for chasing away the winter blues.  And winter blues I already have.  We've had more snow on a landscape that's been covered in white for over a month now.  It makes me long for green....

'Moon Scene' is funny in that it has two different kinds of stamens on the same bloom stalk ~ two flowers have one kind and the other two have the second kind. 

Maybe I've had other Amaryllis like that before & just haven't paid attention???

I must have been in a "red & white" mood when I placed my first Amaryllis order?!!   'Moon Scene' is the third sort of variation on that theme.  

Hope your weekend is off to a good start?    It's below freezing here:

So I'm staying indoors, taking down Christmas, always bittersweet...

 

Amaryllis 'Ruby Star'

For me, it wouldn't be Christmas without an Amaryllis bulb

or two

or three

or four

or more.....

'Ruby Star' was the 2nd Amaryllis bulb this season to bloom.

It sent up two simultaneous bloom stalks which I tied together with a ribbon:

Two bloom stalks growing at the same time means a beautiful display of flowers but the stalks don't always cooperate in the process.  Tying them together is an easy way to control them plus it keeps the leaves nice & straight (and tidy) between the ribbon too.

Around Christmas, the ribbon also adds to the festive spirit.

Temperatures broke the freezing mark today for the first time since before Christmas so I took 'Ruby Star' outside for a photo shoot!

I'm already sad thinking about taking all the beautiful Christmas decorations down.

The holiday came and went soooo fast.

I decorated everything that wasn't moving this year.  I think worse than usual.

I also baked and baked and baked.

Above and below: Buckeyes

Maybe they're a bad example because you don't actually "bake" them but they still take a little time to make.  I guess it's worth it tho because they disappear FAST!

Above:  Gift wrapping ~ I added an alphabet ornament (to some packages) in the initial of the recipient.  I figured it served two purposes, a keepsake & easy way to tell whose gift was whose.

Sweet little Ivory loved the wrapping part of the holiday!!! Whenever she heard the rustle of paper, she was there!

Alphabet ornaments are fun to decorate with too:

I bought some to spell my daughter's name & the Noel ones pictured.  

Whoever came up with that idea was genius!

This year, it felt like we were one of the only parts of the country to experience a white Christmas??  There was so much talk of records being broken for warmest Christmases on record.  Not here!

I've always thought snow on the 25th was overrated ~ but right on cue, it snowed 3 more inches on Christmas night!

If you like that sort of thing, it was perfect.

Now I'm ready for some "down" time, it's been a busy season, culminating with a New Years Eve party that I made Champagne Jello shots for!!!

How fun are these??  Pretty easy too and very tasty/refreshing.

2016 started off with a bang so I hope the momentum will last.  

On a sad note, I wondered if all the "busyness" was an effort to keep thoughts of my brother at bay?  I would be driving somewhere or doing something and just burst into tears.  One night, looking at Christmas lights (which we had done together just two short years ago) I felt tears rolling down my face and I hadn't realized I was crying.  He was never far from my mind even tho I had many, many happy moments.  

Anyway, now comes the big task (as I know many of you have too) of taking everything down & packing it away.  After that, a resting period before spring.  I welcome that although I'm already tired of snow ~ what's new??!!  

Happy New Year!!!

 

 

Amaryllis 'Ambiance'

Blooming just in time for Christmas and the colors couldn't be more perfect for the season.

Love the pairing of red & white against the antique blue vase.

I usually don't cut my Amaryllis flowers but 'Ambiance' put up three bloom scapes so I didn't mind cutting the first one to put in the vase.  

Besides the Amaryllis, I also have blooms from a new pink Christmas cactus.

Given to me by one of my sweet neighbors as a thank you for decorating her mantel.  

VERY nice of her, especially when I was happy to help.  That sort of thing is fun for me and not a chore at all

 

I hope I can keep it alive.  I'm good with outdoor plants but not so much with houseplants.

This past week I kept really busy baking for both my book club and cul-de-sac parties.

I made the above Hazelnut expresso cookies for my book club. They were devoured!  I highly recommend them if you're looking for a new cookie to try over the holidays.

For my cul-de-sac party, I was put in charge of desserts.  I enjoy making those so I chose both a no-bake white Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

and Lime Gin Coconut macaroons.  

At least one of my neighbors is on a gluten-free diet so I left out the cookie crust base from the recipe ~ it was still totally divine.

The Peppermint sticks came from Cracker Barrel ~ I thought they'd be a festive (edible) decoration but they actually turned out to be the perfect utensil for eating them!  Dipping the peppermint sticks into the cheesecake gave us a little extra zip of peppermint flavor.  Because of that, they'd be great for any party, you wouldn't have to provide extra serving pieces.  They're also very easy to make & everyone enjoyed them.

I guess I hit both desserts out of the "ballpark" because they were both gone by the end of the night including all of the Lime and Gin Coconut Macaroons (see link above for recipe.)

Another easy dessert to make and if you are a fan of coconut, an absolutely amazing treat!

I couldn't ask for better timing on the Paperwhites either.  

They are just beginning to open ~ they'll be gorgeous at the end of the week for Christmas!

and finally, our little "baby" Ivory has a new favorite spot to sleep ~ on top of the bookcase next to the tree!

Isn't she sweet illuminated by tree light???

Now I'm signing off to try and catch my breath before the next round of parties.  I still have all my wrapping to do plus some cards and a little shopping left so it's going to be a busy final few days.  I hope you all are more ahead than me??!!!  If I don't get back to the blog, Merry Christmas to you ~ I hope it's a peaceful, happy holiday.  










 

September ebbs away

There is no denying the change in seasons now.

Sunny days are warm but as soon as the sun goes down, 

it cools off very quickly.

I'm still watching my Monarch chrysalis' for any signs of change but so far, no butterflies.

While waiting, I thought we should take a look-see around the garden.

The Arabella table revamped for Fall.

Then tweaked.

 

Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' beginning to bloom,

 

with 'Rhumba' Chrysanthemums in tow.

Love that the bees love these too.

 

A lone bloom on Clematis 'Jackmanii' ~ infinitely more exciting now than during the peak of its bloom period.

The change in seasons means it's also time to take stock of what will be saved from frost and what will be given up.

Above:  Caryopteris 'Blue Mist'

Below:  Supertunia 'Pretty Much Picasso'

I dread dragging everything into the garage or basement but next Spring (like every Spring), I'll be glad I did.

So full steam ahead with the fall chores, starting with digging the Amaryllis bulbs.....

Plus a little more "playing" with the pumpkins.

What are you up to in the garden???