Sunday, March 29, 2009

Green Thumb Sunday

I'm not feeling as though my thumb is green these days... I've been so excited about the growth of my 9 large amaryllis bulbs. However, only one (1!) is going to blossom. At least for the moment.
Did I do something wrong? Should I NOT have watered the bulbs with anything besides plain water? I admit to adding fertilizer... The rest of the bulbs are growing strapping, strong, green leaves. Hmmm. Oh, well. There's always another year.

In the meantime, I Knew we were going to have a snowfall. They'd predicted over a couple days' time, last week. So on Friday, I finally didn't want to wait any longer and brought in a bunch of daffodils that were budded and nearly ready to open. This is what I found Saturday night!

At 1:45 P.M. Saturday afternoon, it began to snow.
(Can you tell I'd raked a lot last week?)
At 2:45 P.M., it looked like this.
At 4:10 P.M., it looked like this.
It stopped snowing shortly afterwards. In all, we may have received
between two and three inches of snowfall.
This morning I took this picture for your enjoyment!
Do you see all the little black specks? Click on the photo.
Those are some of my plant id markers!
(I do need to make just a few more,
for those plants that were added
last Fall.)
ha!
Here are those daffodils, as photographed this afternoon.
A bit of a close-up.
Getting personal.

Happy Green Thumb Sunday!
If you've never posted, follow the link and click on the GTS tab. It will give you some valuable instructions on joining. Then, go to the home page and leave a comment after you've posted!


Our snowfall is already beginning to melt. If that's the last of it, I'm looking for some Real Greening very shortly! :-)

Hope you enjoyed a great day!!
SG

16 comments:

troutbirder said...

I think its pretty much what happened to the bulbs last summer that determines flowering or not.

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

I am glad you picked your daffodils so you can enjoy them.

Anonymous said...

SG, Love your new banner. It's very fitting for spring. Snow is NOT fitting for spring. :) I hope it melts quickly. If you're like me you've got lots to do out there.

Kathleen said...

Hi Shady Gardener! Ugh on the snow. Let's just skip right on over that! The daffodils are so pretty. I wish I would have thought to pick mine before our snow. I think troutbirder is right about the amaryllis bulbs. I've always heard that after they flower, cut off the spent bloom stalk THEN start fertilizing and continue all summer. Once you cut the foliage back in the fall (and store in the dark) do nothing until you see some growth. Is that what you do?? I didn't understand from what you said, when you were fertilizing. It's a bummer only one will bloom. Just fertilize away and next year they'll probably bloom their heads off. The one bloom will be great tho. :-)

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I love all of your pictures! I'm sorry you got snow. We've gotten very cold weather again here too. I love the little lady's daffodil hat :)

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Shady,
I agree with Kathleen that what happens during the previous year's growth is what determines the next year's ... so fertilizing when you woke them up might be the culprit. Though we've had years when we started them up again and they didn't bloom, so who knows for sure (they did bloom the following year).

You sure got a lot more snow than we did! At the height of it (and it snowed all day off and on) the ground was barely covered and by Sunday morning it was all gone except in shady spots.

I'm loath to cut our daffodils usually, and yours probably would have made it, but they do look pretty inside! Maybe I'll cut a few this year depending on how well they've naturalized since last year. Ours are nowhere near blooming yet, but the crocus are really revving up for a big show!

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

We had flurries, but no cover. Still, I'm sure there's at least one snowfall left before spring really starts! Was this the first time you grew the bulbs? They don't need fertilizer then. Generally fertilizers are higher in nitrogen (which makes leaves grow) than phosphorous (flowers/fruits) and potassium (helps plants absorb minerals).

Shady Gardener said...

Thank you all for your kind comments and advice on my amaryllis. Okay, here's the game plan. I'm going to continue to fertilize as I water from now until next Fall! :-)

Last Summer it rained so much, I only watered them twice! So fertilizing was rare indeed.

troutbirder, I'm sure you're right. I'll be trying once more!

Hi Keewee. Thanks for visiting. I'm glad I picked them, too! This was one large clump (that probably will be divided this year) that was the closest to blooming.

Grace, it seems to be melting. Hope it continues! Thanks for your compliment. Virginia Bluebells are tops! :-)

Kathleen, I read my post again, and when I came to the watering comment, I noticed it WAS confusing. I had been fertilizing every time I watered after I brought up the bulbs. Anyway, if I can stand to do this one more year, I'll fertilize from now on and through the summer. Then allow them to rest and water only with water until after the buds appear. (Whew!) ;-)

Catherine, The little lady came from a gift shop on one of my "Sister Weekends." A good memory.

IVG, I know what you mean about cutting them, but these little fellows were about to bloom! And they are Really Cheerful indoors!

Hi, Monica! If you took time (I don't always) to read the comments and responses above, you'd see the error of my ways! These bulbs (except one) are two seasons old. No blossoms from them last year (I bought them on sale after Christmas last year) as they were wee, little bulbs. After a summer outdoors, they grew nice and plump! But they received very, very little fertilizer outdoors. I assume that's my problem. So, now I should continue fertilizing until Fall, right?

Pat said...

Love daffodils !
That little girl figurine is adorable. Funny that you have daffodils and snow...still waiting for my blooms. Then again just about everything is in shade and haven't been outside in 2 weeks. :(

Shady Gardener said...

Patsi, Most of my things are in shade too, but as long as the leaves are off the trees there's a lot more sun! ;-) The snow is officially gone. It melted over the course of the day. I need to go out to walk around to see how everything looks. From a distance, it looks great!

Phoenix C. said...

Snow?! I'm hoping it is done now here for the year, (although the grit-bucket is still by our door!) Lovely daffodils - I love their perfume indoors.

Shady Gardener said...

Phoenix C, Aren't they beautiful? It's fun to have them indoors, and I'll have to lean in a little closer for a sniff. :-)

Elizabeth said...

I grow amarylis and what I do is -
I only feed them once a year, right after they bloom out and you cut the flower stalk off. I then leave them out doors until the end of sept, but I turn them on their sides the last month so they don't get too much water from the rain. About oct. I put them in my basement until feb. Then I check every few days and when I see a bit of green I bring them up and water with plain water. Mine bloom every year, some are 9 years old and going strong. Hope this helps

Gail said...

Shady, I am so glad the snow came quickly and is leaving quickly...then you can get back to spring! The daffs are fantastic! I love them...and miss them when they stop blooming...I know nothing about amarylis and hope the one I have reblooms...so I will pay attention to all the advice! gail

Sue Catmint said...

never use fertilizer, never see snow in my garden. But love your blog, and appreciate the opportunity to get up close and personal with daffodils. I put a link to your blog in my latest post.

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Elizabeth! I'm unable to visit your blog! :-( Thanks for all your information, though!!

Gail, These daffodils are my protected early variety. I glimpsed a new (I think) variety in the sunny corner bed that was only about 2" tall and had begun to bloom today! Bright yellow.

catmint, thanks for visiting and thanks for the link. I didn't have time to leave a note this afternoon, but I did visit. :-)