Flowers in the Attic

The plants in the attic are wintering over just fine. I have some begonias in bloom, above, and a few sprigs of Christmas cactus have flowered. Whenever a stem comes off a cactus I root it and stick it in any plant with empty dirt! They have very small roots and can exist with almost any other plant. They're doing quite well this winter.

 

 

November Beauty

One of my cactuses is in full bloom right now. This year it's downstairs in the foyer along with my piano. The plant is sitting on a Victrola with art hanging all around it. I shot this photo with a camera setting, 1600ISO which adds grain to low light photos. And no, I still can't use "cacti" without feeling like Jane Hathoway, the secretary on The Beverly Hillbillies, so I don't!

This cactus, with rounded leaves, blooms later in the fall closer to Christmas. It's breaking out in tiny buds though, so I think it's going to have a good year, too. Right now it's also in the downstairs foyer. The front door is to the right, and it's sitting on a dresser I've painted for a friend; it's just waiting to be picked up. Everything with a horizontal surface is fully utilized in my apartment. I captured my bare feet in this shot, lol, in the mirror below the vintage hats.

AfternoonColour: May Day 2013

I placed my long-lived cactuses outside today for their summer sojourn. This year they're on tree stumps next to the shade garden. Dragonwing Begonias join them after wintering over inside once again. All photos clickable to enlarge, as always.

 

My pink African violets are producing like crazy now.

Shade garden and beyond. That's an ancient pink azalea shrub, which almost resembles a laurel bush until it blooms.

Fun with Photoshop filters. Another shot of my beautiful (if I do say so myself, lol) purple violets. They're in a single indoor garden pot along with a second variety of purple and the pink seen in this post, too.

 

Looking slightly north this view includes the tiny road to town. In the distance is some Land Trust acreage and then a condominium.

Slightly longer view shows the fuzzy dark green foliage of this pink violet.