Blooming this December

[SpookyShoe]

One of my color pots, pentas with some cold damage still hanging on, a rogue ixora blossom, and some shrimp plants.

[PlainJane]

Looking wonderful Donna! I’ve got some containers I want to redo now that it’s not 100 degrees out. You plants look so fresh!

[MissS]

So lovely Donna. That is a remarkable color Shrimp Plant. Do you know what variety it is? Do birds use it?

[SpookyShoe]

So lovely Donna. That is a remarkable color Shrimp Plant. Do you know what variety it is? Do birds use it?

Justice brandegeana. It's supposed to be a hummingbird magnet, but I have never seen one bird on it.

[SpookyShoe]

The calendula flower heads were too heavy for their stalks, so they flopped over. I fixed that by using a shish kabob skewers and a tiny butterfly hair clip.

[Growing Coastal]

This Winter Jasmine blooms from Nov through Feb. It is what made me aware that Anna's hummingbirds stay here year round. Growing tied to a trellis and along the eaves of a patio roof. I can see it from inside the house through sliding glass doors. It blooms well through winter covered by the overhang. Where it sticks out there can be damage from harsh winter weather.

An image from another year.

[Growing Coastal]

[SpookyShoe]

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The spring migration for hummingbirds in the Houston area is March through May. For some reason I get very few birds during the spring migration, the majority of birds pass through during the fall migration which starts in August.

The tiny white blossoms are from a patchouli plant.

In my area the practice is to plant amaryllis bulbs in the ground and leave them there. They bloom around Easter. But every year the big box stores and most nurseries will sell amaryllis bulbs designed to bloom around Christmas. Here is an amaryllis Minerva from one of those bulbs that I picked up this year at Home Depot. After it's done I'll planted in the ground, it will skip blooming at Easter in 2020 this year but will bloom at Easter the year after.

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[Growing Coastal]

Still blooming here, a fucshia with tiny leaves and tiny flowers then, tiny fruit. This one starts blooming later than regular sized fuchsias but keeps on until deep cold in pots under a fir and two beside the house.
from another year

[SpookyShoe]

The photos of the birds with the fuchsia look like something from a Japanese garden.

[SpookyShoe]

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Leaves are starting to turn red, right on time.
The plant is about three feet tall.

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[Nan6b]

Donna, do you do anything to force the color on the poinsettia, as so many insist you must, or do you let it do its thing, like the Conservatory in Pittsburgh does? (Not ones for the shows, but the ones they have living year-round in the Cactus room)

[SpookyShoe]

I do absolutely nothing. In the coming days more and more leaves will turn red.

[Growing Coastal]

Alright! Now I can see photos.
That patchouli is a plain Jane, isn't it? Does it have any scent to it?
Nice bi-colour Amaryllis.
The stores are full of poinsettias here now. Growers have to provide short days for them to have colour for Christmas.

[SpookyShoe]

Alright! Now I can see photos.
That patchouli is a plain Jane, isn't it? Does it have any scent to it?
Nice bi-colour Amaryllis.
The stores are full of poinsettias here now. Growers have to provide short days for them to have colour for Christmas.

If you rub your fingers over the leaves of a patchouli plant the scent would be instantly recognizable. Sort of like doing the same thing to lemon balm in order to smell its scent.

[PlainJane]

Love the hummingbird shots!