Petals and Leaves
Monday, January 06, 2014Happy New Year 2014!
May this year brings you lots of happiness and many gardening successes :-D
I had a good yearend holiday and I hope you have had a good one too. Just a day before the first day of New Year 2014, my African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha), a flower blossomed...
So dainty, cute and delightful... a violet African violet!
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Few months back when I brought the African violet home, the plant had more flowers blossoming at the same time. The petals however were white with violet edges...
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There are several things I like to continue doing this year. One is making closed terrariums. Though it may not be easy at the beginning of the project but once the terrarium is completed and reached a stage of equilibrium, the result is an almost-no-maintenance indoor garden :-D
The pic below shows one of my successful terrariums. When I was constructing it a few months ago, the fern was really small. See fern and find out how you can make one in my article.
Now the fern has grown much bigger...
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One the fronds from the fern is now covering the little house that I had place inside for decoration...
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My other terrarium has only one Snakeskin Plant (Fittonia albivenis). It has grown much taller now also...
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Meanwhile in my garden, one of the plants that has grown well is Guzmania. This pot of Guzmanias has four blooms blossoming at one go and the first time ever it has so many blooms... yay!
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The other floriferous plant is my dwarf Azalea. My heart leapt with joy when I saw more than ten flowers on the little bush... :-D
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Glad to share these stories with you. I hope to be able to share more of my garden joys with you this Year 2014. Happy gardening :-)
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22 comments
Happy New Year Stephanie!!
ReplyDeleteI really love your African Violets.
I wanted to try them too but I was skeptical as they might rot and die.
Care to share your secret of success as I really love those blue flowers.
Thanks for the inspirations of starting a terrariums.
I wanted to do one for a very long time and now I just got some inspirations and mode to do so.
Great that you have few going strong.
Happy New Year to you too James! Glad to know that you are inspired to create a terrarium. Re AV, water only when surface of the soil is dry to the touch and plant it at a cool place :-)
DeleteStephanie, happy gardening in 2014, I guess your green thumbs do not need any encouragement. The terrariums are lovely, looking so green and fresh.That is a beautiful Azalea, did not expect anything else from you! I like Guzmania, flowering well and a great outdoors and house plant.
ReplyDeleteTitania, happy gardening in 2014 to you too! It wasn't so difficult to construct one terrarium, but it wasn't absolutely easy as well. I am glad you like the green terrarium O:-) Re azalea, if you did not give me some tips before, I think I would not have come to this stage :-) Thank you again!!
DeleteI love Guzmania. I once used lots of it for plant cover. However constant replanting with the offshoots is required for optimal aesthetic appeal.
ReplyDeleteThat's right! And it is one of the reasons that I stopped planting more bromeliads. But this particular one only require discarding the ones that has finished flowering ;-)
DeleteHello Stephanie
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for you that your Guzmania and Azalia have so many blooms this year. This looks like a good omen for 2014 gardening.:) I didn't know that African violets could change colour. I like the idea of your Terrariums. They are so decorative.
Have a good day.
Hello Breathtaking! Thank you, I hope so (good omen) too :-D Re AV, I like white with violet edges more... so I am hoping that it will turn white like before. You have a great day!!
DeleteLove the azalea..sweet pink... happy new year..
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the azalea suka suka! You have a wonderful new year and may all your gardening projects be successful!
DeleteHappy New Year!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you too Mystic Dreamer! It is nice to hear from you :-)
DeleteHello Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful African violet!
I thought the beautiful and creative terrariums.
Also the beautiful Guzmanias and Azalea.
Happy 2014 with beautiful flowers and plants to your garden and enchant our eyes.
Kiss.
Thank you Vera :* Oh that AV, I was so so happy when I saw flower. I have never gotten this far before. You have a great Year 2014 and may all your dreams come true.
DeleteBeautiful flowers especially African violet. Growing plants in a terrarium is an excellent idea.
ReplyDeleteHappy gardening in 2014
Hello Ela, happy gardening in 2014 to you too! Flowers put a smile on our faces hehe...
DeleteHappy New Year Steph! Your flowers are actually beaming with delight! I have never tried terrariums...yours are doing wonderfully well. I also love the colour of your African violets. Mine are a deeper colour and since my front-door area is shady, they seem to like it.
ReplyDeleteHappy gardening in 2014...may you have a blessed year!
Happy New Year Kanak! You are a person with many talents. So I am sure your AV is even more marvellous. May you have another great year of cooking up many delicious food! Cheers, Stephanie
DeleteHappy New year! Your collection of terrarium are so cool! I never done it before! You have unique collection of flowers too!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Malar! Making one terrarium is a fun thing to do. I enjoyed the process and now watching the plants growing inside the bottle... so cool :-)
DeleteÉ um prazer vir aqui e ver suas maravilhosas plantas ,
ReplyDeletetenha uma boa semana e um 2014 cheio de felicidade.
http://eueminhasplantinhas.blogspot.com.br/
Hello Simone, happy new year to you too! I am glad you like the plants that we grow here. Btw, I like your orchids a lot :-D
Delete