Re: [gardeners] Amaryllis gives hope
ronhay (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 11 Jan 2000 07:47:44 -0800
Good morning, friends,
Our pink ladies are coming up like gang busters while the others' leaves
are getting somewhat long in the tooth.
I scattered a whole host of pink lady (amaryllis belladonna) seedlings
all over the yard, a
a few weeks ago, and wonder if they will sprout and grow to blooming
size in the next few years. Has anyone had experience with this?
As of right now, we in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley have not yet had a
hard frost; the winter has been extremely mild to date. Consequently,
the callas are beginning to blossom beautifully. I just hope we don't
get a hard frost after they have begun to bloom.
Among the other flowers, the ageratums contine unabated, with hardly any
watering. We have had the 7th dryest winter in the last 100 years, this
year, with only 1/10" of rain since the beginning of the season. I hope
the northern Sierra get some heavy snow, or we will all be in trouble
with lack of water next year.
Our "sweet pea" bushes are continuning to bloom. (They are not sweet
peas, per se, and cannot think of their proper botanical name at the
moment...sometying like polygarum dalmatiana, or something like that),
and the copo do oro we planted next to them are shooting up. Gazania
seedlings are sprouting and some are actually beginning to bloom, as are
the volunteer alyssum seedlings.
But the glory of the neighborhood is the front yard of the lady acrosst
the street, whose entire "lawn" area is planted in membrysantums and
succulents. It is simply ablaze in hues of magenta and pink, with the
blooms covering what would be her entire lawn. Magnificent!
And then there is the continuing tale of the passion fruit. Every
morning I go out and pick some up off the ground, tinged with purple. I
bring them into the house and let the get all deep purple and wrinkly,
then juice them in the food mill, and then strain it in a find mesh
strtainer to get rid of the particles of ground up seeds, and then
proceed to make passion fruit daiquiries (sp?). I thank the Barbecue
Bible for that wonderful libation!
Bearss limes are just about done with, but have enjoyed using them in
all manner of dishes, most recently, Yassa, a West African chicken dish
made with 3# of chicken pieces marinated in a cup of lime juice; sauteed
onions; water, marinade and a couple of our serrano chiles. Wonderful
and easy!
Well, my friends, its time to change this moth into a butterfly and get
out to the office. Have a wonderful day and to those of you in colder
climates, think of spring and enjoy thumbing through the catalogues that
continue to come by the batch:)
Ron
Van Nuys, CA
Our broccoli is heading up and our Blue Lake green beans are beginning
to produce...and then there is our serrano chiles! We picked over 200
fire-engine-red chiles both to use fresh and to dehydrate during the
month of December, and just picked another 50 fresh this past weekend.
Those little guys are simply amazing...and have NO dimunintion in heat,
as opposed to the jalapenos we grew last year. Wow!
Westin wrote:
> I read some of people here who have their amaryllis,
> and I must say I am glad I've got mine for
> encouragement on a cold winter day! Got some advice
> about it from a page at
> www.rochestergardening.com/bulbs
> They had holiday plant information too. Lots of stuff
> to see there, 'fraid that I wasted most of a Sunday
> online. Or, is it a waste? Seems otherwise I would be
> reading the garden catalogs coming in mail.
>
> Hey, did you hear that Ferry Morse will not have
> a seed catalog anymore? Maybe they think we will all
> be buying online. I dont know about you, but it is
> a yearly ritual for us to thumb thru the catalogs and
> choose what we want. The catalog wont go out of style.
> Rich
>
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