My Winter Garden

I love your african violets. What a beautiful arrangement you have made. I too get my gardening fix with indoor plants during winter. However not as beautiful as yours. My chores are keeping all my outdoor plants brought indoors alive. They drop their leaves when initially brought in and then I have to nurse them for a while. My favorites are geranium and coleus.

Keep growing those violets they look very happy.

-- wjl - 5a Indiana

Thanks for the kind words. Gathered my Violets from all over the house to take the pictures …

My grandmother always brought her geraniums inside … and as I am thinking back, they bloomed most of the winter months … maybe it was closer to spring. I don’t know … but they did get gorgeous again before she took them back outside. Worth the work to keep them alive indoors. Do you repot yours? I have also heard of people hanging them upside down in a cool place too … not sure how reliable that last statement is.

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

Lovely pictures, I’m afraid I am not very good with houseplants.
My mum who hates gardening, (because of the creepy crawlies) has African violets in her window and she propagates them and gives them away to friends.

-- Derbyshire------- English Countryside

Ahhh How nice. Great find with that varigated ficus, beautiful. I went crazy with houseplants until my house was like a jungle and my allergies got irritated so I had to get rid of them all. This is a lovely managable display you have. The violet in a teacup is so nice. Did you plant it in the cup or did you purchase it that way?

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

what a beautiful indoor garden you have!!! You definitely have a green thumb

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Thanks all for the comments. I planted the “little guy” in the tea cup (I collect them). Needless to say, was very excited over finding “him” ... they are a rare find in garden shops.

We have a room off our kitchen … a small family room … I call it our “sun room” cuz it is filled with sunshine and lots of windows. (The room makes me smile!) I have taken over that room and filled it with my winter garden, two comfy chairs and a good reading lamp … oh yah, and “BOB’ our Cockatiel.

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

I’ll have to post a pic of some of my sorry looking indoor plants. It’s difficult to get many plants to grow in a house with two large dogs and a toddler. We’ve got a small jade plant (twig) given to us from a friend, and a big tea cup full of thyme (we call it tea thyme).

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

Tea Thyme … how cute!!!! Hubby and I were reliving a funny story … so I decided I have to tell … Above Xploreorganics mentioned filling her house with plants … well when we were young married with two babies; we bought our first house. No furniture to speak of, no money … so I filled it with plants. Well one night hubby got up to go to the bathroom. He didn’t bother to turn on the light and totally forgot that I had hung a (beautiful, I might add) Boston Fern in front of the window, but over the toilet. Now being a woman, I totally did not take into account the “standing rule” ... so needless to say, after a scream, than growl and a few choice words coming from the darkened bathroom … he told me … Debbie, those plants HAVE to go. And being the “dutiful” wife that I was (and trying not to laugh outloud cuz that could mean sudden death – hee), the plants were disposed of. Love, ain’t it grand !!!!

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

haha that’s funny.
poor plant ;)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Yah, even after all this time; we still laugh at that one!!! I figured since Damocles had met Hubby; he might really get a chuckle out of this story.

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

Such a nice guy! It’s hard to believe that he’d be swearing a blue streak…but then, I sometimes trip over the baby’s bathroom step as I make midnight trips to the loo (in the dark), so I can relate…

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

Not swearing a “blue streak” ... just a FEW choice words that we don’t say often … guess that is partly why it was so funny. He really is a kind, soft spoken man. Next time you talk to him ask him about the “porch light” ... now there is a story!!!!! Our old house “HATED” my husband; and any time he would try to “fix or improve her” she would retaliate … really!!!! Another story that we roar over!!!!

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

I love them all- beautiful display! The one in the teacup would look lovely on a table at a fancy luncheon!

-- Jen, Zone 8 SC, http://www.woodlandchic.com

THANKS Desertjed!!! :-)

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

African Violets

a little kiss of summer in the winter

-- Central northish Ontario

Oh that’s a truly wonderful though … “little kiss of summer” in the winter. Thanks for the smile this morning Greenthumb!! :-)

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b