Winter Bloom
Both of my small ‘Hedgehog’ aloes are blooming. The flowers are rather insignificant, but quite lovely in their simplicity. I love that they come this time of year when the garden outside my window is devoid of color.
This particular plant lives on my beside table. It’s nice to know that it not only brings beauty to my room, but it also cleans the air as well.
These two plants were pups from the big aloes that I had on my front porch back in Ohio. They’re spectacular plants when grown in large containers. I left one for my neighbor, it lives in her living room now. Mine came to Maine and I harvested pups the first winter because I didn’t have space for the giant pot.
The photo above was when I first planted them. When we finally moved they were about twice as big and they were stunning! I really love the structure of the aloe plants, the shape of the leaves, the fleshiness , and the thorns. They are very artistic in their form.
It will take a few more years, but these little beauties will once again become large spotlight plants in my garden. By then hopefully I’ll have a better space for overwintering large tender plants. Until then, they’ll live with minimal fertilizer and water to keep them growing as slowly as possible.
Do you grow any succulents indoors during the winter?
Share this:
Making it Beautiful
Last month I painted my office, it needed a bit of spruce up. Even though it was painted a lighter color, the walls were dirty and it needed to be brighter. I spend a lot of time in this room and really wanted to be surrounded by something nice while I work.
I cut up some of my old calendars and purchased a few old botanical prints off Etsy.
I really wanted something that I could change frequently if I wanted to so no frames were used. The plan is to fill the wall around the corner.
Little metal clips were used to hang the prints, I pushed sewing pins to hang them on. Since none of the artwork is heavy they work very well.
Inspirational quotes are also being printed and added. I’ll probably change them out every now and then, perhaps for something seasonal.
Overall I’m happy with the way it’s turning out so far. It certainly makes the office bright and cheery, it will be especially nice during the long white winter! I usually don’t hang much stuff on the walls preferring more of a blank slate.
What’s your favorite way to decorate walls and add color to a room?
Share this:
An Early Christmas
I realized last week that I’d better get in the Christmas spirit because I have to have most of my gift shopping/making finished by Thanksgiving. Since we travel back to Ohio for the Thanksgiving holiday we don’t go back at Christmas. That means we celebrate both holidays at once. It’s nice to get them both done at once, but that means I have to be ready for an early Christmas. Usually it sneaks up on me because I’m focused on putting the garden to bed and getting all the fall cleanup finished. Then I realize we have Christmas in two weeks – YIKES! Thankfully I’m usually good about purchasing gifts throughout the year as I see them, I only have a few things to finish up this week and then I’ll be ready.
Thankfully there’s snow on the ground, which makes it much easier to get ready earlier. I put Christmas music on the stereo last night and worked on a few Christmas gifts. I’m just about ready, but I’ll check and recheck my list a few more times. It’s actually nice to do it so early, that way Mr Chiots and I can celebrate a leisurely Christmas alone at home. I don’t have a tree up yet, but I feel like I should have one up to put all the gifts under. Perhaps we’ll head out and cut one this weekend.
Do you celebrate any double holidays to make it easier?
Share this:
Filled to the Brim
I’m guessing if you are a gardner you overwinter a few potted plants indoors like I do. Over the years my collection of plants has grown and grown. This past weekend I finished bringing in the last of the plants, most of which were figs. I like to let them experience some cold so they go dormant for the year. These ‘Hardy Chicago’ figs are perfectly capable of overwintering in the ground here in Maine, but I haven’t found the perfect spot for them yet, so they move in and out with the seasons.
There are also quite a few citrus trees, some old and producing, some only a few years old. There are also various pots of herbs and a few succulents that spend the winter in the basement. All of these plants appreciate the coolness that they find in our unheated basement. They get fairly good light from the south facing windows in the doors and they love the 50 degree temps. I have a shelf that they will all be organize onto that is on wheels, which makes it easy to wheel them out of the way when we need to bring in more wood. That is on this week’s project list.
There are also many tropical plants upstairs, these all prefer the much warmer temps of the second floor. In that collection there are avocados, papaya, passion fruit, mango, and banana. Upstairs you’ll also find various pothos living in each room, along with lots of jade plants and other succulents. I love what houseplants add to a room, there’s something quite nice about seeing something green and living when everything outdoors is brown or blanketed with snow. My mom always had lots of houseplants, I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
Do you have a collection of plants that move into the house in the winter?
Share this:
Savory Sage
All summer and fall you’ll find various herbs drying on my sunny back porch or in my oven. Right now I have an oven full of sage leaves drying for Thanksgiving and delicious winter soups.
Throughout the summer I eat the young tender leaves fried in butter. Not only do I get a delicious snack, but then I have sage brown butter to drizzle over pasta or soup.
Sage is probably one of my favorite herbs, particularly in winter. It pairs so well with winter squash, pork, and other poultry. And who can resist savory sage stuffing at Thanksgiving with lots of onions and celery?
What’s your favorite winter herb?
