Blooming Rain!

Actually I am sure I would not miss the winter. Each year I become less and less tolerant of the cold and the short days... Currently -10C with a low of -18C tonight


Longing for a warmer place...
Andrew

Andrew, I have sent you a d mail.

I have zone envy...

Andrew, maybe so, but you have to admit that the view from your window is beautiful, but I guess when you step outside and become one with the snow and have to shovel it off your path and pavement, the beauty does fade somewhat.

Here is a glimpse of a summer day in a nearby park, which I photographed a couple of weeks ago.

How gorgeous! What is that funky tree with the branches at the base?

Not sure but it may be a Robinia Freesia.

Thought I would share a snow storm with a zone 9er :*)

Another 6" or so...

Is spring near?

Well, all I can say is that sooner or later Spring will be sprung in your part of the world and fall will come to ours. To me those snowy scenes look so pretty and thank you for posting them. But just to make you feel a bit jealous I will tell you that I had to put on the air conditioning unit an 2.p.m. this afternoon as it was so hot. Meanie aren't I?
Here is a photo I took In an Queensland, Australia aviary, I am sure you would enjoy looking at the lovely colours of this bird's plumage.

Very pretty indeed. The park photo was lovely also. Thank you much for sharing the greenery :*)

Andrew

You're very welcome.
Tess

Thanks for sharing those beautiful Callas and the bird too, it doesn't even look real to me...lol Great thing to view this morning!!

The Treasure is gorgeous! As well as the lilies and even the snow scenes, but I do like sun and flowers better. Thank you for sharing. I'm looking forward to the arrival of my lilies and callas even more. Wish I'd ordered a Treasure, after all.

I have no flowers to share, but we had snow last week and power was out for a couple of days, so....

Winter fun! I love it!

Ferrymead, love that bird!
What a creative little snow family you have there, 4paws.

Hi , I just loved the Snow family, they all look so happy. Even after having six offspring, the mum is smiling!

My Calla lily blooms are nearly over, have just one single bloom still standing. However, the water lily is giving a splash of colour in the pond.

Gorgeous, ferrymead!

(By the way, the woman would be a teacher type; so yep, the kids get to go home at the end of the day...)

lol

I have tried to get my callas to bloom for 3 years. they put out beautiful foliage but no blooms. I quit giving them any nitrogen, just some bone meal but no luck. I got mad at them last year and planted them outside and left them this winter. I moved them to a sunnier location than where I had been keeping the pots. Since I am in zone 7 which sometimes acts more like zone 6, it is pretty iffy that they survived. But they had about a foot of leaves on them so we will see. I really love callas, but can't keep trying forever. What do you think of my extreme measures?

They may surprise you...mine stay in the ground here all year round and mutliply like crazy...lol

that's a good surprise! However, I removed most of the mulch off them a day ago and then last night it got down to 20 deg. Yikes! Pray for me, lol.

LOL, cold here tonight too...

Woody, Nitrogen is used to give good leaf growth. It is used up quickly but also leaches out of the ground quickly. So, for best results use a good
N (nitrogen).
p (phosphorus).
k (Potassium also known as Potash) fertilizer.

Your Callas have not flowered because they did not get any Potash which along with the Phosphorus promotes strong roots and flowers.

A good flowering size Calla tuber should be planted with the top of the tuber 4 inches below the soil level. The tubers will not stand being frozen so it seems that yours have been planted deeply enough.

If the low temperatures have not wiped out the leaves then you should give them a well balanced general fertilizer with the N.P.K. Your local garden centre will be able to recommend the correct one for promoting tuber and flower growth. As they can produce their first flowers 6 to 8 weeks after planting any fertilizer that is water soluble would be best as they need their food straight away this year.

Don't be put off if they still do not flower this year as tubers and bulbs set their flowering pattern from the fertilizer given them the previous year.
So, give them some good nutiton this year and next year you should be right on.

It appears that the lack of flowers was because they needed potash more than anything else.

My DH is the technical guru and knows all the growing needs of Callas. We have been growing Calla tubers commercially for over ten years so I had him check out the message above. I hope that you will be able to pick some of yours for a vase this year.

Great info! Thanks so much!!!