We did it! We made it to the tenth day of Plantness and I must say I am so proud of all the sacrifice and commitment I’ve seen from everyone. From the smallest cutting exchanged to the biggest seed order, and all the little pots of plants and plain pots purchased, you’ve made a difference. I can practically feel spring lurking somewhere… close… I think… because to be honest it still feels wintery and I just spent a few minutes looking at my brother’s snow pictures from Pensacola Florida and shared in his excitement that Atlanta is sending 6 snow plows… since Pensacola just doesn’t have any! Winter is really trying and although I did add ten new plant things for each of the days I might go out for another two or three more, just because we might need something to push us out of this frosty rut!
Ahhhhhhh… much better than sharing snow pictures, here are four new Plantness offerings. Two excellent tender cyclamen, one maidenhair fern, and the new watering can I’ve been searching for!
The cold may be lingering but we really did put our best foot forward last Saturday with the headliner trip of our Ten Days of Plantness. Grocery store floral sections are nice, but a trip to the greenhouses of Ott’s Exotic Plants is indoor plant nirvana. Multiple greenhouses filled with exotic plant treasures and it’s just a great place to visit when you want to fill your lungs with the warm and humid air only a greenhouse full of plants can produce.
Otts has a lot of mature plants, and citrus is in season so the ‘Ponderosa’ lemons stole the show. Some day I wouldn’t mind seeing the Plumeria trees (fragipani) behind them in bloom as well, but that’s a great reason to visit again.
A good greenhouse visit in winter does wonders for a gardener, but outside of that what did I get? I was one of the most restrained members of the Posse, and limited myself to two new plants and a watering can. A maidenhair fern was the first since it was just too elegant to resist, and a begonia came second. Begonia bipinnatifida to be exact, and although there’s the usual question as to how a “trickier, requires humidity” plant will survive my neglect, that’s something to worry about later. This plant was 100% impulse buy 😉
I think you can see what the attraction was. In my book, Begonia bipinnatifida indexes under “cool”.
So Ott’s was excellent, but when I suggested either two more stops or a stop for lunch you can imagine my surprise when Kimberley said “oh lets just have a snack here and do the stops’ and proceeded to pull the makings of a charcuterie board out of her purse! My level of preparations was an already opened water bottle I found in the door of the car, but here’s Kimberley pulling various cheeses and coldcuts with a mix of nuts and fruits out of her bag! There was even a delightful chocolate selection to clear the palate afterwards.
I think we did have fun. A couple more stops along the way and then a Trader Joe’s which I think everyone enjoyed. My two cyclamen are from there and I should have taken an orchid or two as well!
Now if you’re keeping count the cyclamen took me to nine on this trip, and of course ten is what you want for Plantness. I almost ran out the next day in a snowstorm to get the last one but wiser heads prevailed and I waited until the last day to get the last plant. I had to take a mother-in-law to a Dr appointment regarding an on-the-mend broken arm the next day, and as long as I’m driving we’re going to look at plants.
Oops. A “real” houseplant, Philodendron billietiae ‘Orange Smooth’. I’m concerned this could get big and not politely die like many of my other plantness purchases, but for the holiday I took a chance. Even better when it rang up 50% off 🙂
Now ten is the magic number, and according to the lore of Plantness if we add a new plant-goodie for each of the days that will break the back of winter and usher us into an early spring… except when it doesn’t… Someone might look at the long range weather forecast and say things look bad, but I did take a walk around the garden (before more snow came) and sensed that the witch hazel appreciated our efforts, and was trying just as hard as we were.
The first bits of color on the witch hazel (Hammamelis ‘Pallida’) and all is not lost!
A thermometer says that it’s 1F (-17C) outside right now and probably still dropping a few more. If the winter hazel can stand up to this kind of onslaught then so can we, and maybe we just need to try harder. Technically I did and bought an 11th plant, a cool Primula obconica, but since this one is for a friend it sadly does not count towards Plantness… or at least not on my tally.
As a temporary guest this Primula obconica has joined the winter garden. I love these primulas and should have gotten one for myself but as it was I don’t think anyone really believed me when I said it was for a friend, so two would have been even worse.
We’ve gained about twenty minutes of daylight since the start of the month, and we’re now at our lowest temperatures of the year and the temperatures begin to go up again from here. In theory, but it doesn’t feel like it tonight and maybe I should find a few seeds to plant or something more just to encourage the warmth!
Happy Plantness and thanks for coming along for the ride! These ten doses of hope did me good and my wish is that it’s done the same for you, so enjoy and stay warm and fingers crossed for an excellent 2025 season 🙂
sorta like suburbia 
That primula is so pretty, I would count it even if it’s only yours temporarily.
They are very pretty. I’m considering going back and getting one of the primula for myself, maybe a blue! It’s just somewhat annoying that they’re in a ceramic pot and more expensive I think because of that.
There certainly is a stretch in the evenings and we are able to garden almost to 5pm at the moment. Witchhazels are into flower here also.
There are a few warm days coming our way for the start of February. I hope the first witch hazel gives it a go, although I did like having such a lazy and quiet winter with all the cold.
We are practically under water here. Gardening is out of the question as the ground is so wet and soft. Some areas are actually under water!
Well, someone’s a lucky friend, eh? Maybe if said friend doesn’t pick it up until next weekend, you can count it as yours? I say if you have to water it at least once while it’s in your care, you can count it!
Where did you get Orange Smooth? It does look like one that could get big. My Silver Sword is HUGE after just a year.
I did notice last night that there was still some light in the sky a little after 5:00. Things are going the right way, even if it did hit negative 7 at my house this morning. I’m glad we got that snow on Sunday!
I might count the primrose 😉 The way January went we need all the plantness help we can get! Orange Smooth is from Lowes. They were marked 20, but rang up as 10 and I struggled with saying one was enough.
Negative seven sounds terrible. I don’t think we went much below zero but it depends on who you ask. Looking around today things look just fine, even the evergreen magnolias and camellias, but if the snow doesn’t melt quickly the rabbits will start causing problems. They’ve already nibbled more bark and pruned more blueberries than I like to see.
Definitely a fun time, esp. during the January doldrums and this frigid weather. That hybrid cyclamen is a wonder!
Does it sound bad if I say I’m not as thrilled with the cyclamen as I first was? They’re still very nice, but I think with today’s thaw all I can think about are snowdrops and witch hazels!
Fun novelty, though. I picked up a regular pink cyclamen and scored a jasmine plant at TJs on Friday. So happy about that as they sell out in a day, you have to hit it right the day they come in. The gods were with me that day!
I’m resolved to wait another 6 weeks for signs of spring, it will be here eventually. 🙂
So lovely to look at the photos and to read the cheeriness in the middle of a snowy winter. God bless you.
Thank you! I hope the cheer continues now that there’s a little bit of warming and some extra daylight 🙂
I am drooling over that beautiful Philodendron leaf! And what a gorgeous pale pink Cyclamen – the middle of the flowers is so pretty. 😃 Your trip sounds wonderful, with like-minded people – I do have one friend who likes to visit gardens with me, but buying plants in winter is not her thing. Your lunch – and Kimberley’s forward thinking – sound great too!
Thanks for thinking up such a fun holiday… it may not have hurried spring along too well your end, but at least it stopped ten feet of snow falling. (I hope!) And now we have plenty of colour and new green plants to keep us distracted until it warms up again, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later, but remember my prediction about a hard winter?… 😉🤪
Yes, it’s much nicer plant shopping with a friend. I always feel awkward staring at something, putting it down, picking it up, comparing it to another nearly identical plant, and then doing it all again for 15 minutes. At least with someone else there you can talk a little and make it seem less weird 😉
Oh my gosh yes, just imagine what winter would be right now if we didn’t put all this effort in! I think the ten day forecast rose 3 or four degrees each day just because I picked up one more little succulent last week. I don’t mind if your prediction comes true, but just make sure the hard winter clears up by March! I hate a freezing cold March…
That is one spectacular Begonia! I can see why you couldn’t pass that up. This was a cheery idea for January, thanks for sharing with us!
Please don’t tell anyone, but I already had that cool little begonia flat in its pot because I forgot to water… hopefully it is more forgiving than all the online comments I found seem to indicate 😉