I call this 'Orchid Portrait.' I also crack myself up. Good morning plant friends! It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, and I want to share some of my favorite indoor blooms and tropical plants for January. Many thanks to my co-host on our Gardenangelists podcast, Carol J. Michel, for again hosting bloom day. This week, on the podcast, we talked about new David Austin Roses for 2020, Simple Vegetable Gardens and P.L.A.N.T.S for Gardening Goals. I thought it was a good episode, and we got rid of that stupid echo from last week. Thanks for letting us know it was so irritating. I thought so too. Hippeastrum 'Inferno' a double amaryllis I would grow again and again. The amaryllises you grow indoors are tropical and timed to bloom around the holidays. Almost all of mine bloomed right after Christmas. Blooms are hard to come by in Oklahoma in January which is...

It is the beginning of the new year and time for resolutions I hear. Have you any for 2020? Here are three garden resolutions of mine. Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm' needs a lot of editing in a moist garden. This year, I plan to rip it all out, but I'll never get it all. Remove overly-aggressive plants 1. Remove overly-aggressive plants like Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm.' Although this was a great plant in my garden when I watered with soaker hoses, it now takes over and crowds out other, more desirable plants. I blame its bad behavior on my having a better watering system. I've used drip irrigation since 2008. 'Goldsturm' is also only good for skipper butterflies in my garden. Bees like wood bees and honey bees don't go near it. I am going to keep it in this one terrible part of the garden where very little water...

A couple of weeks ago, before our annual Advent/Christmas party, I planted paperwhite holiday gifts in milk glass. I found the milk glass in antique shops in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where it is still inexpensive. Most of the containers were between $8 and $15. Depending upon the size of the containers, I planted two to five bulbs per pot. Some were planted in potting soil and topped with pebbles while others were just nestled in pebbles. Paperwhite holiday gifts. Paperwhites are easy to grow Narcissus tazetta, which are not hardy in Oklahoma, look great in milk glass. They are fetching in a variety of containers, but this time, I wanted pots that wouldn't drain. Because the milk glass doesn't have drainage holes, no one's table gets marked by water rings. You don't have to water paperwhites very much. If you'd like the stems to be shorter use the Cornell method of...

What does a red-dirt-garden girl do in winter, or even late fall while her garden gently sleeps? I can't speak for anyone else in red-dirt land, but I plant amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs. It's raining outside this afternoon so I couldn't plant all the tulips I purchased a few months ago. This gorgeous display came from Whole Foods on sale after Christmas in 2017. I don't know the variety but who cares? Yeah, that's my excuse. I need to dip my tulip bulbs in Plantskydd Deer Repellent, but I'm also afraid our blasted hound dog will smell the repellent and dig up my tulips. Eaten by voles, or dug up by a precocious hound? Tough choice. 'Evergreen' amaryllis and paperwhites coming up behind them from last year. Last week, I planted the amaryllis I ordered. Funny thing . . . I forgot which company I'd ordered them from, so they...