Tuesday, January 4, 2011

First Flowers

Folks have gone to much effort over the years to erradicate dandelions from lawns and gardens.
It makes for unending "busy-work," a battle which however tirelessly waged, sees the dandelion as the long-term victor.
Such realities aside, it was cheering to spot a splash of sunshiney yellow nestled under the crabapple tree this afternoon. [04 January, 2011.]

Willis, who is very companionable [nosey] hinders my efforts to take a close-up photo of the dandelion.

Inside, my Christmas cactus has tardily decided to bloom.
It is not going to be as lavish a display as other years.
I have fewer big windows in this little house to encourage house plants.
The mother plant is about 14 years old, presented to me one very cold Vermont Christmas by J.
He wisely selected a plant which was just opening its first buds, had it wrapped in layers of paper before whisking it from the greenhouse to his car.
Our first year in Wyoming the early frost caught me with plants still on the doorstep and the cactus suffered some frost bite.
It grew slowly back and reached a point some years ago when I decided it needed dividing into two pots.
It has made the rounds of our moving house several times, has been over-turned by Charlie the Cat.
My eyes are drawn to the brilliant lantern-shaped blooms each time I walk past the dining area sliding door where my plants enjoy the afternoon sun.

6 comments:

  1. We always have plenty of dandelions and I love the bright flowers when they arrive. So do the bees. They are a good nectar flower for wildlife. Ponies love the leaves too. Has Pebbles tried them?

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  2. Dandelions look like little happy sunshine flowers. As a kid DH used to like to blow on the seed puffs and watch them all float away. Your Christmas cactus is a gorgeous color. My eye would be drawn to it also if I had it indoors.

    FlowerLady

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  3. I have a (nosey) one here at this very moment, trying to stop me from typing this comment.
    I love the dandelion, they are such a beautiful colour.
    I noticed this morning that my bulbs are just poking through, just about 1/2", it always amazes me each year how wonderful nature is.
    By the way, are you going to put the recipe on for those gorgeous looking donuts?

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  4. I like dandelions but have no hope of seeing any flowers for some weeks yet. Your Christmas cactus is such a beautiful colour. Mine both need repotting very badly and I shall do them sometime this week whether it's the right time of year or not! As for Willis - he's a beautiful handsome cat and well worth photographing.

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  5. I do like dandelions. I have a very beautiful paperweight of the the head of dandelion seeds.

    By the way, I'm a little confused (that's not unusual for me), but isn't Willis your neighbor's cat? I don't see him in the side bar. I think he has relinquished his past owner. The torties must be getting quite big by now.

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  6. I love Christmas cactus, the one in my header is an off-shoot of my main one, the main one is just now blooming, some years it waits till Easter.

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