Orange you glad it is Spring?!

Springtime is just so beautiful....

Thanks to Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

I've been lazy again...

Well i've been lazy again and haven't posted in a long time. Meanwhile the Dahlias have been blooming.
Even though I had some beautiful blooms, I have to admit that quite a few of the plants did not bloom. In fact maybe half of them did not. I had planted quite a few seedlings which seemed to be coming along quite well. I have absolutely no idea why they did not form buds and flower.
And I had another monkey raid. The monkeys seem to go after the big flowers in particular. They sit on the balcony railing, pull them off, smell them, taste them and then throw them away. And they dont spare the buds either. Its extremely depressing. Last year they did that to my Asiaitic Lillies and I did not have the heart to plant any new Lilly bulbs this time. After the monkey raid, I moved all the Dahlia pots from the balcony at the front of my house (below) to a smaller balcony adjoining my bedroom.
This balcony (below) is towards the rear of the house so its not as easy to spot the flowers.
The plants are safer here because I have a view of the balcony from my bedroom. They mostly come early in the morning.
The monkeys almost always come first on my terrace, where they wreck havoc. They leave behind broken flower pots and uprooted plants.
Now, as soon as we hear the commotion on the terrace, we run out to the balcony, armed with sticks, brooms and the like and try to make noise while waving the sticks wildly in the air! This prevents them from venturing near. This balcony is nearer so we are able to get there in time. We have noticed, that once the monkeys are already on the balcony it is very difficult to make them go away because they are rather aggressive. The trick is to scare them away before they come near!
The Dahlias are almost done now. Just a couple of buds to be seen. I hope they flower....

Mums!

The Chrysanthemums are blooming now. All of them have been grown from cuttings taken from last years Chrysanthemums. My balcony currently has pots of Maroon, White, Mauve and Yellow Mums.
The cuttings are mostly planted in pots on my terrace which gets lots of sunshine. Once the flowers start blooming the pots are taken to my balcony one floor below. A picture of my terrace below.
Some more Mums lining my garden on the ground floor.Thanks to the team at Todays Flowers-Santilli, Denise, Pupo,and Sandy Carlson.

Poinsettias!

I think Poinsettias are instant mood uplifters. As I mentioned in a recent post, recently I bought some Poinsettias for my balcony and now my little balcony garden looks so cheerful with Chrysanthemums, Coleus and Poinsettias.
There are also some in a planter adjacent to my balcony.
Poinsettias(Euphorbia Pulcherrima) are native to Mexico and Central America. They are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first ambassador of US to Mexico, who introduced them to the USA in 1825. Poinsettias are the number one potted plant sold in the United States which is pretty amazing considering they are mainly sold during the Christmas holiday season. They are also called Christmas flower.

In their native habitat they grow as perennial flowering shrubs upto ten feet tall. Contrary to general belief they are not poisonous though their milky white sap can be irritating to people with sensitive skin.

The showy colored parts of poinsettias that most people think are the flowers are actually colored bracts (modified leaves).In the middle of the colored bracts are the actual flowers. When you buy the Poinsettias be sure these are definitely still looking yellowish-green and unopened. It should look like they are just burgeoning. A fresh poinsettia is one on which little or no yellow pollen is showing on the flower clusters in the center of the bracts. Plants that have shed their pollen will also soon drop their colorful bracts.
Poinsettia plants are extremely brittle and should be handled with care to not snap branches. They should be placed in a bright area and kept on the dry side.
Another picture of Poinsettias on my balcony in 2009.

Ornamental foliage..time for a change!

All summer my garden and my balcony have been mostly devoid of flowers. My attempts at growing Sunflowers and Zinnias failed miserably. I needed to see some color and soon! So I went to a nursery and treated myself to some bright red Poinsettias and some brightly colored Coleus.

With foliage colored as brightly as that, who needs flowers?!

The Crysanthemums are peeping!

The Crysanthemums are beginning to bloom and I am getting to see the colors finally! Most of the cuttings were taken from my last years plants. Since I had not marked the cuttings I will only know the colors when they bloom. I think I should have a couple of more colors coming up soon! Count so far - Maroon, Plum, White and Yellow.

Looking forward to a flower filled winter

Its been a long time since I posted. I have been lurking around the blogosphere but feeling plain lazy to post mainly because nothing much was happening in my garden. But now winters are here and I am looking forward to lots of pots filled with flowers!
Last week I bought Dahlia seedlings which are now in their pots.
I am planning to use some cuttings (below) from last years Dahlias too.
The Chrysanthemum pots are coming along nicely and have lots of buds.
The shallow saucer shaped pots are waiting for Pansy and Petunia seedlings. Need to go and get some!
The Amaryllis needs to be trimmed and fertilised soon. I just love the show they put up when in bloom. Last year was a particularly good year and almost all my pots bloomed. I have nearly 50 of them now! Quite a few need repotting coz the pots have broken.