Oops.

So..... I accidentally bought some more amaryllis bulbs.  I didn't tell you because I was embarrassed.

This is Benfica (the middle one with the tall scape, will have velvety dark red flowers) and Gervase (in front, not growing yet, will have splashy streaky red, pink, and white flowers).

The pot in the back is an elephant ear, which doesn't count because it's an outdoor plant that I'm just giving a head start.  It will go outside in May.  You can also see Emma's begonia here, very leggy and making a mess on the table.  It's been blooming and dropping flowers every day all winter. I can't wait until that one goes back outside.



Two new amaryllis.  Not too bad, right?

Right, but then I got this in the mail yesterday.



There was an end-of-season sale.  Half price amaryllis.  Oops.

Blooming globe

My glass globe terrarium is blooming!



This is the Lepanthopsis astrophora orchid.  It's so beautiful.



Such a gorgeous deep magenta-fuchsia-rose color.  It glows when the light shines through it.



The beauty in small things makes me happy.

Teaser

This is another orchid, Aerangis fastuosa.  It has had this bud developing for close to a year, sooooo sloooooowly.  In the last month, it has finally picked up the pace and developed fully.

Almost open!

Amaryllis round three, and a cactus

My third amaryllis of the year opened on Saturday.  This is the 2014 Red Lion (which was not Minerva) that put up two scapes for me this year.  I took this picture in the morning, and by the evening, all four flowers on this first scape were open!  So fast!  The second scape isn't too far behind, and will probably open in the next week or so.



And just as a random aside, I noticed yesterday that the Aphrodite Dancing Queen amaryllis from my last post is putting up a third scape!

I really like amaryllis.  They are so easy and put on such a great show.

And finally for today, here is a cactus blooming.  I don't get to see this very often!  No idea what the species name on this is, but I'm moderately sure the genus is Mammillaria.  Whatever it is, it's a cute little guy.

Dancing Queen, continued.

Three of the four buds on the first scape are now open.



It's so fancy.  It makes its own bouquet.

Update on the glass globe terrarium

Time for an update on the glass globe terrarium I started last November, because exciting things are happening!



As you can see, everything is growing well, including the sphagnum.  To be honest, I wasn't really sure that the sphagnum would do much, because it's not a tropical species and would probably prefer to be outside.  But I guess since I keep my house cool in the winter (Emma says frigid...) it's doing OK.  We'll see what happens in the summer.

Anyway, both orchids are doing well.  The Haraella retrocalla is enjoying its stick and has put out a new leaf and several roots.  And the Lepanthopsis astrophora?  Well, look!



Not super visible because it's so tiny, but there are two spikes!  Here's one,



and here's the other!



I didn't take a photo with a dime for scale, but the leaves are about half the size of my pinky nail and each spike is less than an inch long.

So exciting!

Dancing Queen amaryllis

My second amaryllis of the season opened yesterday.



This is Aphrodite (Oops, nope, this was a mislabeled bulb.  It's actually Dancing Queen). It's new to me this year, and is the first double-flowered variety I have ever grown.  I like it!  Not as clean and elegant as a single-flowered variety, but very frothy.

There are three more buds on this scape, and I noticed last night that there's another scape starting to poke out of the bulb.  Should be a good long show!