Amaryllis everywhere!

The Amaryllis are in full bloom and this year almost all my pots are blooming. And the best part is that I have not done anything for them all year except water them. I did not divide the bulbs and put them in new pots so  most of them are crowding their pots. The only time I repotted the bulbs was when the pots broke, maybe from the crowding!

All my Amaryllis pots lie on the terrace of my house all the year around. Even when the temperature touches 107-111°F during May and June they remain there under the blazing hot sun without any problem. I find the Amaryllis extremely low maintainence and yet the blooms are so splendid and beautiful.

 

Around the 17th of last month, I went bud spotting on my terrace and I was delighted to see many of the pots sending up buds.

Soon there were many stalks loaded with buds. The sight above, made me so happy! And now they are blooming in abundance in various nooks and corners of my house.

 

  

 

 

 

As you might have guessed already, for me there is no such thing as 'too many' where these lovely blooms are concerned!

Petunias

My balcony is looking rather pretty these days with beautiful Petunia blooms. I always found Petunias a little plain and boring but last year I noticed that things seems to have changed . Now there are many new cultivars with bright colors and stunning patterns. So November last I planted some petunias I bought from a nursery and now I'm so glad I did! 

                           

 

 

 

The Petunia Picotee variety with the contrasting margins are particularly eye catching. 

Dahlias in a Springtime garden!

I just love the giant Dahlia in my mother's garden when it is Spring.

 For pictures of Dahlia from my garden, last year, please click here. 
Wordless Wednesday
Todays Flowers

Floral Cascade

Thanks to the team at Wordless Wedenesday

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.