It’s amazing how much better you feel when the sun is shining brightly, and the eaves are dripping steadily! Even more, my 3-year-old amaryllis from Walmart is blooming yet again — and I give it really poor care. After the leaves die down, I just let it dry out, pretty much all summer and fall, then start watering it in the fall, giving a little fertilizer when I do. Surprisingly, it showers us with beautiful blooms! The one I bought at Breck’s also bloomed this year. So, we’ve got flowers during the winter that we probably don’t deserve.

Isn’t this pink amaryllis pretty? It makes me ignore the 2 feet of snow outside!

I got all of my pepper seeds planted this weekend, both hot and sweet. There ended up being five flats worth. And that’s flats full of peat pellets! That’s a lot of peppers! The habaneros are not up yet. But it does take a lot longer for them to come up than other species. (My Early Red Bells pop up in four days!) I’m sorting my tomato varieties now to start planting in a few days. I have to alphabetize them so I can keep track of what’s where. That’s a big job!

This is the last of my pepper seed trays, full and ready to bag up and go behind our wood stove.

We had two nights of Northern Lights. Some folks got really pretty views. Ours were mostly white so I was kind of disappointed. But my son, Bill, took great pictures of gorgeous ones, just 100 miles south of us. Sometimes we get the greens, reds, and oranges. And, one time, they were even hissing and crackling as they displayed. Now that was a memory to cherish forever!

Here’s the photo Bill sent me of his beautiful Northern Lights. Awesome!

The knee keeps getting better. There is still pain but my leg and foot aren’t swelling very much at all now. I’m anxiously waiting for more endurance. — Jackie

22 COMMENTS

  1. al my tomatoes are up, thinned(never can get just one seed to a pot). peppers emerging (reluctantly) thank you for the reminder of how slow some varieties can be! hopefully you are mending well. quite a trial for an avid active gardener to stay quiet an heal; even if you still are getting snow accumulations! stay happy an healthy. God Bless you
    Mary

  2. Here in far north California, zone 9, we’re having frequent snow storms. Never seen it like this in our 43 years here. We have our skidloader for snow removal. I’ve had tomatoes and peppers germinating in my pretty much no heat greenhouse (I have warming mats), since January. They are barely 2 inches high.

  3. When I lived in South Texas, I had a row of Amaryllis that looked the same color as yours. I lived in town and they were up to the house and facing east. Never did anything and they bloomed beautifully. They were right over where the break in my cast iron sewer pipe ran. EVERY year they bloomed from before to after Easter. Never missed.

    kathy in MS

  4. My amaryllis is also blooming for the second time. I have never had one Reboom.
    Heading in next week for my fifth joint replacement. Not fun.

    • No, they’re not. But I’m hoping both of us will be better off with them. Good luck!~

  5. Yes, you do deserve the blooms and more. Glad your knee getting better and better. That is the way it is with surgery. We had sunshine today but north wind and tonight temps down to 33 F. Spring sure is dragging her feet. I think this is Locust Winter. Dogwood Winter was the last cold snap. I can wait for the Blackberry Winter. That is the last one! We always wait until after April 15 to plant and then sometimes you get a scare.

    • And we can’t plant safely until the second week in JUNE. And then we, also, sometimes have a frost.

  6. I’m in Northern Iowa and have only seen the northern lights once. A foster dd came and woke me up to say something was going on in the sky. We stood at the window and enjoyed them for some time just the two of us as no one else wanted to stir.

    My tomato seeds are up although germination rate was lower than usual. Not having a good way of starting them and depending totally upon a sunny window isn’t the best way to go, but I do what I can with what I have. I planted peppers at the same time and only 3 pods have germinated so far. I know peppers take longer and I should have started them at least two weeks ahead of tomatoes but didn’t get it done. Looking forward to trying the new varieties ordered from you…roll on August.

    • Yes, windows leave a lot to be desired when starting seeds. At night, they let cold air in and during the day it can get so hot that some seeds cook. But we do what we have to do, don’t we??

  7. Here in the Copper Basin Alaska we were back to -5 for a low three nights ago with highs just above freezing but last night it only went to 12 and it looks like we are headed for mod 30’s . The only melting is near dark surfaces. I would spread ashes on the garden to hurry things along but it turns out that our soil is too high ph as it is and ashes would only make it worse as in we spread ashes when we first came here and ended up with severe potato scab. Thorns out the volcanic ash from long ago made the soils around 7.3. Ended up spreading elemental sulfur as per the soil lab to counteract the additional effect of the ashes. Keep healing up and don’t over do!!

    • Yep, we, likewise, have had some cold nights. Two, -4 degrees. But also a few days in the high 30’s and even 40 one day with sun. Yea!!!
      It IS very hard not to over-do. And I pay for that at night.

  8. So good about your knee! Time is working on your side. Hang in there….peppers and blooms look great.

    • I can do more with less reactions, every day. So, I hope when the snow goes, I will actually be able to get around fairly well to do some enjoying the weather and planting a few things.

  9. Do you realize that your Amaryllis Bloomed the very color in your gift of the speaking northern Lights?! Beautiful!! Both of them!! Blessed you!! The Best news is you are doing better and our prayers have been and are heard for you–of course!! Blessings too many to count!!

    • Wow, I never realized that. Thanks for pointing it out! Yes, we do have more blessings than we can ever count.

    • They are so awesome!! We just stand around in the dark yard and gasp. They move like curtains and search lights.

  11. Jackie, I think it’s a little “Thank You” from above because you care for all those seeds every year. Who better to view the beauty of the plants than the keeper. Glad to hear your knee is feeling a little better. I’m sure you can’t wait till you are 100% so you can go full speed ahead.
    I think of you and Will whenever I see really cold weather or lots of snow up your way on the evening weather. We get some lovely sunsets here in SE Ohio on our farm. Sometimes I wonder how there can even be that many colors. A gift to all of us to remind us to take time for the little things that make us happy. Happy Easter!

  12. Wow – so happy to see you’re coming along Jackie!

    All of my tomatoes are now up and growing (six varieties from you) and most of my peppers are up.

    But not the Hot Sugar Rush Peach. It’s been two weeks – about how long do they take to germinate? Five other varieties of peppers have popped up.

    Thanks!

    • Peppers always take longer than tomatoes, often much longer. I’ve even had some that took a month to germinate so don’t give up. My Early Red Bell peppers are always the first up, although the first habaneros I planted are now up. That’s a first; they are usually slow pokes.

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