Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day February 2010

Year-old orange begonia. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

Right now, most of us in Central Indiana have gardens somewhere under about a foot of snow…I keep walking out there hoping to see some smattering of green, but everything is covered up.

However, in the garage, in all of its bright green beauty is an asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Sprengeri’) that I pulled from a client’s pot last fall and stuck in a plastic bag.

Asparagus fern survives winter in a dark, unheated garage. A trust testament to just how tough plants can be. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

The bag and the plant have been in my garage all winter up against a west-facing concrete block wall. The garage has no windows, so the plant is pretty much in the dark most of the time. If nothing, this demonstrates just how resilient many plants are.

The begonia I got for Valentine’s Day in 2009 was featured in my January Bloom Day blog and it still is blooming.

Fragrant hyacinth has decided to take life head on. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

A blue hyacinth is no longer growing straight up, but rather has taken a more horizontal stance. Regardless, it still smells fabulous.

Lastly, the ‘Henna’ coleus (Solenostemon), which I snipped last fall and stuck in a vase of water, is hanging on with its limey green color. Some of the lower leaves are beginning to look like its namesake, though.

One hopes that by March, most of the snow will have melted and the early blooming spring bulbs will be up and strutting their stuff. Soon, the race begins…which will bloom first? The early crocus or the iris reticulata? I can hardly wait.