lblanchard | Dear Diary: October 29

Nothing like a freak snowstorm to convince you that summer is definitely over, autumn on the way out and winter on its way. Oh, it's slightly above freezing here so nothing is sticking but sheesh. Also, the temperature dropped a couple degrees in the last hour and I can feel that the wind has shifted to the NNW by the way it's blowing through the cracks by the air conditioner, so we may even get a tiny bit of accumulation.

I brought in all the plants I said I'd be bringing in, except for the big sansevieria, which was in a sheltered spot so it probably was all right last night. I'll bring it into Anderson House later today and thus postpone the life-or-death decision.

The hanging basket of ipomoea has bounced back. I took more cuttings of the wedding coleus just to be on the safe side, despite having three indoors already.

The wind is howling out there, just as though this were a real blizzard. Unusual weather, for sure. Well, I have plenty of indoor things to do. I think the weather may inspire me to yank out my Christmas card list and update it, or start starching this year's crop of crocheted snowflakes.

Here's a photo that may intrigue some of the gardeners among us. As you may recall, I pollinated a Christmas cactus around Christmas 2009/New Years 2010. It fruited and the fruit finally matured in Feb or March of this year (I have it written down somewhere). I planted the seeds, which in due course all put out these long (2"-3") ribbons of a single leaf. Apparently they were deployed to generate enough nutrients for the plant to create real leaves, a process which is now just beginning, as you can see in the photo below. Growing Schlumbergera from seed, I see, requires just as much patience as groing Hippeastrum.