When I'm not editing Flower Show pictures I'm taking pictures of flowers...

[lblanchard]

Look at this pretty girl! What a surprise...first bloom from the Class of 2009 and I wasn't really expecting anything until next year. But she's a handsome girl, with petals showing her Apple Blossom ancestry in their shape and her mongrel ancestry in her overall coloration.

Next year I should get more from this class:



Meanwhile, when I'm not gloating over new blooms (wait till I show you the surprising showing frlm the Class of 2006 leftovers) I'm madly editing Flower Show pictures and uploading them to the set. Feel free to click the linky thing and then hit "slideshow." It ought to be good for about 20-30 minutes of flowery goodness, so grab a tasty beverage and cue up some tunes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lblanchard/sets/72157629171012282/

In other news (Real Life version), I pushed the submit button on a $490,000 grant proposal for work at around noon Friday, after obsessing over a heap of details on it and after living through the inevitable 11th hour "there's something wrong with this spreadsheet -- the numbers don't add up!" crisis.

This weekend I'm catching up on Real Life things, too -- scored a mess of cheap roasting chickens at the Sav-a-Lot, scored a mess of cheap veggies at the Big 8, bought a bottle of Doom to Buggies at Lowe's. We also started sweeping up dead vegetation from our back yard. Roy is constructing a new set of steps to take us from one level to the other in the back yard because his previous construction had suffered some serious rot, *sigh.* In a minute I will go sweep up a season's worth of birdseed hulls and otherwise make the lower 40 tidy. (that's "lower 40" as in 40 square feet, not as in 40 acres....

Comments

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

What a gorgeous colour your 2009 early bloomer is!

That's a BIG grant! What's it for?

I need to start weeding outside. Our bit of rain on Friday has been a benefit to more than the flowers I cultivate.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Peforming minimal processing on almost 3,000 linear feet of manuscripts. That's a lot of manuscripts....

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a fun job - hope you get your funding set up!!

[chakolate.livejournal.com]

FYI, I really enjoy the photos you post. I'm not a gardener, so i really admire the depth of interest and the commitment it takes.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Your prowess as a Hippeastrum breeder leaves me completely gobsmacked. I'll be lucky to get mine reflowering:-(

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Withhold water and keep them in a cool-ish (50F) place for several weeks, then bring them into the warmth, cut their leaves back to 4", and water them again. Veronica Read from Kew has some specific instructions for folks in the Far North. If I can remember, I'll look them up for you.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

That's useful. I'm still watering it once a week to give it a bit more energy before I try to get it flowering. I should also be feeding it, but the miracle gro got packed away so this task was neglected.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I don't think you northerners need to withhold water completely. You're most likely doing it exactly right.