Asian Tulips | Beautiful Flower For Your Life !

I, dear readers, have spent the morning and early afternoon teaching His Bertness to bake. Paul Prudhomme’s Honey Bread, if I may add the details. And I may, correct? Because you want to know all the details of my ever-so-exciting small town life. Right? What a resounding and enthusiastic chorus of ayes. I’m pleased. I’m impressed. Absolutely.

Now, to really play the part of the small town baker, I should be wearing a fetching frock like Simplicity 2838, copyright 1948. It’s a wrap dress – yep, decades before DVF – and it looks quite comfy. Perhaps not as comfortable as the yoga capris and top I am wearing as I write this post, but then, really, what is?

And please allow me to step up to the podium to extend a thank you to Shannon, she of the well-groomed fingernails and the blog I can’t stop reading, Hungry Zombie Couture. Shannon wrote a fabulous post about some patterns she purchased at The Blue Gardenia. I know you’ll want to see what she bought. Excellent taste has she. She has my vote for the best-dressed teacher in Canada. Absolutely.

And don’t forget to stop by and check out our once-a-year sale. The skinny:  Buy 3 or more items, get 33% off. Sale prices are good now, this minute, through midnight PST Thursday, January 7. All payments must be in my eager paws by January 9, 2010. As always, TBG takes American Express, Discover, Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, non-rubber checks and cold, hard cash.

I only got one of the photos but I have an idea without them. First of all you want to make sure the gardenia is getting enough light and water. Keep the soil uniformly moist but not soggy and it needs full sun to part shade. If you have it in shade try a little more light. Both light and water can cause blooming issues. Abnormal bud drop (if the buds are actually falling off before they open) can be caused by high night time temperatures or low light levels. Keep in mind that some buds will drop no matter what conditions the gardenia is in. From the picture above light may be a factor so give it a little more light.

Another thing to consider is that the gardenia was blooming before you purchased it and the buds you are seeing are the shells of the spent blooms. These will sometimes continue to grow even after the bloom has been shed.

Now on to the lilies. If your lilies were blooming when you purchased them then the blooms cycle is probably the issue. From the time the bloom forms to the end of it life cycle is only about 4 to 6 weeks. Once the bloom is fully open it only lasts two or three weeks. So I would be more concerned with any unopened blooms. Are they opening properly? Once they open they should last for a few weeks. If not

I think the gardenia has a few blooms left to open but I think I see a few pod when the blooms has already done it’s thing. The plant looks very healthy — the blooms may have gone through a little transplant shock. Don’t move it the sun is a good thing but you need to make sure it is well watered. If you haven’t watered lately pour two gallons of water around it slowly. This should saturate the soil (it is plant in the ground and not a pot) then check it in a couple of days. Water if the soil is dry. You might want to create some humidity around it. Both of these things should help with any blooms that haven’t opened.

As for the lilies, they seem to be in good shape. I have the orange and the reddish variety in my garden. When the blooms open I can get about four or five day out of each individual bloom but the stalk will have blooms open every day so the blooming of the plant lasts for weeks. Plants look healthy and the bloom pods look good. Just keep the soil moist the same way you need to for the gardenia. I have notice that this spring my blooms aren’t lasting as long as they usually do. I live in the Northeast corner of Arkansas and we have had very hot dry winds lately which is my problem. If you have had similar winds that my be your problem.
Keep me posted. I will try to take a picture of my lilies to give you a reference.

check your watering and light. Just like the gardenia, the lilies need light and even moisture. You want the ground to drain well but if you stick your finger in the soil up to your middle joint the soil should feel moist. The soil should not feel mussy or spongy. Also give it as much as eight hours of sun a day. Get sun all day long and do very well. My Aunt’s get at least 5 hours sun a day and they still do well.

Check on those conditions and remember the blooming cycle this year will be a little off normal schedule if they were forced in the greenhouse to bloom. This doesn’t compromise the plant but it can be confusing when you neighbors are not going through the same blooming cycle as yours. Please keep me posted.

Stuck Inside All Winter? Celebrate Spring With Gardenias!

It’s no secret that being inside all winter can be a bummer. Sometimes winter weather isn’t as fun as it could be. Well, good news! Spring is in full affect now. I’m sure you’re dying to know how I plan on celebrating it. I know I would be if I were you. (Just kidding.) I’m celebrating with gardenias.

Why gardenias you ask? The flower meaning of gardenias is “joy.” Pure and simple. Joy is one of the most wonderful feelings ever. Anyone who has ever felt a second of joy knows that it’s a feeling to be craved and sought. I want to surround myself with joy and joyous people. Now that winter has gone into hibernation and spring has sprung, it’s time to kick off my joyful shoes so I’m buying potted gardenias from my local florist!

Flowering plants are well and good (I love them!!) but sometimes it’s more fun to send flowers to put a spring in the step of a friend. When you want to celebrate spring with your buddies, consider sending flowers such as casablanca lilies. This the meaning of this premium flower is “celebration.” Perfect!! Perhaps you’re wanting something more festive. Believe it or not, “festivity” abounds with baby’s breath. There are many arrangements that incorporate these flowers. It’s easy to get the party started for Spring with arrangements like these from a local florist.