Inspired by Elizabeth Lawrence's statement “[w]e can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol, of May Dreams Gardens, started Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. It is abundantly clear to me that Lawrence never spent a winter in Chicago (other than during an El Nino winter). Even if I had something in bloom outside, there's no way I could find it under the couple of feet of snow on the ground. Even if I could, I wouldn't venture outside to look for it right now, with windchills in the dangerous range, with exposed skin freezing within 10 minutes. Right now it's -12F/-24C with a forecasted high of -2F/-19C, school has been cancelled because of the cold for the first time since my Fourth-grader has been in school, and it's supposed to get down to -16F/-26C by tomorrow morning. So what's a snowbound gardener to do? I bought a plant in bloom.
Here it is, a Primula obconica:
It has soft lavender flowers with a yellow eye.
Some of the flowers are clustered a bit too closely together.
Here it is with a vase handpainted by my mom.
She's quite talented, especially when you consider that she's never taken an art class. Too bad she doesn't have time to do ceramics anymore.
In keeping with the plant theme, here's a photo of a cactus.
The cactus is made of glass, and in the background is, surprise, the Primula.
And now, for a slight change of pace, here is a photo I like to call "Still Life with Italian Carnevale Mask."
For something not entirely different, here is a photo of a Chinese Foo Dog that's also an incense burner.
I must beg your indulgence for all these photos of a single plant. I plead the insanity defense. A Looney Tunes cartoon said it best (as sung by Bugs Bunny):
I'm going cuckoo, woo-woo!
Here comes the choo-choo, woo-woo!
I'm so gooney Looney Tuney, touched in the head
Please pass the ketchup, I think I'll go to bed
I am the screwball, woo-woo
Throw me the eightball, woo-woo
Once I knew a thing or two, but now I'm a buckaroo
Hinky-dinky parlais... voo-hoo!
It's been snowing too much and it's been much too cold. I think the technical term for my malady is "Cabin Fever." Please don't judge me too harshly. Remember, I haven't had any flowers to photograph since November.
