On the 15th of every month, Carol, of May Dreams Gardens, asks everyone to show what is in bloom in our gardens, so we diligently search for signs of flowers. This is my first time in two years of blogging that I have blooms to show for a December Bloom Day, but that's not the miracle. The miracle is this (remember, a few days ago it got down to -2F/-19C here at Squirrelhaven):
it's the very last bloom on the Mum*. No, it's not super-Mum, and this isn't actually a "miracle"; it's overwhelming proof of the insulating power of snow. After a couple of days above freezing, the snow melted off the Mum, and I found it only slightly worse for the experience yesterday. Had the Mum not been covered by a good layer of snow during the sub-zero weather, it would now be a Mumsicle. (While the Mum is in a nice little microclimate, benefiting from the heat escaping the foundation of the house and the radiant heat from the bricks, that would not have saved it without the snow cover.)
Now that it's December, Chicago area gardeners move indoors for the season, to fuss over their houseplants. The Oxalis I brought in from an outside container has bloomed twice since it has come inside, but predictably, it is resting now. The big Pelargonium that survived last winter inside has just this single pseudo-umbel of blooms. (Thanks, Rose for that word. I told you I couldn't wait to use it.)
Considering my track record with houseplants, it's doing very well. It generally has at least one pseudo-umbel on it. Come on, say it with me: pseudo-umbel, pseudo-umbel. Isn't that fun? (Sorry, got a bit carried away there.) I'm also impressed with a Coleus cutting I took from the one that grew in a front porch container. It rooted in water, so I potted it up. It is now starting to bloom.
I know, pretty paltry, and I'm probably going to cut the bloom stalk off now. But, hey, it's a bloom. It is December, after all. What's blooming in your garden or house?
*I swear, this is the last time I will have the Mum in a Bloom Day post until next October at the earliest, and maybe not even then.