First of Spring [2015]

Friday, March 20, 2015 marked the first day of spring! I cannot even express how excited I am. However, at first I was not as excited as I should have been. Friday morning started off normal... What couldn't be great about it? It's Friday! But, as I stared into my lily pots... I became very sad - nothing was happening. No sprouts, no signs of life anywhere. My sister would tell me how every pot she owned had some kind of activity, but mine did not. I was so worried I messed up in Fall and killed my lily bulbs... So, I went to work sad but still kinda hopeful that maybe.... just maybe they would sprout soon. 

Wouldn't you know it, I came home that afternoon to a large, purple tip poking out from under the remainder of last years stalk! I yelled inside the house for my husband to come out saying "IT LIVES!!!! IT LIIIIIVVVEEESSS" channeling my inner Frankenstein. 

Saturday morning, I was up a little late, sleeping in and enjoying no work. I ran outside and wouldn't you know it!!! ANOTHER purple point popping up from the other bulb in the pot. As I stared in admiration at the second new sprout and the crazy growth of the first, I noticed two little bitty white nubs coming up from little bulblets. By Sunday morning, I counted 4 little ones mixed around the two parent bulbs that sprouted first.... Later that evening, after looking back at the pictures from Friday, I noticed there was a bulblet sprouting Friday afternoon...but I had missed it in the excitement. 

This morning, Monday, March 23, I have counted 6 little ones mixed around the two first parent bulbs... still nothing out of the third bulb in the pot... Fingers crossed that I'll see something soon!

I've taken a picture every morning since and will post them maybe...once a week, to twice a week ... I can't do the everyday thing. But, about once or twice a week I'll post several pictures of the bulbs progress.  


Friday - March 20: 


















Saturday - March 21:

Sunday - March 22:














Monday - March 23:

Yes, yes, I know that one of the bulbs is slanted... I messed up when I planted them since it was only my second time to plant bulbs. I will fix them this fall... My other pot of lilies is even worse........ x.x

Need to record things better...

So, last year my two amazing lilies bloomed: Sumatra and Anastasia. My Anastasia bloomed first, being ahead of the Sumatra by maybe.... 3 - 4 weeks. I have only a few pictures of my lilies ... I wish I had taken better logs of their growth, but alas, I did not. 

Not sure if this is the Anastasia or Sumatra

Here is the one picture I took when I first saw little sprouts coming up in my pots. I actually planted them the fall before, so.... Fall 2013 to bloom in Spring 2014.

In the summer of 2014, I got married; all of the wedding planning and shopping took up most of my time and although I enjoyed their beauty and fragrance, I really didn't have much time to ogle or photograph everything. There was lots of running around... all free time was spent watering flowers and cleaning the house.

Not sure which this is.

Both Sumatra and Anastasia

My Anastasia actually bloomed out the few weeks before my wedding, it's last blooms on the same week... My Sumatra started blooming while I was away on our trip...but I still got to enjoy the majority of the blooms when I got home :). It was a nice surprise to pull up after being gone a week to see dark reddish/purple blooms wide open. 
On the left: Pictures of my Anastasia. On the right: Pictures of my Sumatra.



My Aloe Vera is doing very well, in spite of several .... accidents. My father accidentally knocked it off the porch, along with my little succulent featured in the last post in the adorable little pot....which is now broken. My sister was very kind and re-potted them both for me in spare pots she used to propagate her airplane plant.  The Aloe Vera was then knocked over by my now husband one day when he was running late for work.... It was winter by that time so I had the plant inside under a little lamp. 

The two original plants

Re-potted smaller plants

So... my poor Aloe Vera is all bent and funny looking with several broken shoots, but it's doing very well... I've already separated out 3 new baby Aloes into a new pot with two more little ones starting to show...so where I started with three (lost one in the first fall), I now have 7. :D 

The picture shown is where I had them sitting on the sink to drain after watering them thoroughly after re-potting. I did this during winter, so I could not put them outside. I need to get a bigger pot for the older plants..... 






Hopefully, this year, I will be able to better document the growth of my lilies and not have crazy things going on so I can enjoy them much longer.