Bulbs, bulbs, beautiful bulbs

Bulb season is upon us! It's time to plant your tulips, daffs, and crocus for next spring. You can plant in specific colors or you can go the route that I take, a grab bag. I love bulb grab bags. The joy in this is it's kind of like a floral lottery. You toss these little onion looking things into the ground in the fall and up come beautiful flowers in the spring. But the kicker with the grab bag is that you don't really know what to expect. A lot of gardeners like to plant specific bulbs so their gardens can have one color, I am a mish-mosh gardener. I like to be surprised. OOOO, a red tulip! WOW, a blue crocus!! HEY, a yellow daffodil! You get the picture.

This year I planted a tulip grab bag, which had 20 different bulbs. I have no idea what colors I will have, and I am happier for it. I also planted small and large allium. I absolutely love allium, they are probably my favorite spring flower. They are so energetic. Lots of little star shaped flowers on a tall stem. Love it.

Go forth and plant bulbs. Your neighbors will thank you.

Fall has...fallen?

Fall is the absolute best season to live in the midwest. The trees are changing color, the air smells fresh, and to put it mildly the weather is perfect. Seventy-five degree days and 50 degree nights are a Nebraska specialty. This season allows for many nights spent on the patio with red wine, good food, great friends, and in my case a patio heater because it does get chilly.

I was able to join my lovely neighbors for a family walk last night, and even being the best of friends, all we could talk about was the weather. It's that beautiful. Seriously. If you don't believe me, come visit. Just make sure it's within the next 3 weeks, otherwise all bets are off. It is, after all, Nebraska.

Photos of the changing trees to come...I'm having technological difficulties.

Orchid love...

I love Orchids. They're kind of like the supermodel of the flower world. They're shockingly pretty, most have skinny stems, and they have the reputation of being high maintenance. However, this isn't always the case. My mom, a.k.a. the orchid whisperer, has 4 or 5 that seem to be in constant bloom. She not only has the magic touch, but the climate is right. Her orchids live in a bathroom that has skylights and a lot of light, orchids love light.

There are many different kinds of orchids. They come in tons of colors and many shapes. I have kind of become obsessed with finding the funkiest looking orchid I can for the restaurant. I was using Phalaenopsis for the first few months because they are easy to find and very pretty. But I stumbled upon a wonderful little shop here in Omaha that specializes in interior tropical plants and have since changed my orchid ways. For the month of September, I had an Oncidium that had 7 spider shaped dark purple blooms with black leopard spots on a 16 inch stem.

But this month. Wow, this month the Plant House out-did themselves. I picked up an orchid yesterday called 'Fangtastic.' Appropriate for October, no? It is unbelievable. Seriously, the stem is nearly 3 feet in length, with 16 blooms. The flowers themselves are chartreuse, burgundy, and pale cream. The blooms are nearly 8 inches in length, and the plant is equal parts creepy and beautiful.

Creepy and beautiful, kind of like supermodels.