alstroemeria | Enchanted Seashells

Before it gets so hot and dry that everything dies a slow and painful death, here’s a few pics from the garden:

The raspberries aren’t ready to eat, but oh so pretty cherry red.

Still thriving; a decades old bottlebrush.

Flowers everywhere!

Photobombed by my resident Scott’s Oriole. What a show off! Look at how adept he is balancing on the tip of an agave.

And then he flew over to the bottlebrush in time to get his photo taken again.

I have pretty good luck propagating alstroemeria; now it’s blooming everywhere!

And indoors, it looks like all these plants are growing out of the fireplace, but this is where they get the perfect amount of diffused light. My Monstera looks bright and healthy living her best life with a fresh white orchid.

Lots of happy plants in and out. I hope you enjoyed this tour of Casa de Enchanted Seashells!

My plans were to post this on Sunday, Valentine’s Day, but I’m getting the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine tomorrow and if predictions are correct, I might be too sick to do anything but lay on the sofa rolled up in a warm blanket and watch Netflix or reruns of Bewitched, so here it is!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Image result for 1960's old fashioned vintage valentine cards

I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day in spite of the commercialism. In elementary school, I looked forward to the day we’d give and receive those little Valentine’s Day cards (including the inedible heart-shaped candies.)

Later on, I especially cherished Angel Boy’s handmade cards –which I saved–every single one of them.

There’s something lovely and old fashioned about being thought of as someone’s Valentine, and I like that a lot.

I have simple wants; a bunch of wildflowers is treasured as much as a dozen red roses; all gifts from the heart are appreciated whether it’s a Chanel or a seashell. Or a handmade card from the Angels.

These flowers are called alstroemeria. Native to South America. I prefer their other name, Lily of the Incas, ‘cos it sounds exotic. I’ve been growing them for about fifteen years. Surprisingly, they do quite well here and are drought tolerant. I’ve even been able to successfully dig up and divide the tubers.