Planting Amaryllis

I love seasonal plants! They just make me happy!

Last week I got flower bulbs to plant both at home and at work.

I wanted to grow Amaryllis at work because it is such a large dramatic and fast growing plant. The kits are fairly reasonably priced for what you get and include a plastic pot, saucer, soil and a bulb. I gathered a group of about 7 or 8 residents and together we talked about Christmas Plants in general and we examined the bulbs which are pretty darn impressive and big. We planted it in the soil and watered it and I am crossing my fingers it grows fast. The window I put them in is not very warm. My plan is that once they get going I will take them visiting to many residents so they can watch them grow up. My aim is to have gorgeous flowers by Christmas or New Years.

I also had lots of fun planting Amaryllis and Paper Whites with my 7 and 11 year old grandsons.  They loved planting them and when they are over they are eager to water them and see what has changed. I regularly spend time with the older boy helping him with his academic skills. The December plan includes tracking the growth of the 4 Amaryllis plants and the two pots of paper whites including measuring them all weekly. We have worked on how to make a table on the computer where he can record the information and then in the end I will get him to average the different plants growth and graph his results by heights vs time . That is actually pretty challenging but it is gradual and hidden in so much fun that he will "enjoy the learning". 

I will post more pictures as they grow.

Jasper is on Santa's Nice List

Centerpieces Made at Art Group

We  had a guest come to the Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba Art Group this week to show us how to make centerpieces.  Teresa, is the wife of a Stroke Survivor and she was happy to share her talents with us. Her family had a flower shop when she was a girl and she still really enjoys working with fresh greens. She came with everything needed fur us to make our own centerpieces. She spent many hours gathering supplies and preparing by wrapping picks onto pinecones and a few artificial berries to be used as picks in the arrangements we were creating. Trimming the greens and making bows were difficult for a few of our group members but we all supported each other and we all wound up with georgous arrangements.




You start with a small bowl and a piece of green Oasis floral foam and n you push a candle into the center. Next we trimmed some pieces of pine greenery into manageable pieces and pushed it into the Oasis all around the arrangement. Our top layer was pieces of cedar. The two kinds of greenery gave a  much  greater depth and variety of color and shape that was very attractive. Next we added the trims.. pinecones, artificial berries, mistletoe, holly and we made or were given ribbons on a wire that can be poked into the Oasis foam. A few people even added a cute artificial bird!








My daughter Emily came along to art this week to give a helping hand. Its always nice to have her with me. We made one centerpiece together, that we now have on our coffee table.  Teresa said we can expect the centerpieces to last all the way into January.

 I want to thank everyone who came out for this event. I especially want to thank Teresa but I also want to give a big thanks out to the volunteers and family members that assisted in making this workshop such a success

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