This picture was taken on Christmas Day. Winter in its utter perfection.
We still love winter and its whiteness. But when there is a lot of snow on the ground and the wind starts blowing, it gets cold. Today we are to see a wind chill of 8 degrees.
My desk in the office is right next to a west window. As much as I love the light, the cold wind that comes through makes me run for my wool socks. (Thanks goes to the hubby for giving up one pair of his, I wear them all of the time now.)
Because January and February are soooo loooonnnnngggggg, I made a bold step this past fall. I brought the pansy in the hanging planter and put it in my bedroom. I had my husband bring the bench up so there could be a resting place.
At first, the husband thought I was a little crazy but then he liked the look of the bench in front of the window. After that I added the pansies and the pot of spearmint. Both had suffered from fall dieback. Since the daily watering, the pansies have come back to the point that we have a bloom this week. The spearmint is just leggy and not interesting.
You are thinking “I want pansies in the middle of winter.” Perhaps next year, you can bring a pot in during the late fall. For now, it is possible to buy African violets and set them in a north facing window. Soon the primroses will be in the stores and March will see daffodils and ox-tails available.
How do you bring the green into your home during the winter?
I brought my Oleander in doors last month and it is doing wonderfully. I doubt that it will bloom but it has grown about an inch a week which is grrreat. I plan to harden it off and put it out next Spring because I love the blooms and fragrance so. Boy, I can’t wait for the daffodils, tulips, crocuses and hyacinths to rear their pretty heads….
I have never thought that you could bring in Oleander. Does it hae a nice fragrance even without the blooms?
You’ve made me miss winter yet again – my favorite moment after a fresh snowfall was the reflection of the risen moon on the snow. Made my heart soar.
I love the natural world around me wherever I am, but as I suffer from a congenital black thumb, the only green I bring into my house in winter is usually on the soles of feet that have walked across the lawn.
Go ahead and weep.
I weep because I understand. I cannot make plant grow indoors as I do outside. This pansy is my first indoor success in years.
It’s so great, and healing, to have live plants in the long, cold, white winter inside. We have three small dracaenas in pots; an ivy, a small jade plant … all in a row on a shelf. I like the texture and color they add. We also have an Alberta spruce on our balcony in a pot. (We live in an apartment.) I was never a big fan of plants, but they are all doing well and I enjoy them.
I like them for the added humidity inside. That helps too.
I love winter’s beauty, although I detest its coldness. Happy New Year!
Thanks for stopping by. It is too bad we have to put up with single digit temperatures in order to have the winter beauty. If we are going to ring in the new year, can’t we do it with warm weather like Australia? Guess that would mean bad things for the polor caps if we did…
cool