The holidays?? Am I crazy? I don't think so. Ok, yes. Yes, I am. The holidays tend to sneak up on me and throw me in a panic. My favorite of the fall/winter holidays is Halloween by far. Had it occurred to me that Halloween is now less than 90 days away, I would have started my plantings as soon as I got back from the wedding. I have a pack of orange and black pansy seeds, and I have a pack of Ruby Queen corn. I'm searching through the seeds on Botanical Interests, and I'd like to get the Purple Majesty Ornamental Millet and the Jack Be Little Pumpkins. I'm hoping that I have just enough time to pull a harvest and grow some plants in time for Halloween. If not Halloween, then at least there's Thanksgiving. I might stick with what I have already though. The Ruby Queen corn is actually very attractive in my opinion and very in keeping with Halloween/Thanksgiving as well. I've already tested it this year too, but it got too hot too fast for it do more than fizzle with puny ears of corn.
I'm also toying with the idea of Christmas/New Year's planters filled with tulips and crocus and such since our Decembers are VERY mild. Theoretically, I could start bulbs chilling when they ship in October, throw them in the veggie crisper drawer of the fridge, and yank them out Dec. 10 to bloom around Christmas/New Year's. It works out in my head as being feasible, but I have NO idea. I'm thinking about getting Erlicheer narcissus bulbs because those will come back regardless. Then there are the amaryllis bulbs. I'm particularly drawn to Papillio (butterfly) and Chico.
However, I still have about 14 Red Lion amaryllis bulbs outside right now that I somehow managed to rescue from death's door when my sister bought them after Christmas from Lowe's. They were in kits. My sister kept the cute red pots, and I got the mushy, shriveled amaryllis bulbs. lol. That's actually more than fine by me. They've all made it through, and I'm now considering forcing dormancy to force a bloom near Christmas. If I do that, then I'll have the spectacular red blooms, but I'll also have plants to keep alive until March/April when I can set them back out again. The Red Lion is one that isn't hardy here theoretically. Some sources zone 10+ and other sources 8+. I'm in zone 8b which is more like 9a/b.
Thoughts? Opinions? What are your plans? Are you crazy too?
Once it's August I do start thinking about it being fall and what I need to add for some fall color. Not much besides pansies will bloom here during the winter so I won't be planting much more. I have started thinking about next spring and bulbs, so that probably makes me a little crazy :)
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