MERRY CHRISTMAS (Hey, it's still December!)

We loved being in FL for three weeks, but coming home on December 14th really threw us off schedule for the holiday.  Luckily most gift shopping could be (and was) accomplished on-line -- and most things even arrived in time!  I have a post about my mom's garden percolating, but the cold that started with VPH, went to SS2, and finally landed on me is sapping my strength and creativity, so this won't be that post.

Though we barely got any of our decorations up, we did enjoy the lights around the pool before we left FL:

Now how inviting is that?  But it closes at nightfall -- why?!

Little gaudier around the entrance to the community center:

We did bring a little bit of FL home with us...and so far I've managed not to kill the rosemary plant:

 

Complete with awesome glass watering ball (running a close race for favorite Christmas present from VPH this year with Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS and the new Super Mario Bros for the Wii).

And my little gift to myself a week before Christmas.  How could I resist an amaryllis in this awesome glass vase with two buds on it:

I predict blooms by January 15th.  The yearly calendars are going out late this year (production snafu more than tardiness on my part), so hopefully I'll be able to share the photo selections by the 1st.  And this year I'll have a few to give away.  Any ideas for a fun contest?
 

Comments

[Mummer]

"Percolating" is good! I'm looking forward to a dispassionate look at my pool-side garden.
We are enjoying ripe, sweet-tart, juicy Early Girl tomatoes this week. I have a bumper crop on the vine, however, our nights here have dropped to a mid-forties average temperature so my plants will probably go dormant and show cold damage.
Now I'll have a chance to see how Giant Marconi peppers fare in cold weather. In my Florida gardening past, they've been indestructible. I'm so in the mood for sausage-and-peppers.
No sign of the dozen or so lady-bugs I released to eat aphids last week. I still have a thousand in my garage refrigerator, so when it warms a little I will release more.
And, if your rosemary croaks, I'll start another for you. I can't seem to kill it!
Happy Winter gardening and Happy New Year!

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Here in Austin, my Amaryllis is about half as big as yours.

[Layanee]

That pool looks considerably more inviting than mine at the moment. So glad you had three weeks of fun before coming back to the frigid NE. I got back on the 17th from vacation also and that is just not enough time to enjoy the holiday. Notes for next year. I do feel Logee's in our near future don't you?

[Heather's Garden]

Mom -- I think it's the dry cold winter that kills rosemary in my house, not the fault of the gardener.

Eric -- Is your amaryllis in the ground? I can't take any credit for mine other than the wisdom to pick it up even at $10.

Layanee -- I want to go back to Florida so badly, especially sitting here sniffling today with yet more snow falling. Logee's sounds good, but we'll have to get a nice clear day for me to make the drive, which might be hard to come by if this winter is as bad as I think it's going to be.

[fern]

Rosemary doesn't like much water, does it? You might put that self-waterer to better use elsewhere...

[Heather's Garden]

Fern -- You have an excellent point except that the only spot in my house that gets decent light is directly over a heating vent. I've tried rosemary inside before and always killed it by not watering it enough, so I'm going with the opposite approach this time.