Garden Blogger Bloom Day -January 2014

I am late to the party but it is better to be late than absent, don't you think? Here is what is happening in our Ohio zone 5b gardens.
Lets start with the indoor garden..yes you heard it right..the sun room now winters over 40 type of plants so it qualifies to be called the indoor garden. More plants around the window sills in the  house and a couple dormant ones in the garage.


Sun room January garden

Fuchsia "Gartenmeister Bonstedt" has been blooming non-stop since I got it in 1998..or maybe I cut it hard twice in sixteen years.

Begonia "Escargot" in bloom

The obvious reason I grow this plant is the foliage! Such cool foliage shape, texture and color.

Begonia "Escargot" needs well drained soil, humidity and indirect bright light. Pretty easy to grow.

The bloom of the Shrimp plant or Justicia brandegean

A non stop bloomer indoor and outdoor. 

 Zonal Geranium or Pelargonium- it hasn't stopped blooming since I bought it in May 2013

Hundreds of blooms cover the Valencia Orange tree or Citrus Sinensis dwarf Campbell. Very difficult to pollinate so far.

An non-hardy sedum planted last spring in this piece of wood saved from a tree we had to take down. 

I only water this with a mist every two weeks! It is amazing to me how drought tolerant it is!

    The best winter for our Meyer Lemon Tree. We had this tree for eight years and this winter it produced  about 20 lemons in its signature deep yellow color. No spider mites problem for the first time in years and it already tries to bloom while 8 lemons are still awaiting to be picked. Talk about a winter spirit lifter every time you cut a slice of these juicy fresh lemons!

Coleus -possibly  Mt. Washington variety. It almost died but recently I gave it a warmer spot away from the outdoor windows or doors and it has gotten new foliage.

A lot going on in our indoor garden. While the outdoor temperatures had been varying between -4F and 44F this winter, the indoor managed to stay between 45-57F thanks to the four electrical wall heaters. Today it was sunny outside and 13F. Indoor garden at 55F. Out of all the plants I tried to winter indoor petunias, impatiens and torenia didn't make it. All new rooted cutting of coleus died when temperatures dropped in the 40s. I have two more old coleus plants (one pictured above) that are struggling and hope to make it to spring. 

The Bougainvillea foliage is showing a sign of redness.
I was surprised to be able to winter Tallinum Purple Heart for the first time and many varieties of sedum.  More foliage plants are in the house but none in bloom at this time.

Outdoor January Garden

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at  May Dream Gardens. Visit her blog to see what is in bloom this month in gardens from many climates and countries.