Bay window

SummerWinds Nursery opened their tree lot this weekend, setting up temporary quarters in the parking lot. The building, destroyed by fire last summer, is gone, but the spirit of the nursery lives on. While SummerWinds awaits rebuilding permits, they’ve set up a well-stocked shop filled with holiday greenery and a lot of red. The displays were so alluring that I briefly considered the Noah’s Ark approach to gardening: two of each! I restrained myself (sort of) and limited my purchases to a few plants and some holiday greens.

Here’s what came home:

Shooting Star™ Hydrangea (from hana bay flowers)

This plant is stunning. It’s one of the Lace Cap varieties, with large clusters of star-like flowers toward the outer branches, with smaller white flowers below. We’ll keep it indoors for the winter, then will plant it in the garden next spring.

Shooting Star Hydrangea

Zygocactus (Schlumbergera truncata)

We have two fuchsia Zygocactus living the good life in our kitchen bay window. They’re super easy to grow. They usually bloom around Christmas, hence the nickname “Christmas Cactus.” Interestingly, ours bloom twice a year. My husband spotted the light pink variety at SummerWinds, so into our arms it went. Things look better grouped in threes anyway, don’t you think? It’s bursting with blooms, a bit ahead of the two on the sill, but I know they will catch up soon.

Zygocactus in Bloom

Miniature Cyclamens

Oh my goodness, these tiny plants are the cutest. Each one weighs a mere two ounces, standing no taller than a seed packet. I bought a pair for the Fairy Garden. Watch for their debut later this week.