Not dead... yet! (evading blog death yet again)

Alright, all major volunteering projects/commitments out of the way...  a little collapse and breather time (if lag and lack of posting is truly an annoyance to you, just holler! I swear to you, spring and summer is much more interesting on PIB blog, updates nearly every day or every other day)!

While puttering around the house when I was conscious for short amounts of time, my keen sense of observation took note of a change in my most beloved and prized Haight-Ashbury hibiscus cuttings:

BUDS!  Well, er, bud, SINGULAR.

I found it to be quite a lovely surprise especially as it was a cutting and noted no buds on the potted up hibiscus.

It was almost as though the shock of it still sitting in water and being a "cutting" still rather than have graduated to potted plant status (due to my lazy self not having potted it up sooner...there's a good amount of roots floating around in its water jar :\ ) caused it to either be like (uh oh, I'm anthropomorphizing plants again...):

(1) Plant: "Oh, please, please, PLEASE, can I be potted up now and be a big plant now?  Here's a bud to convince you!"

or

(2) Plant: "You snipped me!  Please, don't hurt me any further! Look, here's a bud, keep your filthy gardener propagating fingers away from me!"

Oh silly little cutting, potting plants are for non-lazy gardeners!  (Really, I'm getting to you, right after I buy those bags of potting soil for seed starting!)

It's been ice storm, snow storm, and now snow storm again here, which has been melting and will freeze to ice this afternoon/evening.  Hurray.  As I hate driving in weather like this, I am in hunker down mode (we'll call it human "sleep mode") and will continue to ride this all out until I venture out to prepare for spring, sweet spring.

*sigh* Not even the flowering kohleria, my blooming begonia:

or the fuzziness of my gifted selaginella (no matter how much I've been petting it!) has
been making me any less gloomy.

I even noshed on a petal of my lemon tree in flower (sweet with obvious bitter citrus oil taste) and that didn't even lift me.

The orchids are in bud, but they are tiny things and won't even be close to blooming for another month I can tell.

CRIKEY. (Always wanted to use that)  I really need to stop being so "Wah-wah." I have plants! MANY plants! Indoors, blooming (and going to bloom)!  I've got my health (mostly, with a little cabin syndrome + SAD on the side) and I'm not in the financial pits!  I get to do what I mostly love (even what you love can become work and stressful) and I have a dog and loving husband.

OFFICIALLY, bucking up here.  Only another month or so to get through of crummy weather, I can make it, despite late seed starting and cold and snow and lack of sunshine.  Bear with me?

House guests and plants--- particularly relatives

AH!!!!!!!!!!!!   My mother is visiting from out of town today and she's going to see all my crazy plants!

(She's not into the plant thing as much as I am, as you might guess)

Here is where I wave the green leafy flag and hide behind it in shame:

I know, I know, I know, I don't need 5 pots of kohleria... but they are SO cool and easy to propagate!  The rhizomes just SPAWN like bunnies!

 (Last night I was moving them around to get to some dust, and did a stupid "Oooh!" because one bud bloomed!)

I know I don't need one of every kind of citrus (that have still yet to produce fruit for me and barely a bud last year--- despite receiving/purchasing them in bud/flower)...

I know I have an orchid fetish (they're my guilty pleasure... when they're in bloom.  Come on guys, you can do it!)

And while I try to keep mostly edible things (herbs and peppers) indoors, the random begonia with some AWESOME hairy foliage comes in (and thrives on me for once) so how can I say no?

I have no idea why I have the stupid fern or tiny parlor palm... but... they were cheap?  (*smacks self* WHAT WAS I THINKING WHEN I BOUGHT THOSE?!?!?)

But yes, houseguests.  Particularly relatives.  Specifically, moms.

The nagging, can you feel it?  Can you feel its power all the way from where you are at???