Tuesday, January 19, 2010

ABC Wednesday . . . Again!


I know, I know . . . last week I said I wouldn't be able to participate in ABC Wednesdays this round, but with such a beautiful A in front of me each day, I couldn't resist . . .


Amaryllis, aptly named "Appleblossom"
(thanks dear readers for identifying it)


The sunny but frigid days of last week have turned warmer but grayer and gloomier. My thoughts are naturally turning toward spring and . . .



. . . planting Annuals.


Some seeds were collected last fall from various plants with hopes of having another year of blooms from some of the favorites from last year's garden, including the electric blue Bachelor Buttons pictured above. The new Butterfly & Friends garden was a riot of color last summer, thanks in part to seeds sent from fellow garden blogging friends. I am excited about getting more seeds again in a few weeks from friends through Monica's seed swap.


One way I get through the long winter is to spend hours looking through seed catalogs. Although some seeds were collected from the pink cosmos above, an order has been placed for more, a "Double Click" mix, to ensure I have enough of these lovelies. Many other varieties will soon be ordered, too, including some Agastache and Alyssum.



Cold winter days make me long to visit Arizona where it is sunny and warm--although not this week, according to the Weather Channel. I had hoped to travel there in February to visit my daughter, but Husband's schedule won't allow us to leave until March.



But that's all right, too: the Cubs will be in town for spring training, and the cacti should be in bloom. I hope to visit one of my favorite places again, the Desert Botanic Gardens, where I will see some magnificent Agaves.






No doubt everyone has seen this familiar logo countless times in the past week. If you are like me, you have watched the scenes of the devastation in Haiti and the tragic aftermath and have felt helpless. The one thing that all of us can do is to donate to the relief efforts sponsored by organizations across the world. The American Red Cross has made it very easy for Americans to donate by phone, online, texting, or mail--check out their website for details. There are other organizations helping in the relief effort as well, but before you donate to a charity you are not familiar with, it would be wise to check them out on a site such as this. It will take the efforts of many to restore some kind of normalcy to the people of Haiti.




For more contributions on the letter A, check out other ABC posts here.

44 comments:

  1. Love your flower shots! I'm so hungry for some sun, some color! Beautiful captures! And I love Arizona! Great collections for the day! And it is fun, isn't it? Hope the rest of your week goes well!

    Sylvia

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  2. Your many annuals are beautiful A's. A trip to Arizona to enjoy the agaves sounds nice, too.

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  3. Rose, I was going to say something about you starting the ABC's post again, but after seeing the A's you have I don't blame you for taking advantage of the opportunity.

    Glorious 'Apple Blossom'. I am hoping that is what mine is. The leaves are turning a darker green now, but it's got a ways to go before producing buds.

    I would love to join you in Arizona to soak up some of that sun. It seems like weeks since we have seen any sun light at all. And now a few days of rain/freezing rain. UGH!

    That seed packet will put us in more of a gardening mood-hopefully. :)

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  4. Great pictures. Blogging is another 'A', of course - addictive.

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  5. One of the best A's you have done Rose. Such fun and good information.

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  6. Lovely flower potos, makes me long for warmer weather. Snow forecast here for tomorrow again, it has snowed every Wednesday (my day off!)for last 3 weeks!

    Sx

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  7. I love that Amaryllis and the Cosmos. Such lovely pink-and-white flowers!

    We started by donating to Doctors Without Borders, since they were already on the ground there in Haiti before the earthquake.

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  8. Beautiful photos Rose - love Arizona! Now I wished I'd included American Red Cross on my American post today - such a timely link!

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  9. Beautiful flowers and batchlor buttons are one of my favorites.Glad you came back for ABC Wednesday.

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  10. Your pictures made me dream of spring! Arizona would be lovely now and I'm sure it'll be great in March. Not so sure about the Cubs training camp, though... :)

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  11. This A was so great! I love the link to the Red Cross. Thank you! I think the more we all help the better their lives can be. So very, very devastating. LOVE your flowers!

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  12. That amaryllis is absolutely stunning! And, the rest of your collection of "a" words is superb. Great post!

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  13. A plus! There's a lot to be said for new beginnings, like this one. I hope when you post for B next week, you'll mention my Boilermakers and how they came from behind to be the Illini.

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  14. An Amaryllis to die for! Great start of the "A's" and American Red Cross is an excellent finish. (I would love to have an Agave like that one in your photo)

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  15. That is the great thing about blogging-we can change our minds and answer to no one but ourselves when we do:) I am getting so fascinated with agaves the more I see them.

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  16. Dear Rose....I think the people of Haiti are in everyone's minds at the moment. The generosity of our fellow man never ceases to amaze me. We all moan about the present financial crisis but what do we really know. When you see how poor these people are, I am humbled. I know in UK the donations have been huge...several millions....we are only a small country but we have big hearts......
    I pray the people of Haiti will soon get the aid they so desparately need.

    March will soon be here Rose, you will have a wonderful time enjoying the sun and being with your lovely daughter....

    Your blooms are beautiful and help us all get through the dreary winter days......

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  17. Lovely flowers.

    I too have been plugging the charity navigator site to make sure that donations are well-spent. Bravo for that.

    As a new part of the ABC Wednesday team, thank you. I hope you can stick around.

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  18. Rose girl we share the same amaryllis ! I didn't know you didn't know what yours was .. hum ? .. did we have this conversation before ? seems familiar some how .. anyways .. I think I might just fall for Double Click cosmos this year .. I usually go with Sonata, but seeing that picture got to me ? LOL
    Love the pictures and wow with that agave !
    Joy

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  19. Sylvia, I'd love to see some sun, too!

    Vicki, Thanks for dropping by.

    Janie, I'd love to see some Arizona sun right now.

    Beckie, The amaryllis just got me thinking. I'm getting the gardening itch--last night a presentation on peonies--I want a tree peony!!

    Anthony, So true--this ABC meme is addictive:)

    Lisa, Thanks!

    Suburbia, That's not fair; days off are supposed to be nice weather:)

    Sweet Bay, I've read good things about that group; the doctors in Haiti have performed some miraculous feats.

    Amy, There have been so many promos about the Red Cross I didn't know if another one was needed, but I couldn't help it.

    Photowannabe, Don't you just love the blue of those Bacelor Buttons?

    Rose, I wanted to go to ARizona this month while it's so cold here, but it didn't work out. Spring training games are fun; no expectations:)

    Life, I think, too, if each of us helps a little, it can make a big difference.

    Carolyn, This is my first blooming amaryllis, and I love it.

    Carol, You posted this before the second half was over when the Illini were looking good. Are you psychic? Or do you just know that the Illini can't put two good halves together? Say, who is this Hart??

    Janet, The agave is from the DBG; I'd love to have one that big, too!

    Tina, Exactly--there are no rules here:) I have fallen in love with agaves, too.

    Cheryl, The outpouring of help from all over the world has been wonderful. I think though many of us may have felt the economic pinch, we realize how much better off we are than the Haitians. We've had lots of gray days lately, which makes it harder to be upbeat.

    Roger, Thanks for being part of the team to keep this going! I just found that website, but it's such a good idea. When you donate, you want to make sure your money is going where it can do some good.

    Joy, Maybe on my last post?:) I plan to plant some of the single cosmos, too--I like them all!

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  20. What is WITH the lack of sun this winter, Rose? It seems to be epidemic for many. The shot of the red cliffs of Arizona warmed me right up, and that's a fabulous Apple Blossom. I was very disappointed in mine, which had small flowers this year. I'll rest it and fertilize it well and see what it does next year.

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  21. Good selection of A's Rose. Looks like you have the amaryllis that I was hoping for (my Appleblossom turned out to be a different variety). I like that cosmos as well. And the agave - oy, you should see how many of them I marked in one of my plant catalogs!

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  22. All your A's are beautiful! That is one of my favorite amaryllis.
    Marnie

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  23. Good on you to participate again now we can enjoy your lovely photos again! The colour of the amaryllus is exceptionally beautiful. Mine was red, which was also beautiful. The weather is very gloomy and grey again here. Everybody is longing for the spring to come.

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  24. Your Amaryllis is aptly named. It looks just like the colors of apple blossoms. Believe me, you don't want to visit AZ this week. So much rain here right now. Actually, March is a better month to visit then February because spring will have arrived and there will be blooms in the desert :-)

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  25. Gorgeous amaryllis! I like that pink cosmos. Maybe I should order some of those, too!

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  26. Lovely photos Rose, so nice to have some timely and colourful reminders of Summer.

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  27. It is nice to see such beautiful flowers at this time of the year, so please continue showing them :-)

    Not so nice about Haiti, though. A worthy cause to support.

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  28. Lovely to see springtime in winter! Your Arizona shots are gorgeous. Good reminder on the Red Cross – we just gave too. You get an "A" for this post.

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  29. Happy to see you're playing the alphabet game again! That Bachelor Button is such a delicious shade of blue!

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  30. What a lovely reminder of summer!

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  31. Hi Rose, what a great start to the alphabet again. I am glad you are able to do it, your posts are so entertaining. The seed swap has been here and gone, lots of goodies in there. I look forward to seeing your posts from Arizona too, I remember the chihuly display from last year.
    Frances

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  32. What a superb A post! Glad you're here! The amaryllis is one of the prettiest I've seen. Agave, I love. The red mountains of the Southwest are superb.

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  33. Love the amaryllis - I grew one of that variety one year, and they are gorgeous! Oh, and my mother had an agave as a house plant when I was growing up!

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  34. Your amaryllis is just awesome. I think those light coloured ones look sweet and shy. I don't know why. Whereas the dark red ones look bold and strong.

    It was nice to see some flower pics. Looking forward to getting our hands in the earth again.

    You must be looking forward to your visit to Arizona.
    Hugs

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  35. Well, you are off to one heck of a start for not planning on participating! WOW!!

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  36. Ah ... knew you couldn't resist, Rose! Great post and lets hear it for the American Red Cross!

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  37. You are right Rose, how could you resist "A" for Amaryllis... so beautiful. WE are sending you warmer weather. Our temperature has been staying right around 50 for several weeks now without any fluctuation, and everything is popping out of the ground.

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  38. Jodi, It's so gray here, too. My amaryllis is already drooping--I thought they were supposed to bloom for weeks?

    Jean, I wish I could grow agaves outdoors--I love them!

    Marnie, I was just happy to have any amaryllis blooms, no matter the color.

    Reader Wil, I am just ready for the sun to shine again!

    Noelle, We went to AZ in March last year, and I remember how exciting it was to see all the cacti in bloom.

    Cindy, Last year was the first time I planted cosmos; I've decided I like any variety of them!

    ShySongbird, yes, I'd rather look at my summer photos now than look outside at the clouds.

    RunE, Glad you enjoy the flowers!

    Sarah, Thanks! The photo of the mountains was in Sedona, which is just gorgeous.

    Kate, Don't you just love that shade of blue?!

    Liz, I am definitely ready for spring!

    Frances, I think I'm lucky--Beckie and I are at the end of the swap, so I'm sure there will be quite a variety of goodies by then.

    Tumblewords, Everything just fell into place so easily this week for A. B...I'm not so sure:)

    Jay, I'm enjoying having something blooming at this time of year!

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  39. Wendy, I do like the pale pink amaryllis, but any bloom will do right now. I'm wishing I could go to Arizona right now, except they have rain, too.


    Monika, Thank you for dropping by!

    Paula, I just couldn't resist this week:)

    Joey, There are so many wonderful efforts going on now to help Haiti. If only the needed supplies and medical aid could reach them more quickly.

    Di, 50 degrees sounds wonderful right now! Except more than anything, I'd like a little sunshine.

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  40. I enjoyed your post. THose bachelor buttons are so pretty.

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  41. All wonderful A words! The amaryllis photo is beautiful.

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  42. Wonderful A's! I almost did an A post too since I also had great A's.
    Happy ABC Wednesday.
    I already miss not playing this round.
    Sherry

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