This bulb was bought on Black Friday when Lowes put their bulbs on 75% off.

There are special jars made for forcing hyacinth.  I don't have one so I just planted the bulb in dirt, watered it and put it in the fridge.  It stayed in the fridge until buds formed, (about 6 weeks) then it was put under lights and is now blooming and perfuming my kitchen.

Note that hyacinth bulbs can irritate your skin so if you are allergic to these bulbs wear rubber gloves or wash your hands after handling.

The Oak tree looks like a cactus because of the frost and the fog that we have been having.

Billbergia nutans or Queen's-Tears, a native of Brazil, is one of the most common Bromeliads grown.
They are a durable plant for the home -- often withstanding periods of neglect.
Blooming Time: Pendulous flower clusters on long pink stems at any time of the year. 
The flowers are pink, green, yellow and navy blue.  What other flower has that many colors?
It blooms for me in the winter, just when I need a pick-me-up.

winter water garden

Sun impatiens & 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia have bloomed in my winter water garden in my kitchen window since I took the cuttings last fall.

pachistima - cliff green

Pachistima canbyi

Family: Celastraceae
Genus: Paxistima (paks-ISS-tim-uh) (Info)
Species: canbyi (KAN-bee-eye) (Info)
Synonym:Pachistima canbyi

Cute little sub-shrub that stays green all winter.  In Dec. of 2011 we have no snow but pachistima looks nice in the fallen leaves.

Chorizo cheese ball

I took one chorizo sausage out of the casing and cut it up and put it in a frying pan.  I tried to squeeze it into small pieces but it didn't work too well so I put it on the blender.  Then I added it to room temp cream cheese.  Instead of making it into a ball I just put it in a small dish and served it with multi-grain crackers at the Gardening Sat meeting.

Green's Girls Christmas Party 2011

Green's Girls Christmas Party 2011

Sky. at Sanders, used to work at Greens