What's in bloom?

The hibiscus in the living room surprised me with a bud recently. It hasn't been too long since I snipped off a bunch of tips that seemed like they might have some white fly, plus they were looking a little leggy over winter. Those cut tips have all been putting out new grow with the increased daylight/daylength, and the most prominent one even graced us with this:


Sadly, hibiscus blooms only seem to last a couple days before they seem to melt, sometimes dripping on the floor, so I had to snip this one as soon as it started to fade. I hope to aclimate it to life outdoors this spring, and see if a shot of outside life really kicks it into gear!

And in the kitchen, the smallest orchid has been building up steam, forming a handful of buds. It doesn't develop as many flowers as the larger orchid, but the flowers are no less impressive.



The next day (and oddly backlit), I got this picture after it had opened more. It's very likely the blooms will be on this orchid for at least a month... I really like it's more intense coloring. Again, I should put the orchids outside some this summer and see if they like it. Although I'll have to be careful - the Shari Baby chocolate orchid Brett's brother Blake got me years ago was never happy in the condo, then I split it just before the move here, and I had it out on the front porch after the move and it seems the grasshoppers LOVED it. It really took a beating (eating!) last summer...but has put out new leaf growth over winter.