It’s been far too many years since I last attended the New England Flower Show – and to be honest I’m not even sure they were having it even prior to COVID. But every March I get the same restless hankering for something that brings me closer to spring. This year my weekly visits to the local greenhouse will have to suffice, where I can take my time walking past African violets like the ones shown here and dreaming of the days when similar blooms will be showing off in the gardens outside.
With the exception of this crazy cactus, we don’t have any indoor plants that bloom. I’ve been toying with the idea of adding a Clivia to our collection, or finding another walking iris, but outside of bloom those are both pretty dull performers. Instead, I’ll force a few bulbs every year (a forgotten bag of Paperwhite narcissus was just discovered on the attic stairs and I immediately plopped them into a vase of water and pebbles – we will see if it’s not too late to salvage a bloom or two, as always seems to happen) but other than that our houseplants are mainly for foliage and form. The older I get the more my tastes seem to shift to the subtle.
That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the blooms seen here. An African violet is a thing of beauty indeed.
