A Progress Report on My Indoor Flowering Plants

I am happy to say that all my " outdoor children" are doing well indoors. My passion flower is about to bloom; my dragon begonias are flowering in a much lighter shade of red (typical for indoor plants); my oleander has flower buds; my hibiscus has one bloom here and there and my shrimp plants are covered with flowers.

I do have to water everyone more often as the heat is particularly drying in my house - my skin feels itchy too! And occasionally mist them - the plants - to prevent spider mites with their tiny webs from distorting the leaves of my plants and causing blooms to drop.

One of my shrimp plants, about two feet high had some scales (an insect which sucks the life out of plants and adheres to them like tiny leeches). I sprayed it with an oil safe for indoor plants to smother the scales. Fortunately, it is not a major outbreak because I inspect my plants weekly - stems, leaves and the underside of leaves. I am careful to wash my hands and any clipping tools which touched the shrimp plant so as not to spread the scales to the others and create more work for me.

Many of my flowering plants are still hibernating in the sense that they will not bloom for a few months like mandevilla and jasmine. However, their leaves are healthy and I can already imagine their beautiful possibilities in the spring.

If you are experiencing the winter doldrums, keep in mind that the days are getting longer one minute at a time. It's not too early to look at garden catalogs and plan out your spring and summer garden.