You need to know more

When next in Italy shop for dried Kumquats.

Ask for them at any Frutta e Verdura.

Sometimes they are hidden,  behind a secret door.

This is the way to eat Kumquats.  They are better than chocolates. 

The recipe is too complicated for me to try.
I'll just have to go to Italy again.  

Gina

It is pink

It hasn't bloomed in years.

It was forgotten, in a corner.

To my surprise a flower spike appeared a couple of weeks ago.  

I was hoping that it would be pink.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, is growing outside. 

Thank goodness for my greenhouse.

My orange tree is blooming in my greenhouse.  

The Kumquat tree has been bearing fruit since last summer. 

How do you eat Kumquats?

Do you pop them into your mouth whole?  

Or do you eat only the sweet rind? 

I love seeing the faces when my little friends eat a Kumquat for the first time.  

Happy Surprises to you, 

Gina 

Thank Goodness for my little Greenhouse

Over the years I have discovered that many of my garden flowers do well in my winter greenhouse. 

Early in the year I pot up a few annuals such as poppies, snapdragons, petunias, pansies and especially nasturtiums.  They bloom all Summer outside and continue blooming in my winter greenhouse.

  

My "antique" plate, painted in 2005, is still around.  Just couldn't part with it.  It has all the right flaws.  

This petunia changes yellow and red combinations, all on the same plant.  Sometimes they tend do be a solid red, then they change to a solid yellow and often they are a combination of both and in different patterns. 

When all else fails my geraniums never stop blooming.  I must take new cuttings to rejuvenate some of the more special colors. 

Have a wonderful week.

Thank you dear friends for stopping by and leaving such lovely comments.  You are so appreciated.   

Gina  



https://tentoesinthewater.blogspot.com/

The last one.

You say you can't grow oranges in Utah!

 I can.

 In my little greenhouse.

My Meyer orange tree is just a small one but it grew 6 large beautiful and juicy oranges.
And now it is beginning to grow new buds.

My greenhouse is heated by the sun.

It is where my geraniums wait for spring to come. 

It snowed a little last night.  Must clean off the glass panes so that the heat of the sun can be trapped inside.  

And I can grow kumquats. Do you like kumquats?

I do.  
You have to pop the entire fruit into your mouth.  

The inside is very tart but the rind is sweet and very aromatic. 

This cactus almost didn't make it.  

A tiny cactus grew at the base of a larger plant.  One of my white geese came by and pulled it off.  I found the little piece in the grass.  

I potted it up. The next day the goose had yanked it out of the pot.  Again I found it.

I replanted it and moved it to a safe place. 

That was 2 years ago.  

My geraniums are very old...I love every one of them. 

Finished a new mural and sent it off to Virginia.  

And now I'm going to eat my orange. 

Have a wonderful day, 

Gina

Surprise, Surprise

The first flowers growing outside

and Kumquats growing inside, in my greenhouse. 

 I had no idea that Kumquats were forming on my little tree. 
 I couldn't see them when they were green.  

Brought these candied Kumquats from Italy. 
Wish I knew the recipe. 

Have a lovely weekend dear friends, 

Gina