There’s, like, eight feet of snow outside. We can’t even open the back door. I’ve been digging out the back door by harvesting snow to feed my carnivorous plants (they are fickle and don’t like city water). Meanwhile, INSIDE the apartment, it’s like some kind of freakshow blooming parade!

orchid

An orchid that bloomed a couple weeks ago is still going strong.

hibiscus

I just counted 7 blooms on the hibiscus. That is more than I have EVER had at one time on this plant. Also, I should note that in the fall, I changed the pot and gave it fresh soil, so that probably has more to do with it than anything. But still: wow!

cactus

This Christmas Cactus is right on time.

amaryllis

And this Amaryllis is just about to open.  I CAN FEEL YOU, SPRING!

I water most of our plants with regular tap water, but I think one thing that makes them so healthy is that we save “grey water” leftover from steaming or boiling one-ingredient things (beans, potatoes, beets, unsalted and cooled), or using the rinse water from our sprouts (most often). For the orchids, I almost never give them the “fortified” water, just straight from the tap, though I may switch to the melted snow to see if that encourages more blooming.

All (except one) of my overwintered peppers have survived. By far, this has been the best indoor-gardening year ever.