first flowers

Well, here we are just a few days into the new year and we've already got flowers. the crown of thorns has been very stingy with its flowers in the past year, but when it does bloom it goes all out in terms of size and color. The flower in this pic is life size.


And the first hibiscus bloom of the year is about to open any day now. I've had serious problems with aphids since I brought them in at the end of September. I finally gave them a double dose of soap and left it on for a much longer time than recommended before I showered them. It took most of the day to do all seven of them, but it seems to have worked. I think it helped that I washed the soap down into the soil. It may have made conditions unfavorable to any emerging critters. At any rate (and cross my fingers and touch wood) I hope I won't have to do it again real soon. The worst of it is that I don't think the aphids came in with the hibiscus. I think they were in the money tree which was actually in the house most of the summer. I had put it out for a week or two in the late spring but it didn't seem to like the outdoors at all so I brought it in and I'd been battling aphids ever since. They just seem to like the hibiscus more than any other of my plants and seem especially fond of the buds as they emerge. I also found a couple of lady bugs that were hibernating in the windows and came out when the house got really warm, so I've given them a home in among the hibiscus too. Here's hoping it works.