Indoor tropical pretty
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Those aren’t going to cut it for the forecasted temps (single digits and teens) starting tonight. The “orchard” has moved indoors to the sunporch for the next 4-5 days.
Pretty sure a radiator-style space heater will keep it above freezing 
The ginger and lemongrass (not really visible behind the big pots) are more temperature sensitive than the citrus, so they will be the sentinel plants.
Also hoping that my cats hate aluminum foil enough for it to keep them from fertilizing the pots 
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Probably too late, but next time make sure they are watered before a freeze. It will help protect them. Apologies if you know this! I didn’t know for the longest time but doing it has really helped our Lemon-san (his name) with cold temps. We put him in the garage for the couple days of freezing and he seems fine. I hope they all survived!
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The citrus orchard did fine on the sunporch, as did the ginger and lemongrass. An electric radiator-style space heater kept the temp in the 40s during the 3 nights of single digit temps.
The outdoor plants had a hard go of it, though. I wrapped up the bay laurel in frost cloth and stuck one of the Aldi greenhouse huts over it, and it looks like it did ok. My rosemary (“Arp” species) bushes all look dead, though, and I’m hoping they’ll drop all the brown-grey needles and bud out again. The tea olives and akubas are pitiful-looking too. If we ever see temps like this again, I’ll know to buy out the frost cloth and wrap up as much as I can.
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Rosemary will come back, unless the ground froze solid.
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the first orchids are just starting to bloom! we had a cold snap last month that saw temps in the 50s(F) and that spurred the plants to spike. now we just had a bunch of rain and temps in the 70s-low 80s and POW! flowers!
these are two of the twenty some odd orchids outside. all have buds, these have opened first.
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Those are gorgeous! Nice work!
Also, I almost choked on my drink at this bit:
Why, oh why, did I move to Maine instead of the Keys???
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amaryllis, amirite?
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Yes! I have four bulbs that I’ve had for years, that just keep on blooming.
My sibling fusses with hers and stops watering them, and puts them in a dark cold place, then brings them out again, to get them to bloom. But I learned from our mom that you can just keep them out year round like any other houseplant, just keep watering them, and you’ll have all the big green leaves for most of the year. Then the leaves die back and after a short time the cycle begins again with a flower stalk and new leaves, but no need to fuss at all.
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Its just lies being propogated (heh) by “Big Amaryllis”. They want the process of care to seem really convoluted so as to force you to buy new bulbs every Christmas.
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Ha ha, yeah, and that’s probably why I have four bulbs, people have given them to me at Christmastime over the years, I don’t think I’ve ever bought one myself 
We do have the different seasons here in Minnesota, so they are responding to the shorter days when the leaves die back, I think. And now it’s longer days. I do wonder if they’d act the same in places where there isn’t so much difference…
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i can say this much from latitude 25: ours is outdoors all year round and does the same - dies back when sunlight hours diminish and leafs out as days get longer, then blooms in the fall. beautiful flowers. little upkeep.
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@FloridaManJefe check it out! My little orchid is sending out a flower stalk!
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so healthy! you’re doing something right!
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that little bit of localized humidity/ moisture works well!
the exposure to the chill in the office may have been what spurred it to spike.
happy orchid! yay!
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WaPo article about deciding whether to “give up” on a sad dying houseplant: (it’s “gifted” so it shouldn’t be paywalled)
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My word, I don’t even like orchids normally, but seeing them in situ as an appropriate home garden planting-- healthy and happy, clearly – makes all the difference.
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