Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - Dec 2012 - Yellow Christmas Cactus and Green Fall

Welcome to my 15th of each month post as I participate in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, where gardeners from all over the world gather to check out what is blooming in gardens (and inside houses for those of us not in our growing season).  As usual, this meme is brought to us by May Dreams Gardens - please be sure to visit her blog, and click on links from other participants.  You will see a world of beauty!

In my zone 5 garden in upstate New York, it is nearly winter.  Our fall has been mild, with hardly any snow. Since, in a normal winter, we can get between 80 and 100 inches of snow, the lack of snow is mourned by some, but I couldn't be happier.  The grass is still green, dandelions are still blooming and as of today, I have one outdoor plant in bloom - a purple alyssum.

I'll share that picture later in the post but first I would like to show you my yellow Christmas cactus.  I bought it in November with tiny buds and was quite pleased when the buds started to swell.

At this point the flowers were more pinkish than yellow.

More fully open.

And finally, fully open, now showing their yellow, but still with a hint of pink.


My African violets also continue to do well.  Here's one of them:

I try to put one "mystery" plant into each of my GBBD posts.  I was given a cutting of this plant while visiting the Ithaca (NY) art trail two years ago. The plant has done quite well and sometimes has small blooms.  The person who gave this to me had no idea what the plant was and I don't know, either.  Does anyone know?  The tiny flowr is almost in the center of the picture.

I only got two impatien cuttings to root this fall.  They are in a northern window, and the first bloom looks to be ready to open.

 I did have one major "fail" this fall.  My amaryllis are just sitting and sulking.  So, I bought a clearance plant on Black Friday (the day after our Thanksgiving in November) for $2.50.  It was already sprouted, and had a bud.  I was hopeful the bud would do something.  But it has dried up, although the plant itself is growing.

And now, finally, to my one outdoor flower.
 If GBBD had been three days earlier, I would still have had blooming petunias, but a 23 degree night three nights ago put an end to their season.

So, all hail the mighty purple alyssum, the latest in the year blooming plant I have ever had in my 25 plus years of living in upstate NY.

What's blooming in your garden or on your windowsill?