Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Tropical Plants #109 Show your Bloomers !! ;-), 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Rita, happy birthday! I will be happy to nurture some little 'Dauben' water lilies for you until next spring. They are very small now, but by then will have nice little tubers. I read in Plant Files that they reclassified 'Hilo Beauty' as a caladium, not an alocasia! Quiet a leap? But makes sense to me given the shape and texture of the leaves.

Drew, aka Aquaman! Is your head still above water? Your leaf damage looks a bit like fert burn to me - could all that rain have given the plant a large dose over a short period? If you had any granular fert in the pot I've had that happen - even 'timed release' pellets can release too much at once if it's very warm and there is a downpour. Is it a new'ish plant? Maybe there was pelleted fert in there from the nursery and it all gave up at once? Plus the white areas of the leaves are more susceptible to any sort of burn, I think. In that last photo all the burnt edges are on the very lightest areas of the leaf. The other photo, there is a little bit on the light green, but again the big burn is on the creamy area.

You've had a quick cool down, a ton of rain, plus the days are shorter and the sun/light is less intense. My advice is to try very dilute fert and see if the new leaves stay nice. You said you use liquid - Miracle Gro? - so you can control it, right?

Kay, your garden shots are wonderful! I love the scent of the foliage on those monardas. Aren't they related to bergamot, the herb that gives Earl Grey tea it's flavor?

About all I got blooming are brugs (sigh, it's a tough life . . ).