H. obscura has been going crazy ever since I put it outside this season. This is the first time I put it outside, and the color of the leaves and blooms is just gorgeous!
September flowers
Close-up of an umbel...
Gabi, that is one beautiful plant, both blooms and foliage! I have one little plant which I think is obscura. I received obscura in trade a year or so ago and it bit the dust for some reason, but I found a pot hiding on the deck with a little piece of viable stem, so I cut it and potted it up last spring. It rooted quickly and has grown this summer and I'm hoping next year it puts on a lot of growth and maybe eventually it will bloom and I can give it an identity, LOL. For the time being I have tagged it "possibly obscura".
Speaking of plant labels/tags ... does anyone know of a marker or pen that will not fade out? I have tried so many different ones and pencils as well, but they all seem to fade quickly. I have an orchid label that is so faded I can only make out a couple of letters and it's impossible to decipher. I sure would like to find something that is guaranteed not to fade.
Gabi, that's a beautiful plant! I've never been able to get mine to be anything but green, and so far no flowers. More light I guess is the answer...its always the answer.
Lin, the best thing I've found is pencil. I've been using Sharpies,which are supposed to be permanent, but I found out recently that in the sun they fade to nothing. I have two succulents I got in a trade that now have no names. I have plants that are 4 and 5 years old with pencilled tags, still nearly as clear as the day they were written.
Christine
Christine: I've tried #2 pencils as someone suggested ... no luck, those fade out too. Maybe it's this awful Florida heat! I know stuff fades quickly in the intense sun down here but the ones in deep shade are fading out quickly too.
^_^ I've been thinking of labeling with paint! I'm too much of a klutz to have everything in clay pots ... I've broken so many over the years and nowadays have very few things planted in them.
Thanks Lin and Christine.
Christine, yes I would think light is the answer. It has been blooming before I put it outside, but NEVER like this!!! Same with the reddish coloring.
Lin, as for a marker that won't fade out, I have a great marker. It's called a "GARDEN MARKER", and it simply does not fade, even in strong sunlight. I've tried permanent markers, and they are horrible. I got this marker at a hydro store, but here is the website that was written on the marker (the link will take you to the page where the marker is):
http://www.dpind.com/GARDEN_MARKER_PEN_p/garden%20marker%20pen%203.htm
Gabi
Permanent markers. Edding is a good make and the plastic label quality is important, ones with one side slightly course are the best to write on. Can put 2 labels the same in 1 pot, and if that fails, write the name on one label, put it with another label, but with the writing facing inside the sandwich of the 2 labels, and put in pot together
Oh, and here's the size I have. Seems a little thicker, but it writes amazingly. And it's cheaper than the one above!
http://www.dpind.com/GARDEN_MARKER_PEN_p/garden%20marker%20pen%203%201.2.htm
Thanks Gabi for the links and thanks Dominick for the ideas on the plastic labels. I have had some flimsy ones that don't hold up very long as well as some of the thicker plastic ones. LOL, I can picture me sticking little white plastic labels all around the inside perimeter of each pot so if one fades I have more chances of knowing what the plant is, but the idea of sandwiching them together is a better! ^_^
For me the best are the aluminum tags...no fading problem as there is no ink.
I use DecoColr Opaque Paint Markers by Marvy...find them at Michael's Craft store or Jo-Ann's fabrics.
The Extra Fine is perfect and it is paint.
Carol: Aluminum sounds perfect for Florida weather ... no more crumbling and disintegrating plastic, but what do you use to write the plant name on the aluminum?
Joni: I will have to go by Michael's or Jo-Ann's this week and look for the paint markers! Thanks!
Now I need to go google and try to find aluminum labels.
That's right, aluminum - I have several hoyas that I got with labels like that. Its a soft aluminum that bends with the pressure of whatever you're using to write with - I think there's a special "pen" you can get to write on them - essentially just a pointed end. So no ink, just the impression of the "pen" that writes on them and it lasts forever.
Christine
I still haven't googled for them yet ... going to do it right now! I think I remember when I bought some Knock Out Roses years ago they had aluminum labels with the names impressioned (is that a word?%) in them!
While googling for the aluminum labels I found this by a DG'er: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/703648/ Great idea but I am not crafty and have sooo little patience! ^_^
I know that Mauiplumeriagardens.com sells them.
You use a ballpoint pen to 'indent' the name....no need for ink. I use them for plants that i keep for me....
First bloom on H. pottsii IML353. And I am in love!!! It is a gorgeous yellow!
Another bloom on another plant of what I am calling H. aff. ovalifolia. This is the 3rd plant that has bloomed and it seems that once it starts, peduncles all over the plant start popping up!
And H. erythrostemma. The last time this bloomed for me it was NOT white, but pink. I like the white corollas.
Very pretty, Carol. I like the foliage on both of those too!
Ooh, that erythrostemma is gorgeous!
There are two forms: one has deep red corolla and corona and the other has the white corolla. I like them both!
I use a No. 1 pencil to write on my labels and I have never had a name written in No. 1 pencil fade from a label. The label will breakdown and crumble before the pencil will fade from the label.
Mike
H memoria/gracilis or might be something else now.:))
Forgot to mention, nice yet mild buttery smell
Dominic
This message was edited Sep 15, 2009 12:22 PM
Wow! beautiful flowers!!!
My Red Button just keeps on going.
I have my first peduncle forming on my Red Buttons........lovely dark color
Jan, gorgeous! I wish I can get my RB to flower - they are such beautiful flowers.
Gabi
Prop, Gabi, thanks! I love RB.
I'm gonna have to go search out both of those they are unbelievable!!! They don't even look real!!!
This only had 4 buds but they were large. H. Pentaphebea.
A little bouquet of H. wayetti ... can you tell I was bored this afternoon?
Jeri...are you sure that is H. pentaphlebia? The flowers look like H. carnosa...and the leaves have 5 veins.
Here are best friends: H. affinis and Cereus spiralis peruana.
I think this is H chingungensis.......
Very pretty but to me has the same surgical smell as H wee bella..similar peduncle formation too
and another cos its photogenic and couldnt decide which one...:))
Dominic
Carol I'm not completely positive. I'll try to chase the bloom back to the pot it came from later today and take a better picture of the leaves also.
Here's H. pentaphlebia...for comparison
