And another "Cordyline".
Tropical garden #63
Tropic, you have me drooling this morning. I can't find anything on your philo and it is so neat. Anyway, thank you for sharing your pics.
How long to ti's take to recover from cold? I don't mind the leaf loss, but just don't want to lose the plants.
Dutchlady, that and "Pink Purr-fection" are miniatures, just hoping they don't get smothered by the other plants (they're both in the ground).
3jsmom31, "Henderson's pride" according to my notes was developed in Cairns by local breeder Ken Henderson using P. tortum as the pollen parent. I've no note on what the other plant was.
Don't know about cold but some of mine out of reach of the irrigation suffer a bit during our dry season and lose leaves. Wet season they don't take too long to get them back.
Photo: my Hippeastrum papilio plants are growing very healthily, even producing some pups, but no sign of flowers. Am I spoiling them?
Tropic, I don't know if it has to be this way, but my amaryllis bulbs always bloomed right upon coming out of dormancy, then spent the rest of the season storing energy for the next season. Do you have to initiate a dormancy with those?
I bought them as bulbs (3) in August last year.and they sprouted reasonably fast. Since then they've grown well but I don't know much about them. I'm not sure what they'll do so I should be patient until they've done a full year. I'll have a better idea of what their cycle is. If the leaves are anything to go by they must be getting a lot of energy stored up for next season.
http://flowergardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/amaryllis_bulb_growing_tips
This is the only article I found so far that references planting them outside, but even so, it speaks of a dormant period at 55 degrees fahrenheit.
This one states that you just water sparingly during the cooler part of the year on evergreen (I believe papillio is) species.
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Hippeastrum
It's a pretty trip through bulbdom, anyway :).
3jsmom31, I had a read through those links. That temperature of 55F (12.8C) is a bit of a worry. The closest I can get to that is inside the fridge. Even at night that sort of a temperature is extremely rare. If it did happen you might only get 1 or 2 nights in a year, just before dawn. Some years it never happens. With all the talk of them being tropicals you'd think they wouldn't need it so low. If they went dormant, keeping the bulbs in a fridge for a while might work. Although I tried that with some daffodils one time. Poor things ended up confused, sort of half flowered and finally died. At least these Hippeastrums are showing good foliage.
3j, my amaryllis stay in the ground and although it does get cold here a few nights normally (and a lot of nights this year, ) the foliage does not always die back. They bloom reliably and often several times a year. If I want to have a forced bulb for indoors I dig up a bulb and let it dry out in the garage and pot it up just like you would do with one you buy in the fall.
I am not sure if they would be hardy in your area but you can check on the amaryllis forum, someone there would know.
Here is the first bloom of the season of the Barbados Lily, Hippeastrum striatum. It is the most common Hippeastrum in Hawai'i and thrives in upcountry areas where it has naturalized, although in does not do well down by the coast because of he heat.
Tropic, considering that they are tropical bulbs, I'd just leave them. They'll let you know if they don't like it. Lush growth and growing offsets doesn't sound unhappy. Hope you see some blooms soon. Do you get cooler weather during Jun, July, August when we get our hottest? Is that the dry season?
Hippeastrum papilio is a late Winter to early Spring flowering plant, so this is the wrong time of year for flowers in Tropicbreezes' area.
ardesia - what I remember about a summer spent near Volcano Village on the Big Island was all the TALL fuschias growing wild. I was accustomed only to fuschia baskets - thus the awesome memory. It was my first time for seeing Brugmansias and the Philodendrons growing way up into the overhead of heavily shrubbed areas. It was a gardener's delight - that summer!!!!! Bananas, avocados, and guava were also unexpected roadside treats!!!!!!!!
Bananas! This is Mai'a Lele, a Hawaiian Banana which can still be seen on roadsides as survivals from the past.
This is the Red Spanish Banana.
Flowers of the Brazilian / Hawaiian Apple Banana.
Flowers of the Silk Fig / San Marzano Banana.
this is one of many philos not to mention the endless bromeliads from giancarlo. he lived very close to me and he surely is missed.
prita mmm... mojito!
love all the cordylines.too
at least something survived the cold. it smells incredible tonight
bleeding hearts
cane begonias
somethings haven't done so well. poor leopard plant
this was just before the cold.
this is the same ginger tonight.
candela, at least it looks like the plants will recover that were damaged. That philo from giancarlo is just fantastic and huge :).
dave, I want to make banana pudding now. :).
I'll have to get off the Hippeastrum's back then, until 'late winter to early spring', August/September. The temps then will be about 35 to 40C (95 to 104F) during the day. Nights, possibly an odd 17C (63F) but mostly 20 to 22C (68 to 72F). That's still a bit above the 12.8C (55F) recommended by that other web site. We'll see what happens, another 7 - 8 months of building up their strength. They're going to have to produce some pretty massive flowers after that. ;O)
Took some of my Hanguana malayana out of the container/pond and put it in my swamp. It'll have a lot more room there, until the dry season.
While at the swamp I noticed the Colocasia esculenta there is flowering.
Today I couldn't resist buying an Alocasia lowii. Also got a small Cassia fistula. Looks a bit rat-eaten, but they're great survivors so it'll do well.
Nice Alocasia lowii. I love the markings on it. How dry does your swamp get? All the way or does it just shrink to a pond? I read a the hanguana, thanks for my lesson for the morning :). I love to learn about plants.
I have some alocasia/colocasia planted in 18 oz disposable cups and am wondering what size to put them in come spring? I have gallon nursery pots, 10 inch hanging baskets or I can dig up something bigger if you guys think they'll need it this year.
They are small, but I've heard they grow fairly fast :).
Hi Jsmom, you can get away with the gallon pots for awhile. They can easily fill out a two gallon pot by the end of the season.
Thank you, Dave. I'll plan on gallons by spring, and then 2 gallons a little later, then I'll start looking for bigger pots for next year. That Alocasia is a beauty. I can't wait to get bigger leaves on these guys but at least they are increasing. And spring is just around the corner. I can hardly wait to get out in the garden. Spring bulbs, flowering trees, berries of every flavor.... SPRING FEVER!!!
Spring on the way!
Wild Phaius tankervilleae beginning to flower.
Pandanus utilis, Bory of Madagascar.
Dendrocalamus strictus, "Calcutta Bamboo" of India.
Ceratozamia mexicana, Horned Cycad of Mexico.
Macrozamia miquelii, Large Cycad from Queensland, Australia.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I wish we could grow woody bamboo here. There is one that is hardy here that makes good bean poles, though. Those giants are really awesome. How far apart do the canes grow? They are really impressive.
Here is a little hardy bamboo that is growing in my garden. It's prettier in the summer. It was really nice out today, no coat and I just walked and looked at the buds, and things that are showing now.
Tropic, intriguing bloom on the C. johnstonii and I must say you have a very nice collection of "jewel's" as well but your A. lowii look's a bit more like A. watsoniana to me.?
Here is my Alocasia watsoniana for a comparison.
Dave, look's like spring has sprung in your neighborhood with that very pretty Phaius tankervilliae and 3jsmom, you have a good collection of starter Alocasia's and Colocasia's. You will enjoy them;-)
Rachel, they are addicting, because each plant is so different from the next. It's like I don't get tired of looking at new ones. I keep finding more interesting plants. The good news is that I can't afford them all, so will be happy with what I have, lol.