Tropical Garden #88 - January 2011

Close up of the Maple Tree flowers:

Ardesia: That aquarium is my husbands pride and joy. Seems like a lot of work to me ... he has to check stuff every day and make sure everything is working okay. There are a lot of Leather Corals in the tank that originated from two really huge ones that he had to cut up because they were getting so large and taking up too much space. Just like live plants that grow in soil, you can propagate live coral from cuttings, LOL. He's traded a bunch of them away and is wanting to trade some more so he can add some other types of coral to the tank. Yes, there's lots of live rock in there ... it's fun to get a flashlight when the tank lights are off at night and shine it in there. It's amazing all the teeny organisms that come alive at night that you never even know are there because they are not visible during the day. There's a Sea Star ("Starfish") in there too that my husband calls a sand sifter ... it's white like the substrate and blends in so it's difficult to see unless you are really looking for it.

Geesh, sorry about the duplicate pic's of the Maple blooms ... I am so bad about that! I even went back through the thread before posting but do see I posted the maple flowers a few days ago!

This is Huernia schneideriana ("Red Dragon Flower"):

Ria what is the yellow bloomig plant? and I love the ribbon plant.
Lin, I have seeds from the rivera corymbosa, that is how I started mine, it reminds me of the stictocardia breavenis that I have growing. I can send you some seeds.
I love the aquariums too. I have never had one.

Debra: I'd love some Rivera corymbosa seeds! Is it a vine or shrub? I wonder if it would be perennial in my zone? It is a gorgeous plant!

Rhipsalis elliptica:

The Tillandsia in my neighbor's oak tree ... showing cold damage:

AWWW poor little T plant ;( Needs a blanket! Lin, it is supposed to be a prennial, but here in Kansas, it is a tropical. Like all the other "out of the country" morning glory species I love to grow. I do not know if it is hardy there, it is a VINE tho, this is mine, I grew it last winter from a seed. It has not bloomed yet. This picture is from the 3rd of January.

This message was edited Jan 7, 2011 9:29 PM

Debra: LOL, it's way up in the tree and I'm not climbing up there to put a blanket around it! Wow, that plant is from one seed? I wonder if it would be invasive if I planted them in the ground here? I can't get rid of that Ipomoea cordatotriloba (Sharp Pod/Wild Morning Glory! I love the flowers but that darn vine wants to take over the world!

Well, I better say g'nite for now. I have 4 pans of Brownies in the oven and I don't want to forget about them and have them get overdone. Tomorrow I'm going on a bus trip to Miami with a group from the University where my husband teaches. We have a Basketball game down there tomorrow night and I'm taking Brownies for the trip down. My husband can't go because of another commitment so he will have to listen on the radio but I'm leaving a few brownies for him. ^-^

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hello Everyone!

panladylin, thank you, that seems to be as close to a proper id as I can get, the new leaves look like the ones in Plant Files but the mature leaves are quite different. I hope that it makes a good ground cover. The plant in the picture is two years old.
You all made me chuckle talking about climbing up a tree to cover a plant. That is a true sign of a plantholic.
I have never noticed the blooms on the maples before, I will now!
That ia very nice Huernia plant, has it flowered?

Philo.

ardesia, I like the idea of planting a memory tree.
Here's hoping that the weather will not be as bad as predicted but I am on the ready with back-up propane tanks in the off chance that the electricity goes out.

Aralia

Joeswife, that is a golden shrimp plant, growing in my hh. I find them easy to start from cuttings and will include a few when mailing your package in the spring with a start of the ribbon plant as well.

The Golden Shrimp plant is the only one that has not done so well for me here. I have the Red, Variegated ( which has done SUPERBLY thru our cold snaps, as well as Fruit Cocktail which dies back, but comes back.
Again, I want to Thank whom ever it was that gave me the gift subscription. I do appreciate it. I do however feel bad that so there are those who would need it more than me. But anyway, Thank You ! ......
I played in the greenhouse but didn't get around to taking any pics as they would have been representative, the white/red Bleeding Heart is very Happy, blooming away, and Rachel, the Rex Begonia vine and Amazonian vine are growing by leaps and bounds. I love love love them ! I repoted them into some small hanging baskets and hung them under the plants lights in the kitchen where I can keep an eye on them.

Debra, you Mudpie seed cakes seem to have sprouted a few seeds. I wonder what they are ?????
Down to at least 34º tonight, we are in our "Up" "Down" phase...poor plants and animals, they don't know what to make of it !!!

mjs, I hope they are the lobelia cardinalis and the asters. You will love them if that is what is coming up. Cool weather is good for those two.
Rita, thank you, I look forward to adopting more plants from you.. I have never seen the yellow one, only the reddish orange ones. went to lowes ( it is sooo cold here right now) i got me three two ft long lucky bamboo sticks for my tall cool triangle vase. now for the rocks and charcol.

Well, I'd be happy for anything at this point. A few Sulphur Butterflies were out today. Looking for something....ANYTHING, to nectar from. I took a few plants out of the greenhouse for a few hours this afternoon in hopes to give them something to feed from. But I doubt there was much nectar from the megar blooms that there are. Just not warm enough to get the nectar flowing. I have found at at least 25 frozen Monarch chrysalis...very sad....I love my Monarchs.

mjsponies, I love that fruit cocktail salvia, but mine never came back after the freeze. The variegated dancing flame is my favorite. I have to keep them in the GH as well.
This is one of the unidentified plants that I sent cuttings of, it roots quite easily and will always be in bloom. I cannot remember the name.

Joeswife, I got 2 out of 8 cuttings of the red plumbago to root so far, but will try again.
It is snowing and nasty here today. I have been out to the greenhouses checking on the heat several times alrady today. It will be a loooog nasty week for us.
No blooms but I have buds on this little powderpuff plant.

This is other powderpuff that has never bloomed before, it is 6 ft tall. I hope that I will like them and that they won't look like the Mimosa blooms .

This is my Chalice vine covered in buds, but if they get too cold they will all fall off. They are planted at the entrance of the GH, there is a good chace that might happen this week. (fingers crossed)

Oh no, Rita, don't tell me that. Mine has blooms also, but it is in a regulated GH, but I only keep it at 50. Is that too cold for it? I am guessing not, because it has been that since it turned cold and it actually has blooms. Mine has never bloomed before, which I've only had it a year.

Rita, the powderpuff, you will love! I have two, one in the yard and one in a pot in the GH. The one in the yard gets frozen every year, but so far has come back. It was beautiful this past summer. Mine is blooming in the GH also.

Is that the plant that you sent me a cutting of? Mine is dormant, but new eaves are coming. Or was it a floss tree that you sent me? Thanks for showing the bloom buds on your chalice vine.
It is snowing here too. Since it is getting down to minus 5 in another night or two, I went out and threw more leaves on my snowberry bush and the newest wegelia someone sent me. I hope my button bush makes it thru this winter. It is supposed too.. we will see.

Rita, you are doing better than I am with cuttings right now.. out of 6 nice sized cuttings of the lavender rose out front, only one rooted. Only one of the jasmine sambuc of the 6 I started rooted. I am challenged by the stictocardia morning glory.. it will Not Root for me. I have tried water, vermiculite, bagged and unbagged. I hate a challenge, it makes me want to keep trying.

Ku protected the farm and his toys, with no quarter.

Well here is the new thread which we need!!!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1148697/

This is the morning glory I got from Becky and I did not know if it would root but it did and here it is still blooming I will plant it in the Spring.

Aaah, Dave ... Ku really did have such soulful eyes. Were you able to bury him on the farm property? We have an area in the corner of our backyard where we've buried many beloved critters. My mom used to call it our pet cemetery and I guess in a way it is. How is is Kea doing the past few days since her buddy is gone? I know she is sad too and I'm sure you are giving her extra attention while you both go through the grieving process.

There is a Hawaiian legend that Ku gave his life and a Breadfruit / Ulu grew from him.
I buried Ku by a young Breadfruit tree. I'll get a photo when the Sun comes up.

Nice legend ... and the Breadfruit tree seems a nice resting place for your Ku. I love the leaves of the Artocarpus trees, very beautiful. Yes, please post a photo.

We got 8 inches of snow last night. Hope all my tropicals survive the winter. I'm ready for Spring!

Hope the weather makes a turn for the good back there.

Here is Ku's resting place.

awwww that is wonderful, Dave.

Lili: Wow, 8" of snow that far south is pretty rare indeed. Stay safe on those roads! My youngest sister is up that way NW of Atlanta, in Marietta, Ga.

Dave: That is really nice ... the perfect resting place for Ku. I'm sure that tree will grow big and strong and be absolutely beautiful.

Kea is getting back into good spirits.

When Ku lost the ability to move, Kea got depressed and lost her apatite. She got kinda skinny too.

I've been spending a lot of time with her lately, taking her everywhere I go, and she has started eating well again. She hadn't eaten well in about 2 months.

Dave, that photo is priceless! It's good news and a good sign that Kea's appetite has returned! I really believe that canines (and felines as well) sense things more than humans. I think she knew Ku's time left on earth was short which caused the depression and lack of appetite. How old is she? I am having trouble with not being able to enlarge the thumbnail photo's here on DG but from the looks of her white muzzle, I'm assuming she's getting up there in years too, or has her face always been that light? It's good that you take her along with you, especially now that Ku is gone, you and Kea can be good company for each other.

Thanks everyone.

Kea was born in October, 1996. Both dogs were here from the beginning of the farm.

plantladylin, Marietta is not too far from me, about 20-30 minutes. They got alot of snow too. Temp has not gone up so shady area are still frozen, makes dangerous driving.

Hello Everyone!!

I am singing the "I Lost My Buds" blues. The Chalice and powderpuff buds have fallen. I did try to keep my HH above 55 F but must have failed somehow.

pencolagarden, Good luck with your new buds. It will be a much welcome sight whenever it blooms.

mjsponies,I was advised that if I wanted my Epi's and Hoyas to bloom, I should keep them root bound. I am wondering if that was good advice.
I am so proud of you guys that can get MGs to bloom this time of the year.
I would like to frame that picture. It is very good!

Begonia

oh Rita, I hate that. Mine are still hanging in there. I actually turned the temp up just a few degrees. Unfortunately, we are having more record cold temps, 19 last night and supposed to be that tonight or even colder. But hey, it is supposed to be near 70 by Sunday. Go figure!

Yes Rita, the epi's loves heat and to be root bound. I have not repotted mine in 6 years and it blooms like crazy when it's warm outside!

yes.. eppies here have winter heat also.. they sit on a marble slab over a radiator... in front of a wndow... they are always so happy..
lots of the tropcals live in their winter home in the 2" foam winter house...pictured

So clever Gordon, you are always full of good ideas. Do you have a gas heater in there? I noticed the vent on the roof.

Ardesia... well thanks.. it does seem to be working wonderfully.. given the hgh wnds and storms it's weathered already..
well that vent on the roof are just a few hot air baloon patio lghts.. hanging in the fore ground..
it does have an electric heater though.. and a fan... and two 4' long T-5 flourescent lght hung from the ceiling... the heater is set to a no freeze setting.. it trys to mantain 45*F... and t eeps it between
44* and 49* all the time... if it's 10* and blowing 50 mph... of if it's 35 and calm... it stays about the same temperature + or - a degree or two... succcess..
the last few years I've made the foam house... dug up the plants and cutthe root balls back to go into pots... ths year I dug the root balls and just placed them together on the floor... and partitioned it off... so there's less stress on the plants... as they maintained more of their root ball intact... this is an inside picture... of everyone together..

Note to self, always use your eyeglasses, I can see the lights now. LOL

this is better to see the lights..
the vents you see here are from our two furnaces and 3 waterheaters in the basement 5 floors below.. and one vent is from the top floor of the next building.. but on the first photo... only the lights could be seen..

This message was edited Jan 14, 2011 3:56 PM