Indoor plants at Mid At- continued Feb 2013

Wow Ruby, very very nice! ALL the sprouts!
I have made two friends with spider plant babies from the spider you gave me.

Cool Paul, never heard of that.

Hopefully I will have a few for the swapppppp

It IS invasive, though....

Did you read Sharon's article today? It was mostly about Creeping Charlie, and how it takes over,
but she mentioned other plants as well...

i KNOW somewhere today--Walking iris was mentioned as undesirable and hard to get rid of. ....
G.

Well that may be true Gita in warmer areas where it is hardy but I keep mine in a pot and bring it in for the winters.

Wandering Jew is terribly invasive too.

Beautiful plants everyone! Ruby, glad you joined in.... You've got quite a collection.

Here is the small Streptocarpus Marlene brought to the Swap.
It had blooms on it then--which died-- and it is now blooming again. Cute!

My bigger ones on the windowsill (from donner) are not blooming at all.
I have to blame it on the cool surroundings. They are inches from the windowpane.
Growing well and look healthy, though, just no blooms.

G.

wow gorgeous!

Holly and anyone else into Carnivorous plants---

Our HD just got in HUGE Pitcher plants......$25.
Please check your closest HD if you are interested...G.

Thanks for the name of the Begonia Gita....made note and will make a label because sure as heck, I will forget it again.

Also thanks to Donnerville for the name of African Violet....I did label them when getting them from you but the labels had faded.....need to change my label making process it seems.

Wanted to share a few more pictures of the plants....oh yeah...Yes Gita, all house plants for the most part will spend the warm months on a shaded screen porch and they do thrive there for sure. So much easier and faster to turn a water hose on them than to carry around a two gallon sprayer which I usually fill three or four times when watering plants. Used to really be a long process before the sprayer and this still gets to be tiring and time consuming and I usually break it up in to different rooms plants on different days as far as watering goes.

Sally is the only one of you to have seen the infamous plant room. My ideal would in the future be able to knock the wall out of other spare bedroom and having erected along the lines of Terri's Four Seasons room, though mine would be about one eighth the size of hers or less. I keep hinting to the point, but time will tell...the bedroom is currently occupied by my youngest son who is still home.

More pics......

More pics.......taken a couple of months ago...when I downloaded these pictures earlier this week I saw that they still had Christmas Day photos on it.....even had ones from last fall that I took of the fall foliage from our back deck...late getting things done anyone?....also a couple of shots of a Blackberry Lily seed.

S. Bristol's Psychedelic Sun
S. DS-Mysticism

So pretty.

I have buds on Goose Egg from donnerSally

Oh, Those are just gorgeous.

Here is 'Mei Lee' blooming today

Such pretty blooms......I also ordered some bloom producing fertilizer along with the seeds I recently ordered. Just started using it, so can't say whether there will be a difference in the amount of blooming my plants do or not yet. I thought that I might be able to save money with this fertilizer versus what I have used for years which is liquid SuperThrive, but I don't think there is going to be much of a savings, so will probably break down and order a large bottle of SThrive soon.

When I mix up my water I also put a good size gulp of peroxide in the sprayer too and the plants seem to like that too. Many of my Begonias have bloomed through out the winter which was a treat for me. Haven't really done an inventory but I should be having some things to share at the plant swap.

Anyway folks.....keep those pretty blooms coming....always fun to look at. Hope that everyone is having a great weekend.

Ruby

Teri, That is just gorgeous.
We will have to ask Donner how she propagated hers. I wonder if she grew them from seed or do you grow them from leaves like you do AV's. Next swap we will be meeting her at the car to grab plants before anyone else sees them. LOL

very nice aspenhill

Ruby whatever you were doing to grow your plants before October when I saw them , must have been pretty darn good..

Holly haha!

Ruby---

I did not think that "Super Thrive" is a fertilizer per say...!
It is a Vitamins and Hormones" type of an amendment--says so right on the bottle.

I am sure it helps plants--but i do not think it has any N-P-K in it.

I have a small bottle of it and, occasionally, I add a drop of it to my water when watering
my houseplants. Sometimes--I also add a couple of drops of MG liquid Houseplant food.

Your plants DO seem to be doing quite well...no matter what.
G.

I'm not sure I mentioned my Sarracenias a type of Pitcher plant that I got at the York Show they were part of the display gardens. Not really house plants as they are hardy in my area. They like swaps, bogs and the edges of ponds. Since I bought them at the show they needed to go into the GH till it gets warmer and can be planted out. I was so surprised to see them putting out blooms. They haven't opened yet but I check them every morning to see what they look like.

lol Holly, they are in good company if they like swaps!

I had no idea there are such beautiful selections available. Makes me want to go all boggy! I read somewhere that if you don't have a swap or a bog that some will do well container grown set in a water tray...hum. I love 'Dainas Delight.
http://www.plantdelights.com/Sarracenia/products/336/

I also have the Scarlet Belle. I bought that one last July and have it planted in a small bed near the pool. Doesn't look like much right now but I have great hopes for it next summer.
http://www.plantdelights.com/Sarracenia-x-wrigleyana-Scarlet-Belle-Scarlet-Belle-Pitcher-Plant/productinfo/5031/#.UU5h9Tey]

Amazing pics!! Those creepy alien Pitcher Plants are awesome...LOVE it!!

Ruby, you have an amazing array of plants! Wow! I love them all together like that!

Terri, very pretty strep!

Holly, streps can indeed be propagated very easily by leaves. The main thing to remember is to have the propagation mix damp, but not too wet.... to avoid the leaf rotting. I have pretty good luck with leaves. The thing to remember with strep seeds is that they won't bloom true... even if selfed. The only way to get babies identical to parent is by leaf propagation.

And to Holly and Judy.... Love the pitchers! I have a small one... not sure the name but I have the tag... I actually wintered it over in my bathroom! I'll be glad when I can put it back outside.

Sally--

Remember that little, green-spotted Begonia I gave you a couple of years ago?
How big has yours grown?

Mine has started to grow "canes"--as I suppose it is some form of AW (Cane) begonia.
I will not let it do that.....There are 3 stems I will be cutting back--to root and to let the mama plant
bush out a bit more.
I just think it needs to be done. I would like to keep it more compact. G.

I liked it a lot- and somehow have lost it. I like it bushy as well, not cane-et

Well--when one of the cuttings roots-Thou shalt have a new one......;o)

I will also try to root all the leaves that I removed from the stems that I cut off.
Just an experiment--but that is what I usually do--and it may work--or NOT work.
Basing this on the fact that most Begonias can be grown from ONE leaf.
Now--this Begonia's leaves are on very thin, short stems....

I put the leaves in soil, in a shallow plastic tray at an angle--and closed the lid.
Holes melted in the lid for ventilation. Went under my supplementary LOW lights...

We will see...We will see.....G.

You are so thoughtful with plant sharing. Thanks! Good luck with the leaves; that would be great fun to see them root.

Just saw a new tropical/house plant. It is an epiphyte called Medinilla Magnifica...stopped me in my tracks!
http://www.medinilla.ca/

Terp, I was at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville today for several workshops on Bayscaping, rain gardens, storm water management, and native plants, and backyard chickens. I saw these beauties on the way out. The plant is being grown in Canada and supplies are limited. They are high end plants and not inexpensive but they can be propagated by cuttings. I believe the price for a gallon pot was close to $30. I'm sure all of us attracted to them will be researching their characteristics and how tos.

The flowers in my pic were just beginning and were as big as my fist! And each of the six plants on display had a nice form like those on the web site I listed above.

Homestead Gardens is a good reference point as it is one of America's largest retail Garden Centers.

They are not however a big box store in terms of volume pricing. They are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year
http://www.homesteadgardens.com/cherish/

Coleup, Aren't they stunning plants! I saw one at the York Flower Show. They wanted $50 for it.

''They are high end plants and not inexpensive but they can be propagated by cuttings. I believe the price for a gallon pot was close to $30.''

Read more: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1299412/#ixzz2OY3P0rZM

hm, if I write an article I claim the 30 for expenses and make 50. Then I propagate for all of Mid At....

Or I was thinking x amount of people put together enough money to buy one. The organizer buys it and cuts it up for all who participated.

That's an interesting idea. Without experience with the plant, I'd be a little nervous taking "deposits" and being the foster mom. Coleup saw it in real life,- coleup do you think they were big enough to split up? coleup might be out in the snow this morning. its been snowing steadily for a few hours here.

Often, plants that are pricey are slow to propagate.....

That could well be the case. There are plantfiles notes going back years, in tropical zones, so its not totally NEW to cultivation.

Logees sells seed grown starter plants for $15 that they say will reach blooming size in 2-3 years.

Plants I saw are not 'dividable' but are blooming size with four or more blooms each. Would think that tip cuttings would take 2-3 years for blooming size, too. Like orchids or Christmas cactus, they come in and out of bloom and repeat bloom but are not continuos bloom like in the areas where they can be planted in the ground year round...Could definitely be part of a ' blooming plant of the week, month, season' rotation. Major propagator in N America is hoping to gain 2-3 % of the 'orchid' market with them.

Not sure where our mercenary tendancies come from Sally and Paul! Maybe some left overs from past lives in the fast lane of the Tulip Craze? lol So, shall I brave the snowy conditions and risk my life to get to Homestead and buy up all of the local supply? Sally, I could rent on to you for your article for say $30 and pass one on to Paul for cost plus say a $10-$20 handling fee, bring one or two to the plant swap and charge 'admission' to see them nicely displayed in the back of my van or perhaps auction one off to the highest bidder (of course taking any tip cuttings for future propagation and sales...or just enjoy them for myself?

I'm such a sucker for anything like "Grow ____(fill in the blank) for Fun and Profit in Your Own Back Yard." Making a living doin what you love...

On the other hand, I would be willing to acquire one and baby sit it for any one here who wants me to LMK

Judy

PS, on a different note there was what looks to be a strep relative with no id that also caught my eye yesterday. Any thoughts? Definitely pale yellow blooms and lots of them.

NO-- MY GOSH NO- DO NOT buy that plant for me! Not that you were really going to --LOL!

Ask JB how much fun and profit there is growing plants..or not!

I'm staring at a Plumeria that needs cutting and rooting. And seedlings...and amaryllis are finally budding now..

Judy,
I picked up one of those medinilla plants at a local nursery earlier in March. Mine is in a 6" square pot and has 2 huge blooms on it for $34 bucks. Posted about it earlier in this thread. Not sure if it is big enough to take cuttings, and I'm not sure how to do cuttings anyway - something I still need to learn! Only cuttings I've done are with scented gernaiums from my summer containers - that was pretty easy, but this plant has huge leaves so not sure where to cut???