Indoor Gardens March 2014 Mid Atlantic

Terri--

That pot holds 7 bulbs now- It started out with 5 many, many years ago.

They are ALL older bulbs. The BIG pot was already around 10 years ago.
Same bulbs now--as then.

Was looking into some older pictures---found one of my LR plants by the window
(same as now) and the big pot of Amaryllis was on there--with the bulbs just sprouting.
Many of the plants I srill gave were also there--hanging by the window.

G.

I swear Gita you have more house plants than we have in both the GH and the house and they all look so very well taken care of and displayed in such a nice way.

Everything has a place--more or less--every year.
At least in the DR and LR. Same old..same old..

This year...look familiar?

LR and DR overview
DR window area
Kitchen side door
The guest bedroom
Light set-up in my BR.

Some individual plants...

--my REAL Christmas cactus (from "Birder' about to bloom
--The big Hibiscus marching on under my hanging light
--The small Pony tail Palm--seldom seen on the group shots. The big one
is "lost" among the plants by the LR window
--The Rattlesnake Calathea--by my BR window
--And--lastly--NO place is too weird for plants in my house...


YUP! I have TOO MANY plants!! What can I SAY???? Gita

AND----Lookie!

ALL my Fig cuttings are rooted!!! Brace yourselves!
Start thinking NOW where you will plant YOURS!
Spring swap is not that far away.

Gita, thought of you yesterday when Wayne and I wandered out to Homestead Gardens to check out their Christmas displays.

They had tables full of Christmas Cactus in 1 1/2 inch pots for $5!!! None as nice as your little starts. Two of my carryon carry overs from past ventures have fattening buds so I must have (inadvertantly) done something right this time round lol.

Do any of you remember or have a beautiful houseplant called Ming Aralia? Friend I visited on Thanksgiving has one that is over 20 yrs old and simply beautiful and lush and 4 foot tall! Seems they fell out of favor and were poorly grown for the mass market but may be making a comeback.

http://www.rhapisgardens.com/ming-aralias/

Judy--Thanks!

Many of my CC's are from JB---and some SHE has are from me.
Three years agoo JB sent me a HUGE package that held just 6-4" pots of CC's.
You have never see such packaging! They were each a different color.
--Peaches and Cream
---White Christmas
--Yellow Zygo
--Twilight Tangerine
--Orange Christmas
--Schlum. Hybrid 9410 (very bright fuchsia/purple)

Of course--I have some different colors too.
--Salmon
--Red
--Some very pretty pinks
-Fuchsia and whites....

The three that have the longest, sturdiest stems are: the Yellow, Salmon, and White.
Like outstretched arms in all directions.

Now that they are done blooming--I need to pinch them back...and I have sworn off
propagating more! HA!

I think I will do several cuttings per pot--not one section in each little pot.
That is how the huge pots, you see for sale,are created. Many stems.
If you look below--there must be 8-10 separate stems.

I have photographed each of my CC's--whole plant and macro of bloom.
They are all on a separate Memory card. Need to do a separate Folder and
put all those in there. I did it last year too. Then I can post pics of all these colors
for you all to see.
Something on my list to do.... Gita

I can do one here--as it is in my current Folder...
This is the "Peaches and Cream" one from JB.

maybe Ming Aralia is my next adventure.
I remember loving something called False Aralia (I think) very divided leaves, dark color, lacy look

I sure do like that Ming Aralia.
Gita, Very pretty

Pic of Ming Aralia bonsaied.

SSG have you tried this?

Holly, you would enjoy this plant, hope you can score a good one up in your area!

That's a gorgeous plant, but I have a vague memory of killing one of these a few years back. :)

LOL, Just love it, but won't be going looking for one right now. Too many plants overwintering here right now.
SSG, You have to kill at least 3 of them before you give up. That's my rule any way. ;}

I have a vague memory of seeing the Ming Aralia at the HD long ago.

These kinds of plants can be found among the small "Angel Plants".
Always an assortment. I bet there are at least 3 kinds of Aralias there right now..
I KNOW there is the one that has the deeply lobed, dark green leaves
that, sort of, resemble Flat Leaf parsley leave. name?
We also get in the one with the round, silvery green leaves Aralia. name?
Balfour Aralia ???

I also remember that these often had mealy Bugs on them-but so do many plants
that come from FL. Not right away-but in a few months they will merge. Scale too.
One reason i do not buy any houseplants at the HD.

G.

Good rule Holly, and sometimes I just loose count!

SSG I bet that the Aralia you witnessed to demise of was one of the 'poorly grown " and not due to you! From my link in above post
"The Ming aralia and friends are back. These indoor ornamentals, versatile, decorative and easy to maintain, are the very epitome of house plant excellence. Quite popular not many years ago, they suddenly dropped out of sight almost entirely, but now we are again beginning to see them in the shops.

The eclipse was not due to any deficiency in the plants themselves, but reflected the reckless way they were being grown in the trade, which resulted in poor quality. The revival has much to do with the esteem with which the plants have continued to be held by both amateur and professional indoor gardeners, as well as with renewed efforts to bring good-quality specimens to the market."

Believe me, if my friend has kept hers alive for over 20 years, a good one is hard to kill!

Holly, I won't be surprised if one finds you sooner than later!

Gita, I think you are right on and many mass produced plants do not survive well beyond the sales area, if that! And then consumers feel responsible and schlep back for more poor quality but looking good plants to try again...

This message was edited Dec 3, 2014 10:10 AM

I got two amaryllis from the group buy, planted them both the same time, which was about 4 weeks ago, and one of them has started blooming while the other has done nothing at all. That one still has a bunch of green about the bulb but nothing going on. Both have had equal conditions and are planted in equal pots and soil. The only thing I did different with the blooming one is put it in a peroxide bath for mildew that was around the roots and then I took bleach water and a toothbrush to get the mold off the cut leaf stalks. It's perplexing me. Have I just been lucky with the blooming one and they don't usually bloom that fast?

same variety or different? Today's article says some are earlier than others.

Seq, I planted mine all at the same time and they're all in different stages.

One seems to be still completely dormant, while one has nearly finished blooming.

I also planted all my amaryllis at the same time and all are in different stages too. I came home to 'Rosita' in full bloom today. There is another one that is close to blooming, some with green stalks, and others nearly dormant. Since we all should have some of the same cultivars from the group buy, it would be interesting to compare which ones are blooming when and see if they match up or if they are truly random.

good idea aspenhill!

In addition to today's DG article mentioned by Sally above which features a list of Early (4-6 wks after planting), Mid,( 6-10 weeks after planting) and Late (8-12 weeks after planting) blooming varieties some of which may have been part of the Group Buy. here is another list link
http://www.gardening123.com/articles/display_article.asp?MS=6&SS=60&ID=102987

Oh well that's refreshing. I'm glad that there's nothing wrong with mine then. My nothing bulb is a Red Pearl and the one blooming now is a Bolero.

Jeff, I got Red Pearl too and they are just now starting to show a little green stem at the top of the bulb - the slowest to grow out of all the ones I got. I didn't get Bolero.

Oh great, thanks for the info Aspen! I'm glad because I thought it was going to be a dud. Maybe I'll see something in another week or so.

May I show you my small TRUE Christmas cactus in bloom?
Birder sent me some cuttings a few years ago.

It is now opening more buds. They are magenta color.
When it is fone blooming--I will transplant it into a bigger pot.
It is still in a small, oval, 4" pot.

OK! Tadahhh! Isn't it cute?

And--my Hibiscus blooming away!

Gita

very pretty, Gita. So it has rounded, not pointed, edges?
I forgot about my Hibiscus. Must be in the basement. And where's my lemon tree? somewhere inside...I disperse these things and then forget.
I have a few Brug cuttings seem good, and the Tropical Milkweed is getting new growth, 'smile' . They're on a south facing windowsill in the cool far basement room.

Very pretty Gita.

Sally--

The true CC has smaller, rounded leaves same as the Easter cactus--which also
has smooth edges. Except--the true CC's leaves are much smaller...daintier.
The Holiday (Thanksgiving) cactus has the spiked leaves.

Another thing about the true CC--it's stems tend to hang down--kind of drooping--
and so do the blooms. They hang straight down.
The Thanksgiving cactus blooms arch kind of sideways and upwards.

Sally--how did you prepare your Tropical Milkweed for winter. Is it just in the house?
Mine is dead--I am sure--as I just left it outside in the BIG pot.

G.

I was fostering the last six or so little starts from Coleups spring group buy of them. I took them from cell packs up to individual pots and thought I was sinking them outside. But then learned I should bring them in, so they now occupy four 3-4 inch pots on a cool sunny windowsill.

This is supposed to be Aphrodite but I think it's actually double white. I have another one that's about to bloom.

How lovely!

Jeff, Last year everyone that had a certain Am. bulb and waited for ever for it to grow and bloom, maybe you have something like that.

I had a Ming Aralia for 7-8 years, great looking and easy to care for, rather slow growing. When I moved to this area I did not bring any plants with me. :-{ Mine probably was a not so good looking plant and came from a florist I worked for in college. Unlike the big box stores, when they told me to dump plants I was allowed to take them home.

Anybody had a Frosty Fern? Seeing them again in the stores. I think it's probably a bit finicky, but since many people don't keep other holiday plants more than a few weeks, I don't think this is overly short lived.

Yes, I had one a couple of years ago. A friend gave it to me in a very pretty pot for Christmas. Didn't last long. I will say that it probably didn't get the best care around that time.

Thanks for that. It would like your greenhouse now.

Homestead Gardens has oodles of that "Shooting Star" Hydrangea we oohed and ahhed over last year. These are pure white blooms in 2 sizes $12.99 or $24.99.

they looked really pretty with some of the new poinsetias: Orange Spice. Dulche Pink or Winter Rose

Sally, I was just thinking this morning that the frosty fern should do well in a Terrarium. I'm putting one together for a Christmas present might look for a frosty fern for myself and try it.

Should love the terrarium life, Holly. Also saw a red clubmoss.

I was thinking you just needed to go outside and find a nice patch of moss for under it but red club moss sure would look great.