Rik, have you seen the new bronze sweet potato vine? It's from Proven Winners. Looks great with Amber Waves heuchera and Kiwi Fern coleus.
Help!!!
oh, joydie1!!! i forgot to tell you that jim does have the blackie or whatever spades whatever potato vine, and i'm mailing them both to you on monday!!!!
Joydie -- Here's a picture of Dipt in Wine from Nancy Fernandes' page: http://www.abacom.com/chacha/nancy/coleus_2_lg.jpg
Vern Ogren, the hybridizer at Color Farms, claims that it is just a misappropriation of his Kona Red. A picture of that is at the bottom of Variations' Coleus Catalog page -- my computer doesn't want to open that right now, so I can't give you a link.
Cala -- I haven't seen the new bronze one yet, and I can't find it at Proven Winners (a great place to find new things and good ideas). They have Blackie and Black Heart and Marguerite, the chartreuse one, which they call something else, but no bronze .... I'd love to see it. The combination you are planning sounds perfect. I have some bronze ajuga that might want in the picture, too. But I always go overboard. I would have to put some Dark Star and some Rustic Orange coleuses to define the opposite limits of the bronze colors.
I've just gotten Rustic Orange and love it -- it's an uneven orange that tends sometimes slightly to red and sometimes to yellow, but never so far that it stops being very orange. The leaves look as if they were painted with water colors.
Meanwhile, I've decided where my Marguerite and Blackie vines will go --
Right outside the bay window in our breakfast room, there is a walkway, then a small garden (maybe 3 x 12 or 15') that is backed by a six or seven foot rock retainer wall, above which the slope to our first terrace rises. The little garden doesn't get much light and is always damp (the rocks are covered with moss and sometimes small ferns). So that garden is where I have put some of my black elephant ears alternating with Imperials (three blacks, two imperials). Behind the EEs are Pretoria/Bengal Tiger cannas (bright green and yellow striped foliage) and in front of and around the elephant ears I have planted all kinds of coleuses from the tallest in the back to the shortest in front. I had wanted to put some trailing coleuses along the top of the wall as a little cornice, but the only one I can find is Red Trailing Queen (which I like, but I wanted more diversity). Now, I'm going to plant Marguerite and Blackie at the top of the wall to mound and then overflow the wall, picking up the colors of the cannas and the black elephant ears at the bottom of the wall.... 'Can't wait.
Oh, Joydie – I have a new sport, too. It came spontaneously from a Pineapple Sun, but the leaves look nothing like it. They are flat, thin, broad and heart-shaped. They are pale lemon yellow in the sun and are irregularly and sparsely spotted with burgundy -- three or four spots to a leaf. I’ve never seen anything like them. I have several plants of them going now.
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PS -- Since I literally have around half a bushel of at least three kinds of I. batatas vines that are rooting by themselves (though some are leafless at the moment), I'd be happy to share them with anyone who might also like to trade a few coleus with me.
Rik,
Yup the first link is what my plant sport looks like. Before that the leaves have yellow mottling at the base beneath where the green band starts to emerge enclosed by the red border.
Have a look at these two links. Pineapple Prince and Pineapplet appear to be sports from Pineapple Sun. There is also a Pinapple Princess sport as well.
Pineapple Prince
http://www.variationsgreenhouse.com/images/coleus/PineapplePrince.jpg
Pineapplet
http://www.oaklandnurseries.co.uk/plant_pg/coleus_pineapplette.htm
Here's a new coleus I found the other day...Closest to what I have appears to be called Winter Sun as the centre of the leaf really is more cinnamon-orange. http://www.oaklandnurseries.co.uk/plant_pg/coleus_wintersun.htm
Joydie -- What was the name of the original coleus on which your sport was formed? I have a Rainbow that thinks it is Black Magic (that's the dark one with the bright green or yellow edge, right?), and another no-name that is doing a very good impersonation of Copasetic Yellow. I thought it was for a while, but rationally it couldn't be.
There are countless Pineapple somethings. I've been thinking about posting to ask if anyone understood them well enough to give a rundown of them.
I'm familiar with Pineapple Prince, but those I've seen have a longer leaf, a paler stalk (maybe rose, rather than cranberry) and no red on the top of the leaf at all. This one, very generally speaking, has a similar shape to the leaf as the sport I mentioned, but the edge of mine is smoother and the surface is not as textured; it is more flat, and it is a thinner, more delicate leaf. The color is not the same. Mine is an even, pale, lemon yellow. The burgundy markings on mine are not concentrated near the petiole, as in this picture; they are sparse dots, maybe three or five to a leaf, widely scattered.
Here is the Pineapple Prince I consider to be standard: http://www.crownsvillenursery.com/images/ColeusPinneappplePrinceBW0901.jpg (pic is from Crownsville Nursery)
About Winter Sun, it's hard for me to tell much about it from the tiny thumbnail.
Those Brits at Oakland have such stingy pictures that it is hard to tell anything from them, but it is clear that the crenulation is deeply incised. It is hard to see the character of the red patches. But it looks kind of irregular, rather than localized. So, in that respect it might be like mine. But I hesitate to compare anything from their collections with ours because they have been separated for so long, and the interesting work with coleus is all happening over here.
That site is more like a botanical museum for us than anything else -- a peek at the past, a historical look at coleus as they were long ago. In some respects, that is very exciting (like the Exhibition Giants that Park Seeds is resurrecting), but for the most part ... not.
I wouldn't assume that everything that has the word "Pineapple" in its name is a sport of another Pineapple, especially not of Pineapple Sun, which, though it is the most popular one now, I believe, is a more recent development.
The deep crenulation of Pineapplette is so distinct that it makes me doubt that it is related to our royal family of pineapples (Pineapple Prince, Pineapple Queen, etc.).
whew, finally got time to catch up on this thread! Rik, where did I post Fright Night? I don't remember anyone id'ing that one, can you point me there?
Rik, I'm still searching for the plant Dipt in Wine/Red Crona came from. I can't find a picture that looks anything like my plant. The original plant has yellow mottling near the base of the leaf closest to the petiole. Then suddenly there is a distinct green band running across the diameter of the leaf before the red tip and border come into play. I'll keep searching sites until I find something remotely similar.
It seems to me that Cala posted a picture that sounds very much like the new sport that you have...check back a few posts to see if you can find it.
wow, you guys...anytime you guys ever have any extra anything, just feel free to throw it over this way, k? there are so many plants i don't know how anyone can remember which is what! joydie, none of those links of vines looked anything like the ones i have, like, not even the same type at all. those weren't the potato ones, right? i haven't sent your other stuff yet, so i'll just throw it all into one big box with those vines and send them out together on monday.
rik, i'm so glad to see that my first baby allamanda made it safely and is in good shape!!! i'll email you when i get more time. it was fun to see your excitement! (now, send me one of everything you have..hahaha!)
meiyu
Joydie -- I remember Cala's coleus. It looked like Wild Lime with red flecks. Again, texture and leaf shape are nothing like mine; her flecks were little splashes, while mine are dots. I think hers is Sizzler with extra yellow because it is in full sun.
Calalily’s coleus: http://davesgarden.com/forumpics/Calalily_1029800858_928.jpg
Wild Lime: http://www.singingspringsnursery.com/448.jpg
(from Singing Springs)
Sizzler: http://www.variationsgreenhouse.com/images/coleus/sizzler.jpg
(from Variations)
The key factor for me is that there are no other ruffled green coleus I have ever seen that are flecked with red.
You wrote that you thought it was "fingered," but fingered leaves (like Inky Fingers and older leaves on India Frills, etc.) are unlike the deeply incised crenulations of Wild Lime and Sizzler. The 'fingers' are like little peninsulas extending from the edge of the leaf and are narrower at the neck of the peninsula than at the center -- so they look like little leaves coming off of the little leaves (all the fingered varieties I've seen have been small-leafed, except for a new series called Aurora that I don't care for [no relation to the variety named Aurora]).
Here are some links to pics of Inky Fingers:
http://www.nybg.org/gardens/inkyfingers.JPG
(from NY Botanic Garden)
http://www.kconline.com/tg/i10/coleink.jpg
(from a garden-intense Japanese family’s private site)
http://www.variationsgreenhouse.com/images/coleus/InkyFingers.jpg
(from Variations)
You can probably see the 'fingers' best in the last picture.
As I’ve written several times, the leaves of the sport I’ve been referring to have a flat surface and a nearly smooth edge. It is nothing like Wild Lime or Sizzler, which are highly textured and have deep crenulations on the edges, and Wild Lime and Sizzler are not similar to fingered coleus varieties.
I’m not sure what you are trying to get at with Dipt in Wine/Kona Red. Do you think they are sports of another coleus that you will be able to find? If that’s the case, you can stop looking. Kona Red is a hybrid developed by Vern Ogren, not a sport of anything. If Dipt in Wine has a different origin, I don’t know about it. Ogren is the only one I have seen state that Dipt in Wine is an erroneous name applied to his Kona Red. I don’t know whether that is true or not.
I can’t find Dipt in Wine in my area, so today I settled for Solar Sunrise, which is also similar.
Solar Sunrise:
http://www.ces.uga.edu/Agriculture/horticulture/Gold%20Medal%20Winners/gold2000-jpegs/Coleus%20SolarSunrise.jpg
(from the University of Georgia)
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Meiyu – I am overjoyed to finally have a start of purple allamanda/Indian rubber vine/Cryptostegia grandiflora!!! If you decide you’d like some coleuses instead of a pandorea vine, just let me know. I usually have around a dozen varieties rooted and growing and another 20 or so varieties from which I could take cuttings (and probably another dozen that are either too young or too thoroughly plucked already to take anymore cuttings right now). Or I can send you coleuses for something else. Just ask, and I’ll update a list to send you.... I see a long future of happy trades between TX and AL!
Rik,
I think Dipt in Wine is a sport from another variety..I'm positive despite whoever claims they hybridized to get it. Whatever plant I have produced the sport. I have cuttings rooting of the original plant...will email you privately..ok?
The point I'm making about Inky fingers and others is that my small round leafed chocolate variety came off Inky Pink.
As for vines I have passiflora herbertiana, p. foetide, and passiflora gracillus. I can stop myslef from propating them so if anyone wants to trade for other passifloras let me know...ya know ya can send "artificial silk vines" via post...hehehe.
hey, rik, i'm so glad i didn't kill it between jim's house and the post office!!! it felt like a miracle to finally get one rooted. we have about 75 more started (jim's idea to chop up my lovely vine, not mine!!). i just hope they will also root!!!! i forgot if i asked and i could not get that website you linked me to a while back, so could not view your vines/plants, but do you have vines that are fragrant, and of those vines, do any of them have the colors white, cream, pink, or purple in their flowers? i'm sorry i keep getting lost when you mention names i don't recognize. so far, my favorite vines are the corkscrew and the snail, both. but i haven't ever seen or heard of about 90% of the flowers i've seen since i joined dgs, so it's only my favorites because i don't know what else there is, really, you know? i wish you'd just pic something for me or send me the snail when you're ready. trust me, i'm in no hurry!! oh, lord, that reminds me, i have to build some flower beds, like, NOW, so i'd better get my butt to bed and rest for a few hours!!! be sure to show me pics as she grows and makes her first little flower and stuff...sniffle...i miss my little allamanda baby!!!! i to
J -- Any sport that grows on a plant you own cannot be the same as a pre-existent, established coleus. Identical DNA just doesn't pop up in a new place at a later date. (And we can't really claim to have "produced" a sport -- we just happen upon them when a plant we have throws a mutant branch.) If the sport from your plant looks like Dipt in Wine, then that's nice -- it's a lovely plant. But you didn't reproduce Dipt in Wine or Kona Red (if they are not the same).
Vern Ogren is one of the most respected hybridizers of coleuses in the history of hybridizing coleuses. He is esteemed by many worldwide, including myself. If his website lists Kona Red (and his website shows only the coleuses that he has originated), and if another website that venerates him attributes the original hybridization of Kona Red to him (cf. the bottom of Variations gallery page), I can't imagine a reason for disbelieving it.
The point that you made about 'fingered' coleus was that you believed that Calalily's coleus (linked above) belonged to that group. It was not in a discussion of Inky Fingers or Inky Pink, which, incidentally, have nothing in common with each other, besides the first word of their name.
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Meiyu -- I have vines of all different colors, but none of them are fragrant, except the moonvines, which you can find anywhere. I only offered to send you coleuses instead because I have more rare and interesting coleuses than I have vines, and you seemed to be keen on the new coleuses.
If we stick with vines, I send the pandora, as we agreed.
Would you mind finding out Jim's technique for rooting the allamanda cuttings? I'm about to take a hatchet to my Brown-Bud Allamanda (not really -- I'm just taking a few cuttings), and since his approach is proven, I'd love to learn about it. Otherwise, I was planning to try three or four different ways of rooting cuttings to see what worked best, but ... what's the point in reinventing the wheel? If Jim's process works, I'll follow his lead. Maybe you could ask him how he would approach the pandora vine, too.
rik, i don't know what a coleus is, and would like to before i decide for sure.
i will ask jim to write down specifically so i don't get it wrong. i do know that he says that he believes it was something called 'superthrive' that was responsible for it's rooting, and that he rooted them in vermiculite and the shade. he is rooting 75 cuttings right now, and leaving them with me, so i've been participating so far in this process. he did not take cuttings from the new vigorous growth, as i'd heard you should. he cut from the top of my tree that was older, and some from the woody part of the stems. he took off all the leaves, except for the few that had very new growth, and left one node buried, and one node above ground, cutting everything else off. he dipped the ends that he buried in something called 'dip-n-grow', which he told me would grow roots on a christmas tree, then placed them in vermiculite. he said i'm supposed to poke some stick in them to be sure they are draining well, and the stems don't rot from too much moisture. that's all i know right now. i don't think he knows anything about pandora vines...he accidentally got allamanda to root after giving him a couple of cuttings after i killed all of mine!! i'll ask him though...
Meiyu, thanks for looking into Jim's rooting technique for me. If you get the details, I can start calling around for 'Superthrive' and 'Dip and Grow.'
Most of my vines are young enough that they can't give up any of their base woody growth; so, except for the Mandevilla, I'll be working with tip growth that is a few weeks or months old at the most.
To find out about coleuses, look up Variations Greenhouse and find their coleus gallery. Sorry, I'm not at my own computer, or I'd have the link to give you (it's probably variationsgreenhouse.com). If you look through that page and click on some thumbnails, I think you'll start to understand our excitement pretty quickly.
Let me know what you think of them. If you are interested enough to want to see more, I'll give you a dozen other links to explore.
They're not only beautiful, they're magical. Lately, I've been getting emails from people across the country and around the world asking about my coleuses. Some are not members of any sites where I post and say that they don't know how they came to have my email address! (Are people writing it on bathroom walls ... "For good coleuses, email PlanterRik at ...."?)
PlanterRik... are u referring to this site ... http://www.variationsgreenhouse.com/coleus_catalog.htm
?
OH, WOW!! i just took a peak at that link that ma vie just posted...i'm gonna have to look through it again when i can think better since it's 4am here, and probably time for me to go to bed...
planterrik, you don't know how badly i want to type a come-back on that last reply of yours, but i'm worried about your possible lack of appreciation for my nasty sense of humor, after gail and i sent you that email that went unanswered...hahahaha!!! it's killing me to shut off my fingers, they soooo wanna type out a silly response!!! i'm spanking them for their thoughts right now, just for you!!
ma vie, what are you doing up at this hour? you are such a night owl!!!
am turning in soon. see yah :)!
me too...nitie-nite!!!