My oldest rice paper plant is in bloom. Does this thing make seeds?
Rice paper plant in bloom
rylaff the rice paper plant you send me is doing great. I have it in my greenhouse and putting on new leaves. It does have a baby. But it hasn't bloomed yet, I was so hoping it would.
The mother of thousands that you send one of them is blooming. I did read last summer that once it blooms it dies. Oh will I do have plenty more to replace the one blooming.
Your plant looks great, it may be the mother of mine. Just wanted to say one thing, thanks a bunch for my plants, I have gotten a lot of compliments on it.
The picture you see was taken the end of Oct., since then it has gown a lot taller.
Linda
I am so glad. The one pictured is my momma plant. she was the first one I planted. This is the first time she has bloomed.
Regarding the mother of thousands. Mine did not die after blooming.
I have 4 in the pot that is blooming. They stand up about 6 ft. tall with little bell shaped pink flowers on them. I didn't even realize they were blooming until yesterday when I was in the GH watering everything and saw some little pink flowers hiding behind my Hibiscis tree. Then I pulled it out and was really amazed on how tall it was. So now I have it sitting in the middle of the GH so I can enjoy it. I hope mind don't die this is the first year for me having this kind of plant. But like I said there are plenty of babies coming up around the plants.
Linda
Mine has never bloomed. It gets cold here too soon
Way to go, Rylaff! It should make seeds. I traded with someone not on DG for some Ricepaper seeds. Didn't sprout but maybe I didn't do it right.
:) Donna
Ada, the one you sent me did great , but then it bloomed & died ;-((
Oh no, Scoot. I'll try to get you another one this Spring.
I was just given one this fall. I don't know anything about them and sure didn't know it bloomed. Now I know what I have to look forward to. Do they need age or size to bloom. I think mine is only about 4 ft tall.
Mine is a little over a year old.
Okay, so maybe it will bloom this next year. I notice yours is next to the house rylaff. Looks like shade? Or afternoon shade? I would like to put it in the ground if it's safe in zone 8a, which maybe it would be with a southern exposure.
Mine is facing east, and is in the shade most of the day.
Thanks!
ryaff my Rice paper plant you send me in 2005 is blooming.
Gingerlily: Rice Paper plants are quite hardy (at least the roots are). All the leaves on mine died when temps dropped to around 20, but the stem is still green. There is also a large Rice Paper Plant in Longwood Gardens (outdoors) in Kennets Square, PA.
In addition, Brian Williams (our resident EE nut) has a few that he's kept outside in Louisville, KY for the past several years.
Most Garden books rate them as hardy to Zone 8 or 7b, but the AHS encyclopedia of garden plants lists them as hardy to Zone 6 (based on National Arboretum and Longwood Gardens trials), and every person I've talked to/read books or reports from said that they are at least root hardy through Zone 6.
Rylaff: How low of temps can your Rice Paper plant take before it loses its leaves? I'm kind of thinking that mine losing its leaves at 20 degrees is a result of it being raised in a greenhouse, rather than being propogated from a field-grown specimen, and if that is the case, then it will likely toughen up over the next few years.
I have over wintered them for 5 years outside with a light mulching. They die back to the ground and come back each spring. You may want to watch out were you plant it it can take over if not kept in check.
Hard to say. Mine is right up against my house, so I am sure it is a bit warmer there
All i want for xmas is a rice paper plant! heheh
I think the trick to the blooms is to not let them freeze. I had blooms on mine at the old house a few winters when the flowers happened before the freezes happened. After 5 years (right on the zone 8A-B line, my plants freeze down and come back every year but have never bloomed.
I put one in a big pot last summer to go in the greenhouse. It rooted to the ground through the pot, so it did not make the cut to the greenhouse. 'Still now flowers, doggone it!
Kay
My momma plant is starting to bloom right now. We had a light freeze and it got most of the plants, but I guess the rice paper is close enough to the house to create a micro climate.