When I walk near it and catch it out of the corner of my eye, I think it is a dinosaur head coming down to eat me.
Ensete ventricosum
I feel cheated, I was thinking I would get an interesting if not a gorgeous bloom not a dried, scaly meat eater.
This limited view is not bad.
In April it was kind of cute.
LOL, Kell.... ruuuuun...... :)~
How big is this thing?
Feed me , Seymour, feed me!!!
Dont get too close.
I wonder if they are supposed to get all that dried leaves down the flower or if I didn't water enough which means I never have watered this.
I don't know much about Ensete but those appear to be dried scape (or floral) bracts.
Dave.
Kell, that's got to be the ugliest picture you've ever posted (haha).
Ill say it growed since April. Thanks for the pic. Dixie
LOL Linda, you are so right. It is so ugly. And it is huge. I couldn't even cut it down if I wanted to, it would kill me. That flower is bigger than I am and I am huge. LOL
I wonder if it will keep growing till it hits the ground.
LOL
I am going to have to start a "don't want" list with that one. MY DH will be amazed that there is a plant out there that I don't covet. alice
All that effort - for that. Only a mother could love it!!!
LOL You guys. Actually this plant was my pride and joy up till this odd growth. It really is a stunning tree. And so huge. I have gotten years of thrills from it as it grew and grew. I just think this bloom is so ugly. Do you think it is typical or maybe it just hates me?
Kelllllllll, nothing could hate you!
It is just sort of like the beautiful Amorphophallus and it's less than beautiful "fragrance".
Usually there is a reason for a flower's shape or smell, etc. I wonder why this one has such a large scape. Perhaps a really, really large insect or animal pollinates it.
Watch out Kell................
OK, now I am on the floor laughing. You have my hopes up.
I heard there was a pterodactyl flying over northern CA.
I think you need to throw some Miracle Grow on the ground and bust a plumbing line.....
Kell, I hate to tell you this, but this plant has done it's job and will now dry up and die. :-) Once they flower, that is the end of it's lifecycle.
The neighbors behind me planted 2 beautiful Musa Reds in their new tropical landscape. They were planted in early spring and by the end of the year, they were huge. One of them finally bloomed and I felt bad for them as it had only been planted that spring. The landscaper must have bought a very mature tree, even though it was in a 5 gallon pot. I told the owners that it was going to die and he didn't believe me, so he had his landscaper come back and he had to tell him. The 2nd tree bloomed this past spring and he hasn't done anything with it yet. It is so ugly and dry and leaning over into his pool. Wish he would take it out, as it's very noticeable from my back view. They are well to do, so it's not like they can't afford to have it taken out.
Sorry about your beautiful tree. :-(
Donna
Ohhh that Badseed is a mean one! LOL
Beauty is in the Eye Of the Beholder and uhhmmm eh, sorry, I'm not beholding any beauty in that first picture. ☺
Yes, she is Sue! LOL
Oh Donna, I know and ever since it started flowering, I have not known how to break this news to my husband. This plant towers over my house. I do not know how I am going to get it out of here. It is tucked into the far side of the house too. I may just start cutting off leaves 1 by 1 and dipose of them all winter. 1 leaf more than fills my big greens can. The good news is he hates this plant and will be so glad when it is gone. If it starts sending up pups I am in trouble.
(batting eyelashes) Hellllllloooo Kell. :)
Yep, Kell. You may as well start making it's funeral arrangements. Mine died a slow ugly death this year.
LOL Chele, you are a pup lustee.
Ada, so how does it die? Just all brown up and cave in on itself and shrivel down to a small manageable clump of light weight brown fluff?
LOL The eyelashes were because I was bad previously. ;)
Well shoot Chele, you are always BAD! LOL
lol Kell at least you live where you can grow strange and unusual things.
Yep, especially me! LOL
Well! I never! :)
I had 3 of these ensete. One flowered last year, one blew over last winter and one is flowering now. After yours has fully flowered, and mine took many months, it begins to dry out completely and look even worse if that is even possible. When you just can't stand looking at it anymore it is time to cut it down. It is a cool looking flower, too bad they don't pup. We are replacing ours with fruiting bananas as they die.
THANK GOD it doesn't pup! LOL. It is right next to my house and if it falls, I am in big trouble.
Beautiful!!!
Well thats my opinion I love ensetes they are odd balls in the banana family and many are giants. Yeah they don't pup but look at the size its a plant that demands respect a centerpiece in most if not every garden it is in. Oh and the flowers well they are what more than 1 foot across and look out of this world. Not to mention it dies after it flowers which means it will always be in demand LOL.
I tell you what if it sends out pups its a weed if it grows over 2 feet its a giant monster and if its flowers are bigger than a hand they are to gaunty. Boy you picky plant people.
Give me the oddest weirdest and most unusual, I will gladly grow them with a smile.
Taking the dead off the flower may help you enjoy it a bit more I may have some pics of one of mine with the dead removed away from the flower.
You may want to cut it down and let it sit around in the dirt until it drains. They hold a lot of water! Also, be careful the sap sometimes stains things red. I can't remeber if this is one of those. Between the musas, ensetes and philodendrons i am always scrubbing red stains off the concrete.
I think that's hilarious!!!!
Kell, did you get seeds???????????????
LOL!!! I am sure you will want to plant them all!!!!!
Janet
There are several monocarpic Bromeliads (bloom and die). Like Bromeliads, the banana group is also "determinate" i.e. the dominant growing meristem of the plant supresses the formation of branches and is the only growing point that "converts" into a flower. When one cuts off the influorescense the plants sometimes pup. Perhaps you could have it both ways by chopping off the "ugly" bloom" when it first appears. Plants reserve tremendous reserve for sexual reproduction and when that path is closed they often do it asexually.
I know that some find this "offensive" but if the plant is grown for its regal stature and the bloom is ugly, why not?I incited a group of Australian and New Zealand Bromeliad growers a few years ago by experimentally chopping off the influorescense of a very large Alcantarea odorata. This plant produces small "grass pups" while it is immature and sometimes a single pup when it blooms. I did get quite a few very large pups after the hacking. Importation of plants in both of these countries is difficult (since they have tropical zones) and they wanted the seed!
Dave.
Kell I don't call Badseed by Bad, Badseed or anything but BS. That is because she is full of it. Just over look the poor girl. I think she has spent too many days in the hot sun.
That is one strange plant.If they bloom and die how do they reproduce?
We need an update Kell? How did you get rid of the thing?
If it's a musa, they have a mother bulb that even when you cut off the dead growth, they will produce new pups.
Last banana trees I bought, all I got was the bulb and they are producing pups.
