Any info on this plant:

[I'm not sure whether linking to the jpg image is what is considered "bandwidth stealing", I hope not and please correct me if I'm stealing!]

I think they mean Plectranthus eckmanii
http://www.palmiyemerkezi.com/images/ayinbitkisi/ekim2004/kk/Plectranthuseckmanii.jpg

I was coming up empty on Google images... I just accidentally found this pic on a Turkish(?) website, and thought it was gorgeous.

Thanks :)
~Gina

(I used to have 'Mona Lavendar' Plectranthus... snails ate it all, not sure if it can regrow or not. :( )

Could it be Plectranthus ecklonii instead? I've never heard of eckmanii and there doesn't seem to be much info about it. Doesn't mean that's not the real name, it's just that it's fairly close to ecklonii which is a more common variety and there's a ton of info about it. Flowers on P. ecklonii look a bit more lavender/purple than the flowers in that pic, but it could just be the lighting.

By the way, it's not stealing to link to a pic on someone's web page, when it's stealing is if you save the pic on your computer and then post the actual picture here (unless you have their permission of course, then even that would be OK)

Thanks ecrane3 :)
The name was mispelled just enough so that I wasn't getting any accurate "suggestions". Those pictures definitely look like the flowers, although I'm kind of disappointed that they're not such a beautiful blue.

And thanks for the reminder- I often forget the computer stuff {my brother took all that info from our genes and left me with none}

~Gina

This is a handful of Plectranthus Mona Lavender that I'm trying to root for next year.

Those are beautiful Linda! My 2 plants had been doing so well on my porch patio, which isn't an ideal place for many flowering plants... but the 'Mona Lavendar' loved it; they constantly flowered.... If I don't find them at HD or Lowe's next year, I may ask in the forums for cuttings ;)

~Gina

Hi Gina, Annies Annuals carries a variety of Plectranthus. http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=1861&account=none
I purchased my P. ecklonii from them last year along with a few others.
Northern Californians have the added advantage of having the nursery close by as well as Annies supplying our local nurseries with lots of goodies.
BUT they do mail order too which is great.

Annie's has everything!!!
Thanks for pointing that out to me :) Next year, when I have more money- which might turn out to be the year after next!- I'm definitely doing an all-out shopping spree on her site. I shudder to think how much money that will end up costing ;)~

Gina, I would advise you to be cautious when ordering from the West Coast because of the climate difference. I have ordered from Annie's and found that the best time to get plants is in the winter, but, they usually didn't have them in stock. The plants that I ordered were of good quality, but, they are starter plants and they are expensive when you factor in their high shipping cost. Even tho I am a gardener by profession I lost every plant I bought (wasn't their fault). Most of their plants are not adaptable to our climate. The Florida plant industry is very good at introducing new plants and 99% of what Annie's offers is for coastal CA, cool wet winters and dry summer air. I would suggest you stick with your local plant growers and maybe a few trips to Fairchild Gardens plant sales to find rare plants, they have some of the best local growers in the state coming in as vendors. Good luck and merry growing :-).

Here is a gladious that I saw at Fairchild, it didn't have an ID tag, I didn't think there was a glad that would handle the FL summer, I was wrong...

Dale, that looks like acidantherus to me.

Oh, good! I thought I was doing something terribly wrong with my gladiolus... good to know I bought yet another thing that wasn't really meant for our area... ? :)~

I've found some great websites (i.e.Telos rare bulbs) which gave some great warnings about specific bulbs needing dry summer dormancy, for example. So I've been referring to some of these sites, when Dave's hasn't had the info. But there are some sub-/tropical things I've found on Annie's which are definitely suited for this area, I made sure of it.

Thanks for the caution, though I wish I had asked before I started gardening!!! It's just so hard to wait ;)

I've found that local nurseries are not good at identifying their plants correctly, and so one plant that I particularly would have liked to save is now dying- and I can't help it because I don't know what it is. Home Depot & Lowe's are actually 85% accurate.

ps.: as for the plant mentioned in this thread, do you really think it wouldn't fare well here? 'Mona Lavendar' Plectranthus is glorious, and was magnificent for the months I had it before snails ate it. I even bought some more and will plant them in the same spot (but with snail bait).

Thanks!
~Gina

Tiger Lily, Acidanthera has been renamed Gladiolus callianthus, which is one of the few changes that I agree with. Its corm and growth habit are exactly like some of the specie glads that I have grown in the past. In San Francisco they grow winter glads, mostly carneus and its hybrids. They make big clumps over time and when they go dormant in summer their corms are small (and hard to find). The foilage is different than the cut flower types, more 'grassy'.

Gina, have you ever been to a Fairchild plant sale? It is worth the trip and most of the people selling there know what they have and how to grow it.

Next year I will go.... Instead of going this year, I bought 3 beautiful Alocasias on eBay for less than the price of admission to Fairchild's, lol.

I do catch some of the vendors at other plant sales, though... including one particularly great bromeliad vendor (since you brought it up ;) )