I really like the leaves as well as the blossoms on the southern belle series.
Optimara Annabelle
Oh I love Annabelle Love Bells. I noticed I saw a beautiful Ma's plant on Ebay with Bell flowers, variegated it was so pretty to a 4 inch in bloom :))
Ma's Megaphone (9385) 10/15/2004 (O. Robinson) Double medium blue bell. Variegated dark green and white, plain, pointed. Standard
Have you seen it ? I never saw it before Ebay yesterday .
No, I haven't seen it. I have been cruising around ebay the last couple of days. I'm afraid of looking too long. Ebay purchases, especially bidding is so addictive for me. Did you check out the Violet Barn to see if it was there?
How many of you have Annabelle? Do any of you that have her notice a tendency to gather a little mildew around the blossoms?
I don't have one, but I would like to. : ) Very pretty, Nanna! Pam
Nanna: I agree ... I love the look of 'Annabelle'. I have 5 Annabelle's that I got at Wal-Mart for $1.98 each! When I bought the first one, I posted a photo cause I had no idea which one it was ... the label on the pot just said Optimara and Allison told me about going to their website for ID. Well .... I just can't tell from looking at the pictures if it's what I have or not. Allison ID'd mine as Annabelle and then I went back to the Op. site and studied the photo more. I went back to Wal-Mart and got the last 5 they had .... sent one to Allison cause she is just such a Sweetie and helps me so much with advice!
The very first one I bought doesn't look real great to me right now .... looks different than the others. It's growing taller and the leaves have turned a lighter green. I had it in a taller pot, which put it closer to the lights, so that may be why the leaves have lightened .... possibly too much light? And, it looks like it's growing what y'all call more crowns.? I am a novice at AV's, so I'm really not sure. I will post some photo's.
Here's a picture of all 5 together .... the one on far right not in bloom is the one that is growing and looking different now.
Here's a close up photo of the one that I think is growing more crowns and lighter leaves ... hope it's visible.
Here's another close up ... can you see all the new little leaves ... are they what you call crowns?
This plant also has long, very fine roots hanging out of the bottom of the pot. Do I need to re-pot it into a larger pot?
Thanks for all the help!
They all look healthy. Don't you love the leaves. I think the one that is not blooming might need to be repotted. Can you gently look at the roots? You can follow any of the guide lines for repotting. At the same time you can remove some of the extra crowns (suckers). If you are careful you can put the suckers in small solo cups with a drain hole. They should root in a couple of weeks and you will have more plants.
The last picture is great. It does need to be seperated and repotted. Looks like there may be several plants. That may be why the leaves are lighter. Too many plants all together in one pot. Check out the stickey. There is good information about dividing plants.
Nanna: I apologize . I hope I didn't take up too much of your thread. I just have been getting such good advice from all of you expert AV growers ... I am such a novice at these plants. I've grown a few over the years and rooted leaves many years ago in water, but never really got "into" them like a bunch of y'all have! I am SO impressed at the set-ups some of you have and all the really Beautiful plants .... I'm a Wannabe Good AV plant Mommy!
Thanks,
Lin
What's the best way to remove the "suckers" .... do I use scissors, a sharp knife, or just try to pull it off with my fingers?
You are good! You care and you like doing it. That's the most important thing. Check out the sticky of dividing a plant. Give it a try. It will be scarey but you'll do great. You'll loose some leaves but you can set them and grow new plants.
I have noticed that Annabelle does reach it's leave higher than most of my plants but the leaves are very beautiful. The plant also blooms almost too much. I like to cut some the the bloom stalks so the crown doesn't get too small.
From the second picture it looks like a couple of plants and not suckers. First divide the plants. You can tell if there are two plants because they both start from the soil. A sucker starts where a leaf grows from the neck. Sucker can be removed with tweezers or the point of a knife when they are small. If they are large you should be able to press them with your thumb and they will snap off.
First, divide the plants from eachother and then work on the suckers.
Thanks again Nann ... I am going to run some errands now, buy more perlite cause I'm about out and will try my hand at this later this afternoon!
I'll keep y'all posted on the outcome!