Janet - thanks for the tip about the pots....I love things that do well in pots, and never thought of asking Randy about them. On the hunt now for for Duranta! (As if I have room for more plants! Ha Ha
missing everybody
Shari, would you like me to send you some cuttings? I can root them for you and then send, or send them as is. I'd be happy to share mine with you.
And, do coleus do well there? I know they are a tropical plant. I have a big variety that I'd also be happy to share with you.
Janet
Janet, that is so sweet, but I feel bad since I didn't send your Ixora right. It would probably take way too long to get to me, and they would die, and then I would be in mourning for a month! I may try to pick some up while I'm home in November.
Cut that out! Just because the plant didn't survive, doesn't mean all those good thoughts you sent with it didn't arrive safely. I've really enjoyed those. :-)
I will pack them in spaghnum moss really well and it's worth a try!!! You can re-use the moss to send cuttings from your end since you don't have it there. I have something else I've been meaning to send you anyway.
Janet
You know I was reading in one forum that they use florists block or whatever you call it (you know that green sponge stuff you have floral arrangements stuck in ...keeps them alive)...why don't you try sending stuff in that....nicely moistened and in a clingwrap covering the stem that you stuck it in ....It sounds like it could work to me.
Janet & Shari, I looked in Plant Files and it looks like you can use seeds to propagate. Just an idea - they would be easier to mail. Maybe we should start a seed swap with different varieties.
I have promised Shari all kinds of things and can't decide how to send. If it takes two weeks a cutting would be long gone. Help.
Have you looked into FedEx? The way our regular mail fees have gone up, lots of people are using them because it's cheaper for packages.
K, are the seeds the golden berries? I have plenty of those? Do I pick them now? Or do I have to wait until they dry up? I can't remember what happened to the berries last year because they were already in their hibernation when the berries came off.
Chrissy, that sounds like a great idea, using the floral foam. There are 2 kinds of it though, and a wet one for dry silk flowers and one for fresh flowers. I've heard of using the wet kind for holding milkweed cuttings for caterpillars. Never thought about sending plants with that.
I bought a bale of sphagnum moss this year so I have plenty of that. I am thinking that if cuttings are wrapped in the moss, then in damp paper towels, then in zip loc bags, the moisture can't escape from the moss then. I'd rather share the cuttings now when they can be enjoyed, rather than wait until the plants get long and leggy and have to be cut. (referring to the coleus here) I did root some of the duranta earlier this year. It roots very easily.
Anytime I send plants, I send them Priority Mail. It usually only takes 2-6 days to go anywhere. I don't know if Shari would be international or domestic shipping, but either way, I can use a flat rate box and the weight won't matter.
Oh.... I hear Calgon calling my name! Coming dear!!!
Janet
I'll check into that. Also UPS. Thanks for that idea K!
I don't know, Janet - I'll do some googling and see what I can find.
Hold on Janet....I'm at an APO (Army Post Office), which basically means that no matter how quickly things get to the facility near San Francisco, they wait there until there is space available on a flight out to here. Because we have a "conflict" area in play these days - it always gets priority. Then when there is space and a plane, we get our stuff. The only change to this is things that come from Hawaii. Since there is a plane that comes here from there twice a week, we can usually get things from HI very quickly. So we do as much ordering as possible from HI. It doesn't always work, but more often than not. There is no UPS, no FED EX....none of that, so don't bother trying. I am more than willing to try seeds. No luck yet with the marigolds that Pepper sent me....but I haven't given up hope. Thank you all for the wonderful thoughts though!!♥
I don't feel so bad now!! The seeds you sent me didn't do anything either! lol
Oh no! Christi - did your seeds germinate?
It wasn't long after I planted them that it really cooled down. I think that was part of the problem.
I am still holding them. In our part of the world everything is going dormant. I would assume that means that seeds would not geminate until spring. don't really know how to figure that out. If they germinate, I have no where to put them and they would have to fight gas heating and the plants that are huge and healthy fight that pretty hard.
What do you think?
We crossed, pepper.
Gosh, I don't know.....I will do some reading and see what I can find out. Pepper - did all yours keel over, or do you have some still dry? It's such a pretty plant, I was really hoping it would do welll for you guys. I'll see .....
They never sprouted. lol. Nothing, nada. I was like, ok, fiiiiiiinnne. lol
I am protecting them. How's that for a laugh? It just seemed more logical to me that late spring would be the time to germinate in my zone.
Do seeds/plants know where they are? I would think so.
I think they do too.
OK, I'm holding on. I understand about the mail situation. I won't send anything that is "perishable", including plant cuttings. I think the Duranta seeds might work (depending on what K finds out about harvesting them) I will do some checking myself on that tomorrow.
Let us know, Janet. Thanks.
Just a thought... the common duranta is a nasty beast ...full of thorns and a pest spread by birds...if your beautiful duranta is a hybrid like my geisha girl ...the seeds may revert to thorny monsters....check with someone who may know about these things.
I think cuttings are the safe option.
Well, what I am seeing about the firecracker is that it is a very hardy and populare house plant...the soil and seeds need to be kept pretty warm ...around 80° but that after the first two sets of leaves they can be cooled off. I think that sounds too warm, but what do I know. I wouldn't plant them too deep....I have the most luck just barely tucking them in...And everything I've read says 10/14 days to several months depending on the freshness of the seed....guess that means since they were harvested...and I had just plucked them the day before I mailed em to you guys. So they were definately "fresh".
Hmmmm....I may have planted them too deep then. I had them at least an inch down. Might have been too deep.
I will put them in a special pot tomorrow with fresh potting soil. I don't want them to waste. It is still in the ninties here so they will be fine outside in the shade....very hot there. I absolutely love watching a seed come up.
Both of my durantas do have thorns. I haven't noticed birds on them, but then they are still fairly medium size. The white is about 2 ft. while the blue is about 3 1/2 ft. In their pots, you can add another foot to the height of the plant. I haven't noticed that the thorns are a problem. Both plants are sitting in their pots, in a bed in the front yard, so no traffic goes by them to get stuck. I haven't noticed them being invasive, but then again, last fall, the berries would have dropped on the deck and been sprayed off with a hose in the spring.
I don't know if either is a hybrid. I bought them from a Mom and Pop operation and there were no labels. Just went by the fella's word that it was duranta. The blossoms look much like the sweet memories, only not as dark.
They sound wonderful to me. Thorns don't bother me...I have quite a few with thorns, and then there is my many bougainvillas...yep, thorns are not a problem.
Oh Shar, didn't know you have Bougs. One of my most favorites and a real challenge to grow here.
Gosh I have a magenta one, a white, a salmon, a dark purple and one (my fave), that starts out a dark bright peach, and fades to pink....just gorgeous!
They are all special....as are some people.
For some reason, they are rarely all in bloom at the same time, but when they are - wowzers! It is something to behold. Always reminds me of the southern coast of Spain....everywhere you look, gorgeous flowers streaming down rock walls and flowing over fences ....exquisite!
Let's make a trip there together some day. I would need a guide.
Oh my how I would love to show you Spain! But we would have to wait until the current political climate clears up. I want to show you the warm, loving, friendly people that grow those gorgeous flowers, not the suspicious, angry, resentful folks that are there now....so we will wait a bit. If I know the hearts of Spaniards (there is one beating in my chest!), they won't stay angry for long.
Hmmm...my b-i-l lives in Spain now, on the Med coast - they haven't said anything about unfriendliness there - but they are British and maybe that makes a difference because there are so many retiring there? Will have to explore that with them. Can't imagine they would want to stay if they are not welcome, and they are the type that go out and about.
Re bougies - does it get too cold in the winter for them, Christi? What a shame. There is a horse ranch nearby with those lovely white fences that go on forever and two huge dark magenta bougainvilleas flanking the big gate. Makes quite an impression. They grow rampantly around here, which is why we decided not to have them. We're going for low maintenance and they would be difficult to keep in bounds here.
OK, back to the Duranta. Mine does not have thorns that I've seen yet. One site I read said only the variegated ones revert, but I was thinking the same thing, Christy. Anyway, on our PlantFiles page it says to remove the fleshy part of the berries to get the seed. However, nowhere could I find when to harvest or what they should look like when ripe. So, I guess it will be an experiment. I think the birds are eating mine, because I haven't seen many, but I will harvest some and see what they look like.
Gosh, Shari, no FedEx! That's kind of like no sticky-pads! How do you survive? lol
You would laugh if you could see my boug. It is in a hanging basket....the bracts are a beautiful yellow/orange. Very small and I have had it 3 years. It hangs over my bathtub in the winter so it doesn't get too dry in the natural gas heat. Looses all the leaves anyway but does manage to live. I have to pet it lot. It is on a shepherds hook and move it about every 2 weeks to keep it going. This is most assuredly not the ideal climate. I have been all over Louisiana and they are wild there. One of the reasons I don't bother with azalea is they act the same here. Extreme amount of pampering just to get a few little blooms.
I keep thinking about the duranta that I saw at HD day before yesterday. In bloom and gorgeous. I would have to move something else to make room and that seems to be my mantra lately. Trying really hard not to go get it.