Anything Blooming? part 2

Gail, that Amaryllis is Gorgeous! I had one that looked like that - I want to say it was called Appleblossom. How do you get them to grow so well? Do you have them under lights all day? I have some in pots out on my deck but they need more sun. I think I'm going to plant them out in the yard shortly.

Lin, I start them out when they are nothing but a bulb under the lights and when they get too tall, I just move them beside the gro lights...........until they are fully open.................

I don't think I am going to do anything with my 3 bulbs except to plant them in a big pot outside..........today the accu weather says the winds are only 25 mph........I couldn't even push the screen door open outside so I called my brother and he said the winds are 50mph today. No wonder I just want a porch!

Gail, a guzmania is a genus in the bromeliad family. So other genus in the same family would be neoregelia, cryptanthus, tillandsia, billbergia etc.
I'm just starting to collect a few of these, so just learning. I'm glad I don't have to try to get them to rebloom, just produce pups. That sounds easier somehow. I'm not as shy to try something new since I've been able to grow epi's, hoya's, and streptocarpus.
That blue flower with the white in the center is so pretty. And salmon sunset too. Those two especially hit my eye right now. Good growing.

Bonnie, your sinningia is beautiful.
Cindy

This message was edited Jan 31, 2008 4:26 PM

I am frantically propagating streps this next week. I love to grow babies of anything. Thanks for the explanation. I want to show you all what my daughter and I did for her dressing area of her master bath with Tillandsias........so cute........We bought two of both the accessory that holds the tillandsias and two big plants. We had so much fun decorating her house a couple of weeks ago......

I will try and figure out what that bloom with the white center is.....I am so bad about keeping names, but at least I keep a master list of anything I buy or get (inside the house) so it comes down to a matter of elimination of names.

That is really pretty Gail.

OK, so it's not a gessie, but it's so cute in it's little solo cup blooming away :)
This is Multiflora. A cutting I took back in October. This is one of the few hoyas I won't part with as it roots so easily and truly blooms it's head off.

Here is another non gessie bloom. Not sure if I'm keeping her or not. Most likely not but haven't quite decided.
This one is called a Pereskia.

Here is the actual plant:

Oh, Kim ... it is so beautiful, I can't wait for mine to bloom ... it's blasted buds twice since I got it from you. It looks good now ... I took a hint from someone else on the hoya forum who said he put his in one of the self watering AV pots! Oh, I can't wait to see those pretty flowers!

Not a Gessie either but here's a photo I took today of my variegated Pandora Vine with one bloom and a couple of buds that should be opening in a few days!

Lin,

Truly, this one is NEVER without either buds or flowers. The momma to this baby has buds right now on every pendicule. It LOVES water and I think that is why it does so well for me as I am a big time over water-er *lol*

Here is Mona Lisa Lipstick (Aeschynanthus?)

The overall plant in my bathroom window. Can you see all the little lipstick tubes forming? I'm quite excited about this one because it was Mother's Day gift from my dad along with my Nematanthus so it is quite special to me. When I brought it in from outside this year, it lost ALOT of it's leaves and I find it still sheds quite a bit but seems happy so I'm thinking that the shedding is a normal reaction to having very little humidity as my Nematanthus did the same thing when I brought it in this fall.

Here's a close up of the flower:

OOOH Lin, that is SO pretty! How nice it must be to have your weather! It is such a chore to get things to bloom here and only so many plants can share the stand with my strep leaves which take precedence *lol*

Diana (my pink princess philo) is VERY proud of this leaf as it's the first all pink that hasn't turned brown soon after opening. Keeping fingers crossed this one will remain. Trying not to overwater as I think that is a reason which leads to the all pink leaves turning.

Oh, she's a beauty, Kim! I think I have the A. 'Mona Lisa' too and it bloomed real well when I had it in an east window last year. I just moved everything back out to my deck yesterday and I think I remember seeing a bud on that one ... will have to check it tomorrow. I know A. 'Rasta' has some buds and one flower opened, at least it did a few days ago!

Oh, that is a pretty Philo Pink Princess! I have a very small one I got in trade from RainGazer last year. It is such a slow grower but one of my favorites! I love Philodendrons too!

You know which one I'm having an AWFUL time with is the darn yellow columnea :( I truly don't know what I am doing wrong with that darn thing. I'm TRYING to make it happy and it just is not doing well at all. At first I thought it would bounce back but no sooner did I think that it was beginning to look better, all the leaves seemed to just start falling off with no signs of stress. I tried it on the stand, off the stand, in the window, in the bathroom....doesn't seem to matter where I put it :(
Won't be adding more columneas *lol*....I've learned not to stress about it.....right? :(

Here is a full shot of Diana in my bathroom. She stands over 4 feet tall now. She is a very slow grower but this seems to be the spot she likes the best. She gets humidity from the showers etc. There is also the Pink spotted Angel Wing Begonia in the pot with her. The Begonia doesn't grow much but doesn't die either so I leave them together as they seem happy to share the pot :) *lol*

I too have been having problems with columnea's. Two totally died and the yellow one that was so pretty doesn't look so pretty right now. I was wondering if it had anything to do with me changing the location, moving it in and out when we've had these cold snaps the past couple of months?


Oh, you named your Philo "Diana" or did it come labeled with that name? It sure is pretty! I wonder how long it will take mine to get that big? LOL ... mine is in a little teeny 3" pot. It had one leaf come out last summer that was a pretty pink and turned almost solid green. The plant doesn't have much pink at all now. It probably could use more light. Maybe I will sit it down in the 10 gal terrarium for a couple of weeks to see how it does.



BTW ... I WANT that tub! Our house is old and both of our bathrooms are very small! I have been wanting a Garden Tub for so long ... keep telling hubby we can knock out a wall to enlarge the master bath - he just looks at me like I'm crazy! He probably knows I would want a huge window too and I would have hooks all over the ceiling with hanging plants everywhere!

Awwww thank you Lin. Believe it or not, I live in a double wide mobile home and I find there are so many neat things that they do to these homes now compared to stick built. Literally, I have a walk in room that is a closet off the bathroom where you can walk in and change. it's a "room" off the bathroom which connects to my bedroom. We bought this house 1 1/2 years ago and it's exactly what we needed. Not too much, not too little. I feel so blessed as we used to live in a 14x70 single wide. We had all the walls done in sheet rock so it looks more like a modular than a double wide. Easy to heat, easy to clean. Perfect :)

No, I named Diana. I don't name all my plants but my very special ones whisper their names to me.

I never would have guess that this one was called "Zora" *lol* Fitting don't you think?

Wow! Now that is a Beautiful Desert Rose ... and Zora fits for her name! Gail sent me one last year and it got left out when I was away visiting my sister for a week, and we had tons of rain while I was gone! I got home and it was mush! I saw them at Wal-Mart last summer and almost bought another one but didn't.

What pretty pics! I think we all grow the same plants (LOL)..........I have a cactus I think is called Pereskia (sp?) but it is giant although the freeze got it and so it will have to come back again from the base. I am going to plant files and look before I post her picture.......

It is the same plant but my blooms look differently than the plant files but I am sure that this is the name of what I have.

This message was edited Jan 31, 2008 9:20 PM

Doesn't it look like Kim's?

That is Beautiful but it doesn't look like a Cactus to me. I want to know the name of that one ... I love pink and love those flowers. Yep, looks just like Kim's!

I found it in Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57249/

Whew! I thought I would HAVE to Have that plant until I saw these thorns! http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/124902/

Lin, it is sticky but you don't care as it is so pretty. I was told to put it in a giant container or I wouldn't be able to keep it from spreading. This works great as it freezes back and starts all over again.........one of my very favorite plant in the pots...........

I think it is a lot easier than the bougies because it only has about 6 giant stems compared to trimming back a bougainvillea...but then I love both plants!

oh i love kim's flowering plant multiflora, don't recall ever seeing that one.
mrsbonnie

It is a real popular hoya...........

More lovely pictures! Hoyas have become a favorite family for me and I swear one day I'll have a Desert Rose!

Lin, when (and that definitely being the keyword - WHEN) I fertilize, I have gotten so that I use Orchid fertilizer. I've developed quite a love for Orchids, too, and that fertilizer doesn't have urea in it, plus it has added micronutrients or minerals or something that the Gessie-type ferts don't have. I have both regular and bloom-booster fertilizer for the Orchids. I mix up a big ole batch and go around watering everything. Except the Hoyas - I'm using the beer fert on them and am absolutely amazed by it. I've got one vine that is over 6 feet long and still growing. It's twined all over the plant stand! LOL Here's a shot of the whole messy thing.

You do have hoyas growing everywhere! Gotta go find your 'weird' kitten face

Wow! Amy, your plants look wonderful! I've really gotten interested in Hoya plants too. I would love to have a house full of the ones that are fragrant! Can you post the recipe for the beer fertilizer? I know it had epsom salts and ammonia and beer but I can't remember what else. I printed out the recipe awhile back and don't know what happened to it! And, now I can't find it on the site. So, if you have it, I sure would love a copy! Hoya's vines can go crazy and take over everything. It's a lot of fun (NOT) trying to disentangle them!

I'll have to find it, Lin, but it should be on the computer here somewhere. I didn't have some of the stuff that the recipe called for, so I just made it with what I had, but the Hoyas don't seem to mind whatever it's missing. Let me go look for it and I'll post it as soon as I find it.

I am supposed to be potting up streps, but I just found a couple of new blooms that take my breath away. The first is Bristol's Very Berry and is my favorite of all streps so far. The color is magnificent and my camera could never do justice to her bloom.

I think I remember someone saying it didn't need the beer which would be great. We don't drink and I don't think you can buy just one beer, can you? I think they come in a six pack or a case of twelve or something. I bet our friend would give me a beer though if I asked ... they know I have a lot of plants, I can just see their faces now when I tell them the beer is for fertilizer! LOL

Crimson Blaze is a wine purple unlike Hera which is a red.........and unlike Aly's Tiger Lily which I didn't take a picture of and should have. She is covered in blooms right now.

Oh Gail, that is pretty ... that name fits, it looks very berry! My favorite I think I've ever seen is that one you posted a photo of awhile back called Spiritual Corridor! I've never forgotten that one! The colors were magnificent in that strep and I know pictures sometimes just do not capture the true quality of a plant or the true colors.

I ran and took a pic of Aly's Tiger Lily for the comparison

*******have to go back to work and no more playing for me today................glad to see you having fun Amy and Lin.................

Thanks for reminding me Lin!!!!!!!!!! whether you want it or not, I am putting a little Spiritual Corridor on Monday with your trade........These are on the top shelf so I just aimed the camera in the right direction as I can't reach the top! (LOL)

*******just find the coolest place in your entire house and she will do fine..........

This message was edited Feb 2, 2008 12:46 PM

Oh My ... Now, Aly's Tiger Lily is absolutely gorgeous! That bloom does resemble a tiger lily. I so love the looks of streps ... just wish they liked me! I have killed my share of these beauties. :( I guess it's good I have given up on them cause they need a lot of space it seems, which I don't have in my little house!

Gail, no ... please don't! I would kill it! I just can't seem to get it right with streps and don't have the time to try right now. You are such a sweetheart for offering ... you have such a great heart! You just post a picture for me to gaze upon once in awhile and I will be able to enjoy the beauty of a live plant! If it's at my house it won't live long.