My Mother-in-Law's Tongue is smelling very sweet!
When I got home last night there was an overwhelming sweet smell pervading the garden. Wandering around with the torch I tracked it down to my patch of Mother-in-Law's Tongue. I've always tended to ignore it and it's grown quite large, as happens with Mother-in-Law's Tongue. Especially as they age and you don't keep them under control.
Rarely gets watered, except in the wet season. So it's going through a mass flowering now. Some people bring it into their houses but I prefer it outside. I mean, to me it just seems so sensible to keep your Mother-in-Law's Tongue outside.
Sansevieria trifasciata
My Mother-in-Law's Tongue is smelling very sweet!
No, that's the only one.
Dutchlady, one mother-in-law's tongue usually is enough, LOL!
Tropicbreeze, it looks so pretty, I've never seen one flower before! I wish I could smell it too!
OK, pics? Please? Curious goofy wants to know how many tongues (MIL tongues, that is)!
I happen to live near a gentleman who is one of the world's authorities on Sansevieria. He has opened my eyes to many interesting varieties of what I used to consider a dull plant.
I think I must have about a dozen different cultivars here in my yard, mostly as accent plants, but there are many, many more!
Here is a nice silver leafed variety in bloom; I'll take some more pictures soon.
As night fell the whole garden area around the Mother-in-lLaw's Tongue was again overwhelmed with fragrance. Seems to be trying to attact night flying pollinators. Never seen any fruit or seed on them.
Today I noticed a dracaena-type plant in one of the back gardens is also flowering and putting out a slightly sweeter fragrance than the Mother-in-lLaw's Tongue. It's funny, the mid winter blooms seem to be the most fragrant. Never notice this to the same extent during summer.
Breeze, I never get that many blooms at once, but my MIL's Tongue's are both in pots. Do you think your's is blooming so prolificly because its in the ground? It really looks fantastic!
Yokwe,
Shari
Sansevieria bloom every year in warm climates.
It's mid winter here now. The day temps have been getting up to 34C to 35C and minimums down to 20C to 22C for the past fortnight.
I've seen some curious ones with completely tubular leaves. If I had more time and space, I'd probably be hybridizing these plants as well!
The tuibular ones are S. cylindrica, also becoming more popular now. They are very drought resistant by the way.
I have a small one of those.
The bird's nest types are nice in groupings and as I said, in plant arrangements since they don't really get very much bigger, they just make pups.
i always think of mother in law tongue as a house plant--i have some out for the summer but planned to bring them in for the winter--will a couple of freezes kill them?
also i had no idea they bloomed!! i don't think they do in the house
I don't know about anything else but they are very drought tolerant. We've a four month period of the dry season when there's absolutely no rain and it's hot. Mine are in the non-irrigated part of the garden in full sun most of the day, never fertilized or looked after in any way. And the patch keeps growing larger and flowers freely. I've also seen them in abandoned homesteads here growing really well. They're considered an invasive but they only move slowly and aren't considered a problem.
thank you--i might bring some in and leave some out--play it safe!
I just got back from my rental unit in Hanalei (Hawaii). The Mother in Laws Tongue is doing just fine. It is doing so fine it looks like it could take over the known universe. at any time. Anybody want some Mom in Laws Tongue rooted starts??????? And yes it is flowering.
Oh man - what a thread title!!
yeah--great title!
how do you get them to flower?
They flower easily every year, by growing them in a tropical to sub-tropical habitat.
oh--well that explains why my houseplant tongues don't bloom i guess
They are indeed beautiful plants, and what a variety!
I have two large pots overflowing with several different varieties but they have never bloomed. I keep mine in a greenhouse over the winter and outdoors during the summer. Is there a way to get one to bloom in a greenhouse? I live in Illinois, but own property in Fiji and I see them growing in the ground there all the time.
I've had them in the ground for years. If they get enough sun where I am, they will bloom outdoors. I'm in Daytona. Never had one bloom indoors.
The smell of Sansevieria is very potent, too strong for me to keep it near doors or windows. Whoever mentioned Dracaena blooms being stronger scented is right, IMHO. D. massangeana is so intensely fragranced I had to move it to the far edges of a quarter acre lot. For both the flowers are not all that showy. Strappy thin petals of uninteresting color. My Sansevierias only had white blooms, but Dracaena massangeana had white with a brown stripe down the narrow petal. I don't know how closely related they may be, but the flowers are similar in arrangement and pattern of growth, except the Dracaena's arched like the leaves.