new thread #97

Rita: I like that Philo warscezwiczii ... very nice, and Oh Wow - that MG is gorgeous! I planted some MG seeds that Debra sent me and can't wait for them to bloom, I will be thrilled if they are as nice as the one in your picture! I've tried the "Shooting Star" Hoya a few times with not much luck. It seems to do well for short periods, blooms profusely and then suddenly declines quickly and dies. Is the one in your last photo here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=8476786 Hoya pubicalyx? I can't see the foliage clearly but it reminds me of H. pubicalyx Pink Silver. I have a large Pink Silver that has never bloomed for me. I also have one I bought as a cutting from Australia that was labeled Hoya pubicalyx Royal Hawaiian Purple. It's only bloomed once for me (back in 2009) and someone said the flowers look more like Pink Silver so I guess it could have been labeled incorrectly.


dyzzy: I have a couple of dozen orchids but am a novice grower. I'm bad about feeding them on a regular basis but love when they bloom. Love that variegated Phal ... what color is the bloom on that one? Your white Phal is probably a hybrid Phal amabilis ("White Moth Orchid"). I have/had (I think it's still out there somewhere, LOL) one that blooms in the winter months for me, one of my fav's for so many of those pretty white blooms!

Homer: Wow to that Aye Aye ... I agree, better get her outside before she takes over the house!

MJ: Isn't it so much more fun working outside than in? Your little Hoya is H. bella variegata: http://www.google.com/search?q=Hoya+bella+variegata&hl=en&prmd=ivnsfd&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xrqdTbKtOsGR0QGnlMnQBA&ved=0CCYQsAQ&biw=1414&bih=800

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53934/

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/73760/

Ok ... heading out to mow the lawn if I can get the danged mower to start ... tried yesterday and it would start but then when I tried to engage the blade it would shut off. My husband checked it when he got home last night and it started and was fine, no problems!?%# He's coming home early this afternoon to do the string trimming (I'm not allowed to use that thing, he's worried that I will cut my foot off or something LOL.) so he said he will get the mower going then if I can't get it started.

Have a great day everyone!

Lin, thank you, I had just been checking some Hoya sites and found it.

Here is "Sir" Staghorn Fern...survived another winter - going on 33 yrs. old, got it 1978 in a little 2 in.pot

Mj, the tag on my variegated Phal says "Phal.amabilis var. formosanum 'Variegata' " It has a white flower with some yellow touches, if my memory serves. It's also supposed to be fragrant. (hope so!) I'm sure I took a picture of the flower but I can't find it.

My daughter sent it as a birthday gift a year ago, and all but two buds fell off from the transit shock. Came from Norman's Orchids in California. (yes, I admonished her to please order from nurseries in Florida from now on).

I"m going to get spraying that puppy, right now. Thanks for the tip.

MJ I was going to say that it was a var. Bella. Lucky you!!

Homer luv, luv your var. banana!!

Ardesia and I are looking for PINK Jatropha integerrima - does anyone have this for trade?

mj, do you know if you can propagate those Staghorns from cuttings? Sir Staghorn is truly magnifique!

I have a fair size one about 12' up in the crutch of a big oak tree. The squirrels nap on it's fuzzy middle - cute!

dyzzy, you can cut the "pups" out very carefully and mount them. I have two more that are about twice the size of a basketball.
Did you give your variegated Phal and shower ? LOL

Yea - Alice found her pink Jatropha!!!!

All orchids got the spa treatment this morning - sponged off all the pollen and showered them with fert spray. Let's hope for flowers!

To be honest, I'm just glad they aren't dying. Guess there's perks to living in Florida's greenhouse, huh?

MJ: I agree with dyzzy ... that Staghorn is truly Amazing! We have friends who had a huge one like that for years ... it was so heavy they had to use strong, heavy chains to hang it from the oak tree. I think they lost it during the 2004 hurricanes. :(

Well, my back is out of whack again. I've been having some discomfort in my right hip (arthritis) for the past week but was outside pulling weeds today and went to stand up and could hardly straighten up ... ouch. It looks like I will be taking it easy for awhile.

Callisia fragrans:

Thank you guys about my banana. Most people say it is the hardest to grow on my bananas.org site.


Mj, That is one awesome #$@^&* Staghorn. I am highhhhhly impressed.

Goodnight ladys and gents 5am comes early!

Checking in.. oh gosh that staghorn is hugmongus.. what is it in and how does it just hang out there? shade? sun? I need to know...
6:30 am for me to BE at work, so good night, and oh..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUU! KayJones!
BIG HUGS!
PS: remember me telling you about the neighbors next door to the south that had the junk in their back yard, and then they got forclosed? Well the prospective owners parents are talking about cutting down all the trees and shrubs along the fence, if they do, I will have to re-think my TROPICAL south growing area.. ( I told Joe it is time to move)
My virginia blue bells are starting to bloom.. Rita did yours come up yet?

This message was edited Apr 8, 2011 11:06 PM

Debra, Originally it was in a wire basket....which it ate. Then a bigger wire basket, which it ate also. Then we had a stainless steel rod made, threaded on one end and with an "eye hook" so to speak on the other. We took a piece of 2x8 pressure treated wood, drilled a hole in it for the threaded end of the rod and secured with washers and rather large nut. Rope tied to the eye end. It hangs from an Oak tree where it gets dappled morning sun, then shade with a bit of late afternoon dappled sun again. We used to load it into the back of the pick up truck and put it in the barn if we were to get a freeze, but it's too big to do that now. We have to use the truck to adjust the height it hangs off the ground. We don't use a chain as that would scar the tree too much. Everyone in a while we have to replace the rope and adjust it around the tree so the tree doesn't grow around the rope.
I feed it Banana peels, an occasionally a dose of Fish Emulsion Fertilizer. Oak leaves fall down into all the crevices too. Occasionally a black snake will make it's home in it. Scared the $%^# out of me a few times when I was inspecting the plant when they come flying out of there !

" Re: Your neighbors talking about cutting down all the trees and shrubs along the fence,and having to re-think your TROPICAL south growing area.." Had that happen to me once, when I lived on a different property. In the middle of SUMMER. They didn't say anything about their plans and I lost a lot of plants.

is it it any soil in that basket? would it grow in moss?

We used that fern bark stuff ? No sure exactly what it's called. No soil. Are you thinking Sphagnum Moss ? Don't know. I know alot of people out here just anchor them to their trees. But I know a few of those have lost them then when we had a freeze...depends on what part of FL you live in if you can do that.
dxzzy does that with her's, but she's much farther south than me.

♬ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♪ Happy Birthday KayJones! ♬ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♩ ♬

Thank you both!

Happy Birthday Kay !

Thank you, Martha! I have all the plants I 'need', but am going out looking for some plants I will have to drag into the greenhouse this fall! LOL I'm 61 years old today - wonder how much longer I'll be able to move these plants in and out of the greenhouse!

My staghorn was here when we bought the house. I don't know how - or if - it is secured on the tree, but it is comfortably nestled in the middle of the biggest branches. I've seen smaller ones hanging on pieces of bark at Selby Gardens. They had a humoungus one hanging in a tree for years, too. But it has gone somewhere now.

I've never done a thing for it except give it a little shower if we have a long time without rain. Martha, do you chop up your banana peels? My raccoons steal them unless I bury them in the compost. Kathy Crowley of Crowley's Nursery (a theme park for gardeners out in Myakka City) told me she chucks her coffee grounds onto her staghorn.

As you can see in this pic, mine is hosting another plant growing out of its middle. Think I need to address that before it roots too deep. Arg, it's 12 feet up in the air!

They say it's your birthday?

Well, happy Birthday to ya Kay!

Thanks, Homer!

Hello Everyone! I hope that you'all had a very good day!


Plantladylin,very nice pictures! I like the foliage on your Hoya Chelsea.
My banana shrub has just now started blooming, the fragrance swoops through the hh's especially in the evening. I just love it.
Thanks for the name of the Hoya Pubicalyx Pink Silver, the leaves have silvery markings on them. I hope that your plant blooms this spring.

This is Gators Pride, my friend phughes picked it out for me.

Homer1958, are you planning to keep your AeAe banana plant in the pot outside or will you plant it in the ground?

Philo Evansii

This message was edited Apr 8, 2011 7:51 PM

mjsponies, thanks very much for all the goodies you sent me!
Glad to see your Staghorn fern looking so Grand, mine will never ever get that big, it seems to be shrinking.
What a nice neighbor you have, that is a vey nice size cutting of Hoya Bella, I hope that your buds stay on for you to enjoy.

Kay Jones, Happy Birthday!! Glad that you found your Pink Jatropha.

Hibiscus Erin Rachel

hh

dyz, That is a very nice birthday present from a very sweet daughter. I wonder if there were any hints as what to get you for your birthday. What plant is at the top of your wish list for your next pesent?

Joeswife, I was wondering if your neighbor has any idea how much those trees and shrubs mean to you, maybe they will go easy and only cut a few.
A visit with a plant might help. They tend to soften the hardest of hearts.
No blooms on the Virginia Blue bells yet.

Rita: What a gorgeous Hibiscus that "Gator's Pride" is ... really stunning! Aaah, your hh looks like a place where I'd want to spend many hours! Love that last photo ... the pretty blue sky really sets off the orange of that fabulous vine!

Oleander's are blooming:

Wisteria is also in bloom:

At one time this pot was totally full of these Phaius Orchids, then I planted them in the ground and they were hit hard by the winter cold. They will remain containerized from now on so that I can move them to a warm location when we have freezing temp's!

Oops ... getting used to the new laptop, must have sent it twice!

This message was edited Apr 8, 2011 6:42 PM

Well, I'm going to get the ice pack for my aching back/hip ...

I should have a picture of a pretty Amaryllis to post in the next day or two:

Rita, I didn't find the pink Jatropha - ALICE (Ardesia) did - congrats, Alice!

Here's a beautiful Amaryllis blooming in my yard today:

These black and yellow Petunias are wonderful!

Here is the Brunfelsia I spoke above in my above reply:

Here are my newly-acquired Kalanchoes:

The nun's Orchids are finally in full bloom: