Indoor gardens - Fall 2015

WOW on the Jade, I had one for a good 25+ years and never saw it bloom.

Most of my bigger pots of CC's are also starting to bloom.
After all--Thanksgiving is next week. They are right on schedule.

Terri--have any of the Thanksgiving Cactus I gave you blooming?
Or--at least in bud? I am dying to see a picture if they are.

G.

G, no none of them are blooming. I haven't noticed any buds but I'll look again. They look nice and healthy though.

Wow those orchids are incredible! Way to go!

Me too, only seen Jade bloom once- cool.

Who wants this Yucca houseplant? Neighbor was tossing and I took pity. It was seriously tipping out of a plastic pot with no drainage. I was curious to see what the roots looked like and how it would respond to repotting. It looks much better now but I have no place to enjoy it. It will be pretty wobbly in its pot for a while. (edited for phone typing)

This message was edited Nov 16, 2015 9:42 PM

Nice looking Yucca, Sally. No can't take it at my house, sorry.

Love those cane yucca, but no can do here. Sure you will find a home for it.

That's a nice one! Too bad I have no room. I still have 3 large semi tropicals to bring indoors. I'm waiting until the last possible moment.

which large tropicals will you have inside, ssg?
I'm still eyeballing the big Strelitzia. I don't have a good place inside OR out so why bother?

I am still contemplating what to do with the "No Hibiscus--Hibiscus????
The "Changeling"......boooo..

It is still thriving and looks extremely healthy. But it is NOT a Hibiscus any more.
Some weird mutation....with totally different leaves. I am sure you all remember...

I don't know whether I should bring it in and overwinter it in the Shop--or just
trash it?? In a way--I am curious what it will look like next summer???
The mystery prevails--WHERE DID MY HIBISCUS GO???
Maybe i should leave it outside and see if this new version survives the winter?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm????

1--Here is a picture i took of the "changeling" just a couple days ago.
Very healthy and with a strong constitution.

2--3 Here is what it WAS--last year--a beauty in bloom.

Gita- Check the last small paragraph on this page
http://www.hibiscusworld.com/BeersBook/8-Hybridisation.htm

"Do not confuse the shoots or branches of understock or rootstock which arise from below the graft on grafted plants with sports. The foliage of rootstock is usually quite different from the top portion of the plant. If any of these branches appear from below the graft cut them off immediately as close as you can to the main trunk of the plant."

Sally---
This topic, of it growing out from below the ground, was already discussed.
I can tell you that none of the leaves came from anything below the soil.
There were NO stems at all emanating from below the ground or from the roots.
They simply grew out from all the stems way above the ground level.

You have to believe me--as I am the one who witnessed this happening from
all the bare stems when I cut back the hibiscus in the spring. See pic. #1. (in May)
You can see these leaves starting to grow high up on the stems that were
over 12" long. There are NO signs of any grafting near the soil level.
I would know what to look for....

Pic. #2 (in June) shows these odd leaves covering the plant.
One just has to accept the fact that this is an oddity. Wish I knew why!

I will cut it back and bring it into the Shop for the winter and take more pictures
in the spring to see what grows out. I am sure it will e these same leaves...

Sally, I'll be bringing in the two citrus plants as soon as we get a hard freeze (probably this Sunday) as well as an oxalis that has gotten huge and needs to be divided next spring.

I now understand how donner always has oxalis corms to give away. They multiply like mad!

SS--
On an established Oxalis--there is more than corms below ground.
There are pretty massive, translucent, "water saving" roots the size of small
carrots that grow below the corms. Similar to the nodes of a root-bound spider plant.,
but longer.

I have pictures--but don't have time to look for them now. Have to get ready for work.
G.

Company coming, and chilly weather, has focused my energy more to inside and cleaning. But still, I found a few potted plants that really needed fooling with this morning.
Anthurium mehanii- got this on clearance but it got ill last year, lost all leaves, and barely stayed alive this summer. Sayonara.
Dracaena marginata Tricolor- brought a sick spindly one home from library this spring, cut in three pieces, rooted in soil in the spring, and repotted today. The top piece, the one that had leaves, had a ton of nice new roots. The bottom and middle barely any new roots though they both have a sprig of new leaf growth starting from the stem. I guess the leaves made plenty of energy for the root growth.
Elephant ear= when I dug the big momma, there was a cute lil runner sending up a leaf. I cut him off and potted him. He's on his third new leaf. Doing so well, I gave him a better pot for display, not the basic square of my 'survive on the shelf' plants.

And, oh grrr, found mealybugs on a coleus on the windowsill.

nice yucca, Sally--so sorry I don't have room for it, either! Definitely time to bring plants in for the winter!
I have my 4 big pots of amaryllis bulbs on the kitchen table--my sole indoor plant space! :-) Guess we won't be eating there anytime soon! :-D Most of them are sending up scapes nicely...

OK--To belabor this point to infinity---I cut back my mutant Hibiscus to about
6" from the soil--plus or minus.... I will take it down to my Shop for the winter--
mostly out of curiosity to see what it will look like next summer.

Also--took pictures to show, those that insist that it may have grown from
some kind of suckers or root stock for something else--that that is impossible.

SO--to prove to you once more--here are some pictures of the base of the plant.
Now that I have cut all the tops off--it is better visible.

Can we dig a hole in the ground and bury this idea of underground suckers
being responsible for the mutation of the leaves?
I am satisfied thinking it is some natural mutation--even if it is hard to believe.

Here is the ase of the Hibiscus. any smaller growths you see are roots.

catmint---
I would like to grow some "Nepeta" Mint for my daughter;s 2 cats.
She could dry the leaves and have a good supply of catmint. or--I could.

Do you have any seeds? If yes--I would like some from the swap.
Do they grow from seed--or just cuttings?

Funny.....Did I not dig up and give you a clump of Nepeta a few years ago?
That was before my daughter had cats.

Thanks--Gita

hi, Gita. I do have catnip that bloomed a bit this summer--I can check it tomorrow to see if there are any seeds clinging there. It actually spreads quite easily, so I'm betting there are! :-D

One issue I'm having now is that the sunny/partly sunny spot I used to have in that area is now getting shaded out by the wisteria, which has been growing along the clothesline, so things in that area didn't do as well this summer as last because there wasn't as much sun. :-/ I need to move some things around for next season... But I definitely had some catnip bloom, so I'll take a look and see what I can find for you.

I think you probably did give me some at some point in the past, Gita!

Cat---I know I did. It was growing in my YUK bed and had blooms on it.
I did not know what it was. it had been there a couple years.
I took a picture and it was ID'd as Nepeta -cat mint. I did not want it.
You were the one that claimed it.

cat--maybe you could stick a couple branches in a small pot to root--
and i will get it at the swap?

I want to grow one in a pot--and give the other ones to my DD. She has 2 cats.
I will hand sew some little cat nip toys and make them for her.

Thanks. Gita

hi, Gita.
Sorry for using scientific names, but I need to let you know about the two kinds of Nepeta that I have:

Lemon Catnip (Nepeta cataria var. citriodora)
Catmint 'Walker's Low' (Nepeta x fassenii)

My Lemon Catnip (white blooms) has spread--er--robustly. I'm not sure whether cats are attracted to Lemon Catnip the way they are regular catnip --I have not noticed the ferals in it. :-/ However, the pollinators *love* it-- they are all over it.

My Catmint 'Walker's Low' (blue blooms, like in my avatar) is in the part of the garden that got shadier this summer due to the wisteria spreading along the clothes line overhead, and it did not spread at all. I have seen the feral cats rolling in it. I have just the one clump, which I need to relocate perhaps in early spring. I'm notoriously bad at both cuttings and root division--everything I try to take a cutting of or divide by the roots dies.

Anyway, I dug up some of the Lemon Catnip and put it in a pot for you. I'm not sure what to suggest about the Catmint. Given how bad I am at cuttings and root division, if you would like the Catmint, there might be someone else who has some for you? I'm sorry I can't help with the Catmint right now, but I do have some Lemon Catnip for you.

Cat--It was the Walkers low that i passed down to you.

Do you know of seeds for this are are sold in packets?

Maybe as it gets closer to spring--you can try to root a small start
of the walkers Low for me. If nor00one can always buy a small tub of dried
catmint which will be enough for some cat toys.

Thanks anyway. G.

Gita, when it starts to emerge in spring, I'll be happy to take a look at it and see if I can separate some out for you.

good post from tapla about neem oil here
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1402776/

Very good.

good info--thanks, Sally!

That neem oil article is fantastic! Tapla is just so full of good information. I guess my 4-year-old bottle of neem is pretty much useless by now. :/

Has anyone heard of amaryllis red blotch, or Stagonospora curtisii? I stumbled on this term after seeing a post on ATP about another bulb with spots on it.

I'm afraid some of my amaryllis have red spots similar to the Stagonospora curtisii spots on google.

Christmas cactus from Gita.

Dragon Wings begonia. It's a messy houseplant but I like to keep it blooming all winter.

First amaryllis bloom of the season. I didn't bring my bulbs in early or force them go dormant. I heard that they bloomed even without periods of dryness/darkness so I wanted to try it out. There are no signs of blooms on the other amaryllis, though.

My neem is that old, easily. And it's been stored too hot, too cold, I have mixed bottles of spray and left them in the sun... silly me. I think it was pretty $$y.

I've seen red areas on many of my (few) Amaryllis bulbs and wondered if they had some disease.
I might break down and buy a monster bulb (monster price lol) from Homestead Gardens. People at work so enjoyed last year's Minerva amaryllis.

I think my Neem is old, too.

My Flamenco Queen is getting ready to open!

Lol Sally! I decided early on to only do gardening chores that make me happy.

And taking cuttings does not make me happy!

But I'll do things like make my own potting soil, which is a long, dirty, dusty, tedious process, but it certainly makes me happy!

I think you're very wise, ssg!

I wish neem came in 2- 4 oz bottles with dropper lids. Maybe it does. I haven't shopped. I got mine in 12 or 16 oz.

My first amaryllis of the winter season has bloomed! Flamenco Queen, which has been my first previously, as well. Love that it blooms, early, long, and prolifically!

Mine haven't shown any signs of blooming yet, let alone growth, but I haven't even planted them yet HA HA HA. Very pretty bloom you have there catmint!

My Amaryllis are vegging in my shop at this time. Leaves all gone...

I will have to keep an eye on them so I do not miss the new growth time
before I have cut the "necks" of the bulbs back.

WHAT IS THAT??? YOU MAY ASK....

You know how the necks of the bulbs elongate after the season outside?
Well--when they have been dormant for ~ 6 weeks--the bulb may decide to start
sprouting. Before they do this--find a time and cut the "necks" of the bulbs
off--kind of close to the bub's top. You want to see the layers of the bulb where the
bloom buds would emerge.
Do not cut too low--as you may be cutting off the tops of the emerging bloom/leaf buds.

Use a sharp knife to cut clean. ......G.

LOL Aspen--yeah, it usually helps to plant them first! :-D

Saw curly poinsettias while visiting Palm House. Curious looking plants.

Gita - two of the holiday cactus you gave me are blooming. One is white with a light pinkish cast and the other is a deep pink/red. Very pretty!

YEAHHHH!!!!! Happy for you!

The white one is called "White Christmas"---just in time!!
Show us pictures--please! G.

Cool curly poinsettias I looked them up very pretty.

This message was edited Dec 19, 2015 11:25 AM