What PLANT did you buy?????

When the weather starts to warm again in late winter I will prob pot a mix of these into a hanging basket...succulents can look so good in them with all the different shapes,colours and textures. I am growing more fond of them everyday and if you forget to water them here and there they are none the worse for it and I need more of those kinda plants!lol

Judy I thought it might have been a Drimiopsis. I have this one that I think is D. maculata. Is it similar?

This one I think is Drimiopsis kirkii.
They are very interesting plants. The flowers are minute beauties.

This is a closeup of it Wayne,what do you think?

G'Day Brical, I have a plant that looks like yours and have been told it is "Squill" Ledebouria and probably L socialis.
Brian

Hi Judy.
Drimiopsis it is. Maybe not D. maculata, however we can swap a bit with each other and compare! :)
Lots of common names including "squill". Do a Google.
Drimiopsis kirkii (my photo) is lovely and quite rare. I will pop in a piece for you.
Also, those cacti etc look fab. Just wait for the "starfish" blooms on one of them! :))

I was thinking the same Stake ..
Wayne,Yes I know about the lovely scent they emit(to Blowflies that is!!lol)My mum used to have one in a big pot and gee did we know it when it was in flower!.

G'Day,
Wayne your plant looks to have brown spots on it whereas Bricals has darker green spots on a lighter green background as does mine. Looking in "Plant Files" there is a lot of different genera called "Squill". Does anyone know why they are "Squills".
Brian

Hi All,
Squill is an anglicised (corrupted) version of the latin genus name Scilla. See http://www.thefreedictionary.com/squill Most of the plants with Squill in their common name have been in and out of the genus Scilla at some time. As an example, the plant Ledebouria socialis has the common names Silver Squill or Violet Squill, which used to make a lot more sense in the 1970s when I first encountered it. Back then it was called Scilla violacea! By the way, the Ledebouria genus contains some very neat plants - check out this lot! http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher[common]=&searcher[family]=&searcher[genus]=Ledebourea&searcher[species]=&searcher[cultivar]=&searcher[hybridizer]=&searcher[grex]=&search_prefs[blank_cultivar]=&search_prefs[sort_by]=genus&images_prefs=both&Search=Search&searcher[genus]=Ledebouria

Ciao, KK.

bought this vanilla plantifolia, at a car boot sale on the island thsi morning for $2, geez I would have paid $20 for it as it's so established............one healthy little vanilla vine........

Wow--that's a *bargain*. Would be so even for a tiny cutting, but for such an established plant--well done!

AH gee Mya lucky you!!! Your own vanilla plant for $2...how good is that!!..fresh vanilla pods picked straight off the vine...your cooking will never be the same!!.How long before it will produce and do you have to play pollinator?

Judy growing vanilla is going to be such fun,there are actually 2 plantations up north here that export vanilla beans,one has great cultivation notes so here's the link.......creme brule ,yum,yum

http://www.vanillaplantations.com.au/cultivation.htm

my favourite creme brule recipe,I made this last week for a dinner party......quick and easy and everyone was so impressed,they just don't realize how easy it was to make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_16ZZtTH_Y

Mya, how are your yellow-flowered buddleja cuttings coming along? My B. madagascariensis cuttings don't look well--I don't think they're going to make it. I wonder if they're doing better in your warmth? The B. x weyeriana is easier to strike for me--any luck with that up there?

The B. madagascariensis bit the dust....sorry.......,your B. x weyeriana has rooted.....the garlic vine that Judy sent me,all 11 of them, have also rooted, as has an off cut from my Solandra variegate, plus 2 of my Ipomoea Horsfallae, aka Cardinal Creeper,I had about 30 of these cuttings,so that's a real toughy to strike............

That B. madagascariensis has turned out to be quite difficult to strike; this is my second or third attempt. And yet it has a reputation for weediness in the sub/tropics. Could be that it's best propagated by seeds? I'll just have to take the dog for another long walk :-)

Good news about your other cuttings. I'm not used to growing Ipomoeas by cuttings, but I've grown only two types, each time from seed. But ultimately you only need one, so well done.

I saw some interesting plants at Bunnings this morning. There was a Tecomanthe hillii, the Fraser Island creeper--I think Mya is growing a rarer form of this. They've also had for months now another climber labelled Saritaea magnifica (aka Bignonia magnifica) which looks pretty, and one I haven't seen before, Petrea volubilis (sandpaper vine), which is pictured with pretty mauve flowers. There were a few Hoyas too, among them H. muliflora 'Los Banos' and H. Potsii (a native). An interesting tree was the Euodia Elleryana (the Corkwood), which apparently is a host tree for the Ulysses butterfly (see http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/plant/Corkwood-Euodia-Elleryana.htm . All very interesting ... but none of it scented.

So what I actually took home was a Rhodamnia sessiliflora (scented malletwood), which is described as a dense shrub with a slightly weeping habit producing colourful new growth in shades of bronze and red. White highly scented flowers appear in clusters spasmodically throughout the year. Of course, I'm a sucker for fragrance!

I wonder if I'm going to have to go back for the Tecomanthe lol

Cestrum I have all 3 vines that you mentioned.The Petrea aka sandpaper vine is a very fast grower and when in bloom stunning,mine is just little but growing rapidy.The Tecomanthe Hillii aka fraser island creeper has PINK flowers it's growing slowly for me compared to the Tecomanthe Dendrophylla which have pink with white borders,I think 3 of my Tecomanthe D cuttings have struck,they've taken about 6 weeks so far....here's a link to the Tecomanthe Dendrophylla, absolutely stunning vine in bloom,

http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/tecomanthe_dendrophylla.htm

The Saritaea magnifica is a prolific grower and is blooming for me all the time,even though I've only had it in the ground for 5 weeks,no scent though !!!!!

below is my first bloom of the Saritaea magnifica bignonia......

Mya, it doesn't surprise me that you have all three vine lol But the Tecomanthe? It's pink according to the label and to the online pics:
http://www.cooloolacoastcare.org.au/html/species_pages/new_tecomanthe_hillii.html
Is yours orange? I can't even tell the difference between the hilli and dendrophylla from the pics ...

The Saritaea magnifica (aka Bignonia magnifica) is very pretty, but the one I want is the scented vanilla trumpet vine (Bignonia laxiflora), which I've seen advertised on the US ebay. Haven't seen it for sale anywhere in Australia, and the US seller offers only plants, not seeds: http://cgi.ebay.com/BIGNONIA-Vanilla-Trumpet-Vine-delicious-fragrance_W0QQitemZ380142759282QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5882462d72&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

I have the beautiful Petrea vine,you will love it Mya.When mine flowers it is a mass of purple.There is a white form too but it is very hard to find but I have been searching!

I have also been searching for it(Vanilla trumpet) too cestrum,it really is beautiful isn't it.We will have to let each other know if/when we find it.

Lovely picture of the Petra here!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L1VoD0QX1ok/RvppFx-bMzI/AAAAAAAABDE/PIHTzaQ7NTo/s1600-h/petria.JPG

Cestrum you are a true blue ENABLER,gosh you'll have me looking for that blasted vanilla trumpet now...I think it goes under a different name, starting with D..........

Well, yes: I've always said that what we couldn't grow further south, we'd try to get you to grow up north :-)

It's also known as Distictis laxiflora (see http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=522) but there seems to be some confusion between it and a similar coloured vine that is not scented. Although it probably doesn't matter because I don't think I've even seen it mentioned on an Australian website. And I think I might have just discovered why:

---extract from ICON database---
Species listing for Distictis spp.

See Table 1 for a list of species that are permitted entry.

Note: Any species not listed in these tables are prohibited entry into Australia by legislation and require assessment.

Table 1: List of Permitted Species. These species may be imported subject to the conditions C7100, C7179, C7180.

Distictis buccinatoria

---
Table 1: List of Permitted Species. These species may be imported subject to the conditions C7100, C7179, C7180.

Bignonia buccinatoria
Bignonia caroba
Bignonia chinensis
Bignonia chrysantha
Bignonia grandiflora
Bignonia heptaphylla
Bignonia lepidota
Bignonia leucoxylon
Bignonia pallida
Bignonia pandorana
Bignonia pentaphylla
Bignonia pterocarpa
Bignonia radicans
Bignonia serratifolia
Bignonia spathacea
Bignonia tomentosa
---
While not prohibited as an import, it would need to be assessed first. So even if we could find seed for sale overseas, we couldn't import it. Only chance of growing it is to get seed/cuttings from someone already growing it here, but I don't think anyone is ...

I can usually find things but I cannot find anywhere that sells the "sweet leaf "mentioned in the ABC gardening Australia, I would gladly pay for some if someone can find it up there in QLD in a little nursery somewhere or if anyone knows a site I can buy it from could you please cut and paste the addy in here for me?
Good luck with your search for the vanilla vine, someone has it because I saw it on a blog once ...also may I suggest you go up to the sticky trade thingy and insert it into your wants list, lots of people look but never say hello ...lots of shy lurkers out there.By the way when you edit your list you can delete your "edited" thingy from before so you needn't have a bunch of edits in there only the last edit notice, gosh I hope you understand what I mean. Good luck with all things vanilla!
Australian vanilla lily in there somewhere
http://articles.glenns-garden.com/Art/1532/93/The-Amazing-Smell-of-Australia-Perfume-Plants.html
another list with many of the very best perfumes left out of it in my opinion but worth looking at.
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-5-18-497-2-1X2X3X4X5X6-7,00.html

So you reckon someone in Australia is growing the vanilla trumpet vine, Chrissy? If so, I'm sure Mya will suss them out :-)

Don't know about a Qld nursery, but Daley's has it 'in production':

http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/search.php?PHPSESSID=102dcf2b17f8857cd572ee1e818cffc2&q=sweet+leaf&SType=

Now my Michelia 'Alba' has been 'in production' for about a year, but you can certainly sign up for an email notification letting you know when it's ready. Hopefully it won't take as long to propagate as my Alba ...

Thanks very much cestrum ... ^_^ re vanilla vine yes that was a blog I wandered into ...you know how we wander from someones blog into anothers ...it was a QLD lady who got it off some older relative or friend and I don't think she was a real gardener because it was only casually mentioned. I will look again tonight.

sweet leaf bush ...picture (I thought it was a vine ...but it's a bush)
It's quite pretty
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/129524/

I'll keep my eyes open for you Chrissy re the sweet leaf.........

Cestrum,no vanilla vine fragrant anywhere,that i ahve been able to SUSS out,we'll have to track that post and beggggggggg a cutting ,LOL.....

Bought Yellow Jade Plant seeds, a whole 2 seeds anyway,pretty good chance of propagating these seeds(apparently)..this will match my red one which is roaring away at present....

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Yellow-Jade-Vine-Yellow-Flame-of-the-forest-2-seeds_W0QQitemZ320404183097QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Plants_Seeds_Bulbs?hash=item4a9993d839&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Also bought some seeds for a green bat plant,what the heck, I have the black and white one, so I thought this one really interesting,never even heard of the green bat plant,has anyone got one growing?.........

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Bat-plant-GREEN-Tacca-palmata-20-FRESH-SEED_W0QQitemZ320404181365QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Plants_Seeds_Bulbs?hash=item4a9993d175&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

From what Brendon said, you might be able to cross-breed the red and yellow Mucuna to create one of another colour ... then *you* can give it a name of your choice :-)

OMG Cestrum....just imagine......

I can see it now ... the 'Mya' Mucuna :-)

OK Cestrum now I'm NOT being an enabler or telling you to run to Bunnings and buy this beauty BUT it's my duty to inform you that this understated "Bignonia Magnifica" has a Scent of Roses

I didn't bother to smell the flowers when they first appeared becaue the tag didn't mention any scent. As I was weeding this morning, I was wondering where this rose smell was coming from and sure enough it was coming from this beauty.........who would have thought.........she has lots of flowers now and loads more budding up.........

You are a naughty girl mya ...^_^

Aaarggghh, this is payback, Mya LOL
I'm going to have to go back! Again. No wonder they smile when they see me coming ...

Now, my turn to brag! Brendon C has sent me some absolutely wonderful plants, as he's moved to WA and couldn't take them with him. (Mind you, he could have sold them for a lot of money, so I'm eternally grateful that he *gave* them to me.) There was one particular plant, scented of course, that I'd been looking for in vain pretty much since I moved to Qld. I've bought countless batches of seed from overseas suppliers and could not get even one to germinate. Plant is virtually unobtainable in Australia. (Not even you could get one, Mya LOL) It's one of the scented beauties shown on the Top Tropicals website. I'll let you guess what it might be (Chrissy: shhhhhhh) ...

Then, he just threw in another two that I hadn't even mentioned: a variegated vanilla orchid and a variegated solandra. How good is that! All three plants are now living in my new mini-greenhouse in my sunroom. OK, temps get low at night but, during the time, I reckon it's as hot and humid in there as a Cairns summer.

So, any guesses as to the mystery plant that Brendon so generously sent me?



This message was edited Jul 29, 2009 8:43 AM

I'm on a bit of a buddleja splurge, as I'm going to replace two stands of (unproductive) bananas with buddlejas, as the area is hot and dry. I've just ordered three different types of buddlejas from this NSW nursery:
http://www.countrygardener.com.au/c/200664/1/buddleja---butterfly-bush.html

Now, the website says that they're not doing mail order because their lease has expired. But I called them (10c untimed VOIP call: if you've got broadband, you'd be mad not to use VOIP) and found that, while they were not propagating any new material, they were willing to post out any stock they had on hand. (It means fewer plants for them to relocate.) It's worth checking out their website.

I've also decided to try growing the Cassia alata in the driest corner of the backyard. I last grew it about three years ago, before pulling it out to make room for other things. It was sown in Sept and six months later was flowering (see pic). Yellow isn't my favourite colour (other than in brugmansias, where I love it) but, as this is such a difficult spot, and too far from the house to worry about scent, I thought I might try it in this spot. I've sown seeds, which are now three years old but I think they'll germinate readily. In fact, I suspect that if the spent flowerheads aren't cut back the plant could easily be invasive, judging by the quantity of seeds my plants set and the ease with which the original seeds germinated. Still, I don't think it will be a problem in the hot dry spot I have in mind.

Very interesting plant, Mya.
But no ...

Throwing my hat in ,so if Chrissy knows what it is????????????

No no no no no no no :-)
Chrissy is sworn to secrecy, so don't try twisting her arm LOL
Hint: think fragrance rather than form ...

OH bugger...got to catch a ferry in an hour, haven't got time to play games and if I don't know before I go, I'll bust with curiousity all day, so put me out of my misery.......please!!!!!!!!