I will admit that this particular batch is not my best. I've pretty well run out of new plants to get pictures of. The next batch, 19, is better than this, and there's always at least one pretty spectacular picture in each set, but there's sort of an overall let's call it a lull, from 18 to 23 or so.
What happened around Part 23 was, I realized that none of you guys are going back and looking at all the previous pictures anyway, so I can go back to plants I've gotten pictures of already and nobody will know, so Parts 24 and 25 ought to knock your socks off. Seriously. You will no longer be able to wear socks. But right now, we're at 18 and I know we've all seen better and I'm deeply sorry or something.
So let's hurry up and get this over with.
(The previous transmitted light posts, many of which are considerably better than this, can be found here.)
Hoya carnosa 'Chelsea.' The venation for thick leaves like this often wind up reminding me of clouds.
Syngonium podophyllum 'Neon.' There's an odd asymmetry to the symmetry here. I like it. It's different.
Homalomena cv. 'Perma Press.' Not terribly impressed with Homalomena cvv. as houseplants, but I will say for them that they have very graceful veins.
Fragaria cv. 'Fort Laramie.' I remember this as being a much better picture when I first took it. Either my memory is wrong, or something went badly awry during the cropping and editing process.
Streptocarpus 'Purple Martin.' I really am going to write that Streptocarpus profile someday, I promise. I've had some difficulty with it, in that I find it difficult to be interested.
Phlebodium aureum 'Blue Hare.' Maybe I should get one of these sometime. No idea how they'd do inside, and the growth habit is sort of wild and random, but the venation is so cool.
Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie.' Either this one or the Polypodium is my favorite from this group, I think: there's a lot of interesting detail in the full-size view, and it's a new color for these transmitted light pictures, kinda.
Anthurium andraeanum 'Pacora,' spathe. This didn't work out at all like I wanted. It might look a little better in full size.
Alternanthera cv. 'Partytime.' Interesting colors, though no individual leaf is all that impressive on its own: you sort of have to see the whole plant at once.
Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Splish Splash.' I've become somewhat disillusioned with coleus lately: I kept one indoors for over a year, and it didn't seem so terrible, though it was kind of leggy. Then I went kind of nuts buying them, discovered I didn't have anywhere to plant them, and they've had to suffer outdoors in tiny pots or inside without enough light. I'm not sure whether I'm going to try to keep them going through the winter or not: I know it's possible, but it's questionable whether this would be worth the trouble, when coleus is so easy to get in the spring. If I do keep some, 'Splish Splash' is likely to be one of the ones I keep.
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7 comments:
Great idea for the link to all previous Parts. I'll admit my eyes got a little wonky view after view though..will have to do it in sections. That you've drafted up to Part 25 is what's impressive to me! Oh please keep Splish Splash..one of my favorites..each leave is totally unique!
I've read that it's better to start new Solenostemon each year (from cuttings or seeds) since older plants get kind of woody and ugly. They're easy to grow from seed; I'm going to try to collect seed from my plants this fall and see if any interesting new varieties sprout.
In general, yes, but they don't sell seeds for most of the larger, patented varieties like 'Splish Splash,' so it has to be cuttings, and depending on who you believe, it might be, technically, illegal to start one's own plant over from a cutting if it's a patented plant. This doesn't seem especially enforceable either way, but I have heard third-hand that the big plant companies believe you're not within your rights to propagate your own plants for your own use.
Whether or not this should stop a person from taking coleus cuttings is, of course, between them and their god(s). And possibly also Proven Winners.
I have a Polypodium aureum 'Blue Hare' that I keep inside on a windowsill, but not in a terrarium, and it gets something like 2 hours of afternoon sun, and it grows wonderfully. It can get almost completely dry without wilting at all. I also used to grow it under a fluorescent and was doing just as good. You should get one, the venation in the sun is amazing.
Inspired by your transmitted light photos, I decided to try some on my houseplants here. Here's the photo I liked best: http://pixel.katestange.net/index.php?showimage=36 . I'm sure you can identify the plant. It's nothing unusual. Plants are such beautiful things. I've been enjoying your blog. Thanks!
Hi Kate. Pretty sure that's a Maranta leuconeura kerchoveana. If you're asking. Which possibly you weren't.
I wasn't really asking but I'm quite pleased to know its real name (it was, of course, labelled "mixed tropical" when sold, which is kind of amusing, since it is only one plant). I think I was really just saying: you must know your plants exceptionally well! I've very suddenly become an avid collector of houseplants (just the past few months) and I have been finding it endlessly fascinating to watch the way they grow and turn toward the sun etc. I'm thinking of setting up some long-term time-lapse photography to capture some of this.
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