Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Random plant event: Billbergia 'Foster's Striate'

Gentle readers,

This would be a good week for you not to expect too much from me, blogularly speaking. Everything's fine, but the combination of Sheba's mysterious pain last Wednesday and my own all-day headache on Sunday has thrown off my delicately-balanced blogging and watering routine, so I just don't have the usual amount of time to spend blogging.

That said, here's a thing that's happened here lately:


The plant is Billbergia 'Foster's Striate,' which I've had since a reader trade last May. It's been well-behaved: no pests, no excessive leaf drop, no burnt tips or margins, no loss of variegation. This isn't the first new offset since it got here, but it's the first one I've noticed so early in development. Mine hasn't bloomed yet, but it's my understanding that the flowers are similar to those of B. nutans.

If you're interested in having one of your own, to love / pet / squeeze / call George, check with Grower Jim at Garden Adventures; he is selling some, or at least was at one time. (1 for $4, 2 for $5, plus shipping. PayPal. U.S. only. No shipping to HI, AZ, CA, TX, LA, MS, NC. Other restrictions may apply; see link for details.)


3 comments:

CelticRose said...

Sorry to hear about your headache. :( I used to get migraines, and it really sucks when your head hurts and nothing makes the pain go away.

CelticRose said...

Oh, and I forgot to ask: How's Sheba doing? I hope she's feeling better.

mr_subjunctive said...

CelticRose:

I get them a lot; they're rarely incapacitating, and definitely not migraines, but they do make everything a lot more difficult to do, and painkillers usually don't help very much, or for very long. Eye strain and/or bad posture in front of the computer has been implicated in some of the recent ones, but changes in the weather, disruptions in my sleep schedule, and stress all seem to be potential causes too. (It might just be that I'm on a hair-trigger for headaches, so everything causes them for me. I don't know.)

Sheba -- not sure. She clearly feels better when we're giving her her painkillers, but when I tried not giving her one Sunday or Monday morning, she seemed to be hurting again. (Growled weakly at me when I went to pet her, though she'd let me do so just before that, so it may have been about something else.) I sort of wonder if it wouldn't be better not to give her the pills, if she's supposed to be resting and healing and stuff. I mean, not that I want her to be in pain, but when she's got the pills, she acts just like normal and may well be aggravating whatever the condition is in the first place.