I'd say that number 113A is going to be the last new Schlumbergera bloom until October, but I've thought that two or three times before and then been proven wrong, so we'll just say that 113A is the last one from this particular run of Schlumbergera posts.
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The color is fine, maybe even a little stronger than many of the recent first-time blooms,1 though the shape leaves a lot to be desired -- it looked normal as it was opening, but the petals didn't stop reflexing when they reached the normal petal-reflex point. Instead, they kept reflexing harder and harder until I wound up with this:
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Now, that's an exceptionally unflattering photo. It didn't look nearly that bad in person, from most angles. But even the more complimentary shots from that day were pretty extreme --
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-- so I'm going to declare this another "dog" Schlumbergera like 008A "Frightened Dog," 060 "Wet Dog," and 084A "Downward-Facing Dog."
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Fortunately, I had already spent some time looking on-line for dog-related names, so without agonizing over it at all, I'm going to call number 113A "Helper Dog," in honor of Allie Brosh and Hyperbole and a Half. (Relevant comic.) Which means, obviously, that the next "dog" bloom is going to have to be named "Simple Dog," and I'm all right with that.
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1 (I'm thinking specifically of 035A "Patito," 099A "Dessert Room," and 111A "Morning Sun," which were all a little washed-out.)
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5 comments:
I would have been more inclined to go with "Windblown Dog" or "Car Window Dog" in honor of all those dogs who love to stick their heads out the window of moving vehicles.
I have a simple dog and a helper dog too so props to you for referencing Allie Brosh.
All the Dog seedlings seem to be the orange ones. Maybe there is some wonky gene in that plant. Perhaps you can just pot all the Dog ones together and give the resulting plant to someone who doesn't care about blooms?
Anonymous:
Well, most of the seedlings are orange, period. I'm not entirely sure that the dogs aren't caused by something in their environment: none of them have rebloomed, so it's hard to know for sure if they'll do that every time. (Though there's the possibility that 008B "Candor" is the same plant as 008A "Frightened Dog." If they are the same plant, then yes, it's environmental, and yes, the seedling's rebloomed. I really screwed a lot of stuff up for myself by planting multiple seedlings in the same pots.)
I have had one reader specifically request 060A "Wet Dog" because of the weird blooms, so they're getting the whole 4-inch pot (along with any non-dog seedlings that might be in it). If anybody else wants 084A "Downward-Facing Dog" or 113A "Helper Dog," they're certainly welcome to them.
And ALL of their flowers bloom in these weird ways?
I wonder why there aren't more weird ones out there....maybe there's something wrong with them and they are sterile? Otherwise all I can think of is that somehow the female knows that the male is deformed and rejects him?
Anonymous:
I don't recall for sure, but I think this was the only bloom from 113A (it was late April, after all), so I don't know yet whether they're all like this or not.
I imagine there aren't more weird ones out there because there's no market for them. No point going to the trouble of raising a bunch of plants that no customers will want to buy.
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