Showing posts with label Aphelandra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aphelandra. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Pretty picture: Aphelandra squarrosa

I hear they're not particularly satisfying houseplants, in the long-term, but I do sometimes feel mildly bad about never having tried an Aphelandra squarrosa. This one was at the ex-job, quite a while ago.


I'm not sure exactly why I feel like I should have attempted it -- it's not as though there's a list of Houseplants You Must Try If You're Going To Be Into Houseplants. (And if there were such a list, Aphelandra probably wouldn't be on it.1) But that's sort of what it feels like.


So what about it, readers? Have I been missing out on something awesome? Or is A. squarrosa as disappointing as I've heard?

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1 What would be on that list? Well, pothos, obviously. Codiaeum. Sansevieria trifasciata. Dracaena fragrans and D. marginata. Schlumbergera? African violets? Peperomia obtusifolia. Araucaria heterophylla / A. columnaris. Dieffenbachia. Phalaenopsis. Crassula ovata. Spathiphyllum. At this point I suppose I'm just listing plants I see for sale a lot. And some of those wouldn't actually be fair to inflict on someone who was new to houseplants. (Codiaeum wouldn't be fair to inflict on someone experienced, as far as that goes.)


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 1.57-1.60

Rules and Stuff
1) It's probably possible to vote more than once per poll, but please don't. If I believe that someone is voting repeatedly, I will throw out those results, repost the poll, and seriously question that person's priorities.
2) If you want to link to a poll on Twitter / Facebook / your blog / whatever and encourage your friends to come and pump up the support for your favorite plants, you are encouraged to do so.
3) You are also encouraged to leave comments on Rumble posts, if so moved.
4) All photos will enlarge if opened in a separate window/tab.
5) You can choose which plant is "best" according to whatever criteria you decide for yourself. My personal process is a bit convoluted.1
6) All polls will be open for three days.


Results from matches 1.41 to 1.44:

Not many surprises from this set. In match 1.41, Dendrobium cvv. beat Ficus pumila 73 to 35, which I suppose is what Ficus gets for not having colorful flowers.
Match 1.42 was incredibly close, but in the end Beaucarnea recurvata defeated Sedum morganianum and S. burrito by a single vote (56 to 55).

Dendrobium and Beaucarnea will next compete in match 2.21, on 12 October, facing one another to determine who makes it to the third round.

Oncidium alliance orchids, as expected, beat out large columnar Euphorbia spp. (ammak, ingens, trigona, etc.) in match 1.43, but at least it was relatively close. *sigh* The score was 63 to 44.
Finally, in match 1.44, Polyscias fruticosa beat Austrocylindropuntia subulata monstrose by 64 to 38, which I personally kind of appreciate because it's hard to type Austrocylindropuntia.

Oncidium alliance orchids face Polyscias fruticosa in match 2.22, on 12 October.

Today's matches:

Match 1.57
Aeonium spp. vs. Aphelandra squarrosa (zebra plant)

Clockwise from top: Aeonium 'Kiwi,' 'Irish Bouquet,' A. arboreum atropurpureum 'Zwartkop.'


(Aphelandra squarrosa)






Match 1.58
Euphorbia milii (crown of thorns) vs. Tradescantia spathacea cvv. (moses-in-the-cradle, oyster plant)

(All Euphorbia milii cvv.)


Top row, L-R: Tradescantia spathacea, variegated T. spathacea.
Bottom row: T. spathacea, T. spathacea 'Sitara Gold,' close-up of T. spathacea flower.






Match 1.59
Tillandsia spp. (air plants) vs. Philodendron bipinnatifidum cvv. and similar spp. (xanadu, 'Hope,' 'Spicy Dog')

Left side, top to bottom: Tillandsia xerographica, T. capitata 'Peach.'
Center, top to bottom: NOID, NOID, T. ionantha 'Druid.'
Right side, top to bottom: NOID, T. abdita Mexican form.


Clockwise from top left: Philodendron bipinnatifidum ('Hope?'), P. xanadu, Philodendron bipinnatifidum ('Hope?'), P. 'Spicy Dog.'






Match 1.60
Pilea cadierei (aluminum plant) vs. Dieffenbachia cvv. (dumb cane)

(Both are Pilea cadierei.)


Clockwise from top left: Dieffenbachia 'Sterling,' 'Panther,' 'Camille' or 'Tropic Marianne' or something similar, 'Camouflage,' NOID.






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1 I'm deciding according to a hypothetical situation in which all of my houseplants are gone, as are all the other houseplants of the world, except for one producer/supplier/retailer. Said person is offering to restock me with one or the other of the plants in question but refuses to give me both. Which one would I choose?


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

List: Houseplants Which Have Yellow Flowers

With most of these I don't have pictures of whole plants in bloom, and in some cases, cultivars with yellow flowers are rare and hard to find, so the inclusion of a plant in the list doesn't mean that it's usually found with yellow flowers, only that yellow is a color which is known to be possible. For the pictured plants, I have gone with plants which usually or always bloom yellow, for whatever that might be worth to you.

Aloe vera. (A couple flower pictures available at the link.)

Aphelandra squarrosa.

Astrophytum myriostigma.

Columnea orientandina. (The cuttings I mentioned recently are still alive so far, by the way.)

Faucaria spp. (I know at least some have yellow flowers; I doubt all of them do but didn't bother to look it up.)

Gynura aurantiaca. (Photo of flowers here.) You wouldn't actually want the plant to flower -- the blooms smell unpleasant -- but it still meets the criterion to be included in the list, so it's in the list.

Hamatocactus setispinus.

Hatiora salicornioides. Pictures of single flowers here, though there are much more impressive multi-flower photos elsewhere on-line. My plant wasn't, let's say, fully committed to blooming. Though considering the circumstances, I'm pretty tickled that it bloomed at all.

Justicia brandegeana.

Leuchtenbergia principis. Photos of a flower here.

For the recommends and anti-recommends, I'm sort of at a loss, because I haven't grown several of these (Aphelandra, Faucaria, Hamatocactus, Justicia) and have only begun to grow (Columnea) or have had mixed luck growing (Astrophytum, Aloe, Gynura) the others. But if I must . . .

I'm very happy with my Leuchtenbergias, and they seem happy with me too, so I'd recommend them to other people. Likewise, I've rarely had problems with Hatiora salicornioides, and think it's a very nice plant. For the third recommend, I'll go with Astrophytum myriostigma, because although we've had problems, I think the problems were almost entirely my fault -- it was top-heavy, and I kept knocking it out of the pot, and then I also was watering it too much in the winter, while the plant was cold, so I was basically begging for it to rot out. Which it did.

Speaking of rot -- my anti-recommend would be Faucaria. I haven't had much direct experience with them, but my understanding is that they're inclined to rot out at the drop of a . . . drop of water, much like Lithops cvv. I don't think it's that they're particularly difficult plants; it's more that beginners tend to show their enthusiasm by overcaring, so plants that just want to be left alone aren't going to be a good match. Plus, I suspect Faucarias also want an unreasonable amount of light, though again, I don't have much direct experience.

Not pictured:
  • Abutilon cvv. (a few cvv.)
  • a few Adenium cvv. are yellow, though reds and pinks are a lot more common (reader suggestion)
  • Allamanda cathartica
  • the occasional very rare Anthurium cvv.
  • Astrophytum ornatum
  • some Begonia cvv.
  • Bougainvillea cvv.
  • some Brugmansia/Datura cvv. (reader suggestion)
  • some orchids in the Cattleya alliance (C., Blc., Lc., Slc., Pot., etc.)
  • some Chirita cvv. (reader suggestion)
  • a few Clivia cvv.
  • a few Columnea cvv.
  • some Dendrobium cvv. (tend to be greenish-yellow, though, at least the ones I remember)
  • Echinocactus grusonii
  • a few Epiphyllum cvv.
  • some Episcia cvv.
  • Euphorbia grandicornis, and other succulent Euphorbias like E. obesa and E. flanaganii, usually have small yellow or yellow-green flowers; the true flowers of most/all Euphorbia species are yellow, though in a lot of cases (E. pulcherrima, E. milii) the bracts overwhelm the true flowers
  • some Euphorbia milii cvv., bracts included, though those I've seen have been more of a pastel yellow
  • some or all Fenestraria spp.
  • Fittonia cvv. true flowers are yellow-white
  • some Guzmania cvv. have yellow bracts; I'm not sure what color the true flowers usually are, but yellow is a possibility there as well
  • some Heliconia cvv. have yellow bracts and/or true flowers
  • some Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cvv.
  • some Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cvv.
  • some Lithops spp. (I think they're all either yellow or white)
  • Ludisia discolor (partly; most of the flower is white)
  • some Mammillaria spp.
  • I've seen a yellow Miltoniopsis orchid picture on-line, though never in person
  • a few Nematanthus cvv.?
  • some Oncidium alliance orchids (Colm., Alcra., Alxra., Bak., Colm., Gdlra., etc.)
  • some Opuntia spp.
  • a few Oxalis spp. and cvv., particularly O. hedysariodes and cultivars derived from it. You may also be growing O. stricta without meaning to, as it's a common nursery container weed. (reader suggestion)
  • some Pachypodium spp. (though not necessarily the ones in the profile) (reader suggestion)
  • Passiflora citrina; maybe other Passifloras?
  • some Phalaenopsis and Doritaenopsis cvv.
  • some Plumeria cvv., though it's debatable whether Plumeria is really a houseplant or not
  • a very few Saintpaulia cvv.
  • some Schlumbergera cvv.
  • a few Streptocarpus cvv.; the first one to come up in a Google image search is S. 'Seren' (reader suggestion)
  • some Thunbergia alata cvv.
  • some Tropaeolum majus cvv.
  • Uncarina spp. are usually yellow, though there are some pink ones out there as well (reader suggestion)
  • some Vriesea cvv. have yellow bracts and/or yellow true flowers
  • the true flowers of Vriesea splendens are yellow, though the longer-lived, more dramatic bracts are red
  • some Zantedeschia cvv.
  • some Zingiber spp. (reader suggestion)

I'm sure I've forgotten all kinds of things, so if you can think of others, say something in the comments.