Grab Bag

Today, we have a few odds and ends that aren't a big enough deal for their own post, but are nevertheless sort of interesting.

1.

I don't think this is the first peloric Phalaenopsis I've ever seen in person, but it may well be the second. This was at the ex-job.

I can't tell if I like peloric orchids or not. I sort of feel like I ought to, but they make me strangely uncomfortable.


2.

Anthurium seedling # 198 ("Marge Hadron-Coleida") has an unexpected house guest (on the right, in the picture). I didn't plant anything else in there on purpose, and it's too small, so far, to make a definite ID, but my guess is that we're looking at a Murraya paniculata seedling. We'll have a better idea once it starts to grow some real leaves. (These are cotyledons, or "seed leaves.")

I'm not sure what to do about this. The Anthurium seedling is one of the few I've managed to get from my NOID purple-blooming plant, and as such is more valuable to me than the average Anthurium; at the same time, both the other Murrayas I've managed to propagate so far were lost in the Great Purge,¹ so a chance to start over with a new Murraya seedling would be nice.

It's possible that both plants would be just fine if I separated them, but I'm nervous enough about it that I'm at least going to wait until I'm sure what the mystery seedling is before I attempt it. And I might not attempt it then, either. And odds are they'll both get scale and have to be thrown out before either one gets big enough to transplant anyway, so probably I'm getting myself nervous over nothing.


3.

I don't talk about Homalomena 'Perma Press' very often on the blog. Mine doesn't look great, though not through any fault of the plant's -- the problem is that it's bigger than the space I can give it, so the leaves aren't able to grow up properly, but instead grow up until they hit the shelf above them, and then sort of randomly snake along in whatever direction looks good. It hasn't helped, either, that 'Perma Press' got tangled up in the Monstera deliciosa one shelf over, so I occasionally ripped leaves when taking it out to water.

That being said, though, it's been surprisingly accepting of its situation so far, and looks better than it has any right to.² And now that it's started a third growing tip, it might wind up filling in enough to be presentable in the future. Homalomenas have never done that much for me, but if this sort of thing keeps up, I may yet find myself respecting them.


4.

Some kind of miscommunication in the Petal Pigmentation Department, obviously. (Things haven't been the same since Sherri retired.)


5.

I don't know the name of this plant; it wasn't identified. It had a certain Seduminess to it, though, so that's my guess. (If you have reason to think otherwise, leave a comment.) The flowers are obviously not gorgeous or anything, but I kinda like 'em. And they coordinate well with the blog colors at the moment.

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¹ Technically untrue: there is a third, that went in the terrarium when I redid the terrarium planting. It's survived, but not really thrived, and is in the process of being overrun by Begonias, so I don't know that I expect it to last much longer.
² As of last September:

I don't have an older picture to compare this to, because, I think, I was never certain that the plant was going to last long enough to be worth photographing. But I've had it since April 2009. At the time, it fit into a 4-inch / 10 cm pot; now it's in an 8-inch / 20 cm pot.

List: PATSP All-Stars

"All-Stars" are those plants for which:

1) I have had at least one specimen, continuously, for at least three years,

2) which is still living,

3) and looks as good as, or better than, it did when first acquired, plus:

4) no specimen has ever had spider mites, scale, mealybugs, thrips, aphids, whitefly, cyclamen mites, or fungus (Fungus gnats are excluded, because fungus gnats don't do enough damage to the plants to count as pests, and it's often difficult to tell what plant they're residing in anyway.),

5) no established specimen has ever gone into an abrupt and irreversible decline (new cuttings/divisions/offsets may still do so, 'cause that's part of the process of getting established), and

6) the plant has been successfully propagated,

7) more than once.

I have something in the neighborhood of 400-450 distinct kinds (species / subspecies / cultivars / hybrids) of plants in the house right now, and I don't have any idea how many other kinds of plants I've attempted to grow in the past, but I figure it has to be at least a couple hundred. Out of all those, a mere nineteen meet the above criteria at the moment.

(NOTE: The pictures which follow are not necessarily of the original plant nor particularly current; even those photos which are of the original plant and current may not impress, because looking better than when the plant originally came to live here is a lower bar to clear for some of the plants than it is for others. Also the Philodendron hederaceum 'Brasil' picture isn't even of my own plant.)

Aloe 'Walmsley's Blue.'

Anthurium 'Gemini.'

Anthurium 'Orange Hot.'

Begonia NOID, rhizomatous type.

Chlorophytum x 'Fire Flash.'

Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana.'

Gasteraloe x beguinii. (Aloe aristata x Gasteria batesiana)

Nematanthus 'Tropicana.'

Peperomia obtusifolia, variegated.

Philodendron hederaceum, chartreuse version. (Possibly 'Aureum' or 'Lemon-Lime;' I've never had an official cultivar name.)

Philodendron hederaceum 'Brasil' or 'Brazil.'

Philodendron hederaceum micans.

Sedum morganianum.

Sedum rubrotinctum.

Synadenium grantii (green version).

Syngonium podophyllum NOID (possibly 'Neon').

Yucca guatemalensis, gray version.

Yucca guatemalensis, green version.

Yucca guatemalensis, yellow-margined version.

I don't know whether this would be useful information to anybody else, but there it is. Ordinarily with the List posts, I recommend three good ones and warn against one, but these are obviously all recommended, so we'll skip that part.

What are your All-Star plants, according to the above criteria?

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Honorable mentions:

Honorable mentions are those which meet 6 of the 7 criteria. Depending on their reason for disqualification, some of these may move into the All-Star list eventually.

• Aechmea fasciata (only one successful propagation)
• Agave desmettiana (?), variegated (have only had ~1 1/2 years)
• Agave victoriae-reginae (one's been here 4 1/2 years but never propagated; the other's been propagated more than once but has only been here for 2 years)
• Aloe NOID, possibly 'Blue Elf' or A. x humilis (have only had 2 years)
• Anthurium NOID w/ purple flowers (original is not as attractive as when first brought home)
• Anthurium 'Pandola' (have only had ~2 1/2 years)
• Begonia NOID cane-type (only one successful propagation)
• Begonia x 'Erythrophylla' (have only had for 7 months)
• Breynia disticha 'Roseo-Picta' (has had spider mites)
• Codonanthe serrulata (have only had for 8 months)
• Columnea microphylla (have only had for 8 months)
• Echeveria coccinea (have only had 1 1/2 years)
• Ficus elastica (has had spider mites)
• Ficus microcarpa (has had spider mites)
• Furcraea foetida 'Medio-Picta' (have only had for ~2 1/2 years)
• Guzmania cv. (original is not attractive)
• Hatiora salicornioides (has had spider mites)
• Haworthia attenuata (specimens have abruptly declined)
• Hoya carnosa 'Chelsea' (only one successful propagation)
• Hoya carnosa 'Krimson Princess', solid-green revert (have not propagated >1 time)
• Justicia scheidweileri (have only had 1 1/2 years)
• Murraya paniculata (only one successful propagation)
• Nematanthus NOID, orange-yellow flowers (specimens have abruptly declined)
• Nematanthus NOID, orange flowers (have only had 2 1/2 years)
• Pandanus veitchii, variegated (specimens have abruptly declined)
• Peperomia pereskifolia (original plant got chopped back severely for propagation, so it doesn't look as good as it did initially)
• Philodendron erubescens (?) 'Golden Emerald' (have only had 2 1/2 years)
• Sansevieria trifasciata 'Hahnii' (have only had about 2 1/2 years)
• Selenicereus chrysocardium (have had about 2 1/2 years)
• Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Tilt-a-Whirl' (has only been an official plant for less than one month; have likely owned for less than a year but I'm not actually sure when I got it)
• Synadenium grantii, red/purple version (have only had for 1 1/2 years)
• Tradescantia pallida (original plant has been restarted repeatedly, and at the moment does not look better than it did when new)
• Tradescantia zebrina (original plant is not attractive)
• Zamioculcas zamiifolia (specimens have abruptly declined)

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 1.41-1.44

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 for matches 1.25 to 1.28:

In match 1.25, Platycerium spp. beat Stromanthe sanguinea cvv., 65 to 51.
Match 1.26 went to Gynura aurantiaca over Hypoestes phyllostachya by a similar but slightly wider margin, 66 to 48, though there were some complaints from people that they didn't like either plant and didn't want to have to choose. Which is fair enough.

Platycerium and Gynura advance to the second round, where they will compete with one another on October 10.

The other two matches were basically blowouts: in 1.27, Aloe vera trounced Gymnocalycium spp. 83 to 33, and in 1.28, Schlumbergera cvv. smashed Dracaena surculosa by 91 to 23, which is not close at all but nevertheless a little closer than I had expected.

Aloe vera and Schlumbergera also meet up on October 10, in match 2.14, and I gotta say I'm a little nervous about the outcome of 2.14.

If anyone besides me cares, we're now about 2/3 of the way through the first round. (It'll end next Thursday Friday.) After that, the rounds will start going by a little faster. If everything goes according to schedule, I'll be announcing the winner on November 16.

Today's matches:

Match 1.41
Ficus pumila (creeping fig) vs. Dendrobium cvv.

Top left and bottom right: Ficus pumila. Bottom left and top right: variegated F. pumila.

Dendrobium cvv. Right center is 'Karen;' the others are NOIDs.





Match 1.42
Sedum morganianum / burrito (burro's tail) vs. Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm)

Top left and bottom right: Sedum morganianum. Top right and bottom left: S. burrito.

(Bottom left: Beaucarnea recurvata variegata. Others: B. recurvata.)





Match 1.43
Euphorbia ammak / ingens / trigona (large columnar Euphorbias) vs. Oncidium alliance orchids (dancing ladies)

L-R: Euphorbia NOID, Euphorbia ammak, Euphorbia trigona, Euphorbia NOID, Euphorbia NOID.

Left side, top to bottom: Beallara Marfitch 'Howard's Dream,' Oncidium Tsiku Marguerite 'NN #1.'
Center, top to bottom: Vuylstekeara Aloha Sparks 'Ruby Eyes,' Odontocidium Tiger Crow 'Golden Girl,' Wilsonara Lisa Devos.
Right side, top to bottom: Oncidium Saint Dawn Gold, Bakerara Truth 'Silver Chalice.'





Match 1.44
Polyscias fruticosa (ming aralia) vs. Austrocylindropuntia subulata monstrose (Eve's needle)

Top left and bottom right: Polyscias fruticosa. Top right: P. fruticosa 'Snowflake.' Bottom left: P. fruticosa 'Elegans.'

Austrocylindropuntia subulata monstrose (Photo credit: ArséniureDeGallium, at Wikimedia Commons.)





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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?

Pretty picture: Sedum kamtschaticum

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of last week were unusually productive for me. Plants got watered, posts got written, trips were taken, I caught up on e-mail, I sorted pictures, I had time and energy to deal with everything. Since then . . . not so much. Like, I spent several hours yesterday trying to write a post about Sedum kamtschaticum and not being happy with anything I wrote, and then at one point I had a random I-wonder-if-I-could-find-this-on-the-internet thought and wound up down a YouTube hole for the rest of the day. (You'll find out what I was looking for this afternoon.)

Newish Plants

I haven't been buying many plants lately; the numbers have been climbing, but mostly that's due to propagation, with a smaller number from declaring older cuttings or seedlings officially plants. But there have been a few purchases, and a lot of walkaways (which may be covered in a post or two later). It's not like I've stopped looking.

Aloe nobilis.
The Aloe nobilis was previously mentioned as a walkaway. I went back for it later.

Sedum burrito.
I got the Sedum mostly because I felt guilty. I asked someone who worked at the store if they sold flats ever, because I was out of flats for 4-inch pots at home (I don't know how that happened either; all the new stuff is in 3-inch pots), and she just went and got me six and gave them to me, no charge. So then I felt like I had to buy something, but they didn't have very much. (They'd started a bunch of new things, but a lot of them weren't established yet.) I don't actually like Sedum burrito, or at least I don't think I do, but I like S. morganianum a lot, so we'll have a burrito. Worst that can happen is that it fails to appeal more with time.

Rhipsalis rhombea? R. micrantha?
The most recent of the three is this weirdo. It didn't have a tag, but the Exotic Angel website says it's Rhipsalis micrantha. I found pictures at cactiguide.com and davesgarden.com that make me think it's probably not micrantha, but I don't know how to determine what it is. I don't know how anybody tells any Rhipsalis species apart, honestly: they don't all look the same, but they all sort of blur into one another.

In any case, though, it's very shiny and green, and I'm excited about it. Apparently, I'm into the epiphytic cacti without intending to be. (At the moment, I count 48 individual plants here, of the genera Epiphyllum, Hatiora, Hylocereus, Pseudorhipsalis, Rhipsalis, Schlumbergera, and Selenicereus. They're sneaky that way.) Epiphytes are the new black, or something.

Walkaways Part 13, and One New Plant (Part 2 of 2)

Continuing from where we left off this morning:

Adromischus maculatus.
I was not tempted by Adromischus -- I had one (different species) a long time ago, which didn't do well (probably a light issue). This is noteworthy, though, because I rarely see them for sale around here, and I don't think we ever got them at the garden center when I worked there.

Aloe nobilis.
Another former Aloe victim that I want to retry. I felt especially bad about the A. nobilis, because I've heard they're exceptionally forgiving and easygoing outdoors, for Aloes. In my defense, the offset I received initially didn't have roots, and I think never managed to develop any, either. So not 100% my fault.

Peperomia dolabriformis.
WANT. SO MUCH. It looks like Peperomia obtusifolia, if you smeared a quarter-inch (6 mm) of Vaseline on the tops of all the leaves and then folded all the leaves in half along the midrib so the Vaseline stuck to itself. I mean, the plant isn't greasy at all, but there's a translucent window down the center of the leaf that has that yellowish, waxy/jelly appearance of Vaseline. The plant is completely ridiculous, but I really want it.

Aloe x 'Firebird.'
Aloes and I get along well, my previous stories of aloicide notwithstanding, so they stand out to me in retail situations. I assume that's the reason why I bothered to get a picture of this plant; it doesn't look like much, and wasn't even aggressively ugly like the Aloinopsis. Surprisingly, the handful of images Google served up aren't much either. Too pretty to be ugly, too ugly to be pretty.

Pleiospilos nelii.
I understand why people would be interested in it, but I wouldn't trust myself not to overwater, and everything else being equal, I tend to like plants that are going to grow faster, rather than slower.

Anacapseros rufescens.
The Anacampseros I've seen before were bright pink, red and green, not dull purple like this. From looking around the net, I think this is a difference in variety, not in culture, with the brighter-colored version being a variegated form.

Aeonium x 'Irish Bouquet.'
I don't even think this is pretty. Who thinks this is pretty?

And finally, the plant I actually bought, which was perhaps a little bit foreshadowed in the post this morning (and maybe yesterday's, too, a little bit):

Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora.'
It was a really calculated choice. I've grown the species before, so care shouldn't be a problem, and Sedum rubrotinctum is sort of infinitely propagatable, so I should always have plenty to trade or sell. (Is it patented? How would I find out?)

All the plants in today's posts, by the way, were grown at Altman Plants, in Vista, CA. There's a complete list of what they have here, though I've seen relatively few of these in stores. I suspect the list may be somewhat out of date.

Walkaways Part 13, and One New Plant (Part 1 of 2)

Tragically, Lowe's has new succulents in, at the same time that I have no money to buy them. I did get pictures of a lot of plants, which is fifth next-best thing to buying,¹ and I wasn't actually interested in all of the plants in the post, but having to leave a few of them behind really did hurt. (The blow is softened by the idea that I might be able to get some of them elsewhere, or elsewhen, and by the fact that the husband did buy me the one that I really really wanted.)

Part 2 will be posted this afternoon.

Crassula perforata variegata.
Not particularly tempted, owing to my previous bad experiences with the "stacked" Crassulas, but there's no denying it's very colorful and pretty.

Aloinopsis rubrolineata.
What an incredibly dull and stupid-looking plant. I want one. So much.

Though it was in the "mimicry" tray, along with Fenestraria rhopalophylla and Argyroderma. This suggests that I would probably find it difficult.

Aloe x 'Minibelle.'
I got an Aloe 'Minibelle' in one of the first trades I ever did, but somehow killed it. Never figured out what I'd done wrong. I'd like to try again at some point, though it's not urgent. I have some Aloes already that look something like this.

Argyroderma NOID.
I don't understand the appeal.

Sedum rubrotinctum NOID.
After a long, long period of struggling with a light-starved, leggy S. rubrotinctum, I finally started putting them in the basement under lights. They liked that. Since then, they're still not my favorite plant, but they've definitely moving up in my estimation.

xGraptosedum 'Alpenglow' / 'Vera Higgins.'
Mildly tempting. The whole Sedum / Pachyphytum / Echeveria / Sedeveria / Pachyveria area is full of some attractive plants, but I've had problems getting them enough light, and I grew disillusioned with them quickly at work, because it was impossible to move them around without knocking a bunch of leaves off, and they don't look so good when they're partly naked. But I'm not ruling them out forever, and this is an awesome color. (Note to self: get more lights and shelves.)

Aeonium arboreum atropurpureum 'Zwartkop.'
I think they're gorgeous plants, but I don't ever even consider buying one, ever since WCW told me years ago that she'd had one years before that, and it had fallen apart on her during the winter. All I needed to hear.

Aloe x 'Crosby's Prolific.'
Another one I would like to retry, despite having killed it before. Though the one I killed never had any of the reddish color this one does, so maybe it was mislabeled? Or maybe this is?

xPachyveria glauca.
This is just begging to be planted with an Agave victoriae-reginae. See the little outlines on the leaves where they were pressed together? SO CUTE.

Stay tuned for the remaining walkaways. That post will include the succulent I actually bought.

Oh! I should maybe also tell you that they had new cacti in as well, but I didn't take pictures of any of them, because all the cacti had glued-on fake flowers. (Most were cacti I already have pictures of, too.) I hate the glued-on fake flowers. Still. Why have the plant producers not bowed to my wishes yet? Is it because I'm hating too many things at once?² I'm putting as much negative energy out there as I can, per The Secret. It should be working by now.

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¹ Best: buying. Second-best: buying cuttings. Third-best: stealing cuttings. Fourth-best: renting. Fifth-best: getting pictures.
² Besides hating glued-on fake flowers, I hate glued-on rocks, plants that have been spray-painted and/or glittered, foil-wrapped pots, pots without drainage holes, and anything "lucky." And I'm probably forgetting a lot of stuff.