wow...that's a stunner

Yes, what is it? Stop drooling, Tindo, it's not hardy here.

:drool: :drool: :drool:

Unfortunately most of Arizona is too hot in summer for Aeoniums, and the cooler summer areas are too cold in winter. They are Mediterranean climate plants from the Canary Islands in family Crassulaceae. They are widely used in coastal southern California landscapes. There are small ones succulent growers do well with in 3"/8cm pots. This one is hybrid Swartkop. It grows well in a small pot, but it is unlikely to get large enough to flower that way. It needs strong, direct sun all day to keep the dark color.

Huh, no idea the aeoniums would bloom! Very neat!

We have plenty of these Aeoniums here although not in my garden as I dislike them intensely! I love the leaves' colour and form, but the colour of the blooms really jars with me. The yellow is just such a brash/harsh shade that looks garish, doesn't look natural at all in my opinion.
One man's meat is another man's poison as the old proverb goes!

Tiger Eye Viola. Wonderfully fragrant and hard to take one's eyes off of :)

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a2913f9d_o.jpg166713751_737096550336681_8250918078393772051_n by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

Wow! Excellent choice! Never seen one like it...

DAYUM!!!


hard to stop looking indeed

Right? I desperately needz one!

Nice photoshop there CH! Only kidding hehe. That is awesome actually.

Amaryllis growing in our front garden. This plant was placed in our garden when my mother moved several years ago. As you can see the beautiful blooms are huge and numerous. The bulb has given rise to several more, and we are letting it grow to be a rather impressive specimen.
https://i.postimg.cc/632YfGhb/20210402-105931.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/1tkMC5Cm/20210402-105949.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/RCtg3KhN/20210402-110002.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/BQGM2bPN/20210402-110023.jpg

Wow!

Here's a weird one... I hardly ever fall for a non-orchid at a show, but this one grabbed my fancy. Albuca spiralis (trade name "Frizzle Sizzle") is an South African succulent (from the Cape region). I grow it in very well-drained, mostly inorganic with some cactus mix. It does need bright sun, and a cool winter. I don't dry it out particularly, doesn't seem to be a problem. After blooming, the corkscrew leaves die back but another set sprouts at about the same time. The flowers are interesting, but it's the leaves that I find so fascinating.

After you showed us that plant last year, I needed one badly. As DC says, it looks like a Dr Seuss tree. Yes, I still like Dr Seuss no matter what anyone else thinks. :biggrin:

However, after flowering last year, and new leaves coming up, it looks like it hit a flat iron instead of curling iron. Haven't had time to figure out why, so if anyone knows go ahead and tell me...

it is totally Seussian and Dr. Seuss is still the BEST- having made insensitive depictions at the time (while we were at war with an asian country) and then recognizing that those "orientalizing" depictions are no longer socially acceptable today, that is Bad Ass to me.


i hope my current self is never judged by the awareness of my future self.


Also, what theordore geisel did for the United States in WWII as far as propaganda ...might have been the single most important person in the war effort as far as reach and impact.

After a quick search for information, it seems that this is linked to light: not enough light = straight leaves. If the leaves haven't all come out yet you just might be able to get the last ones to grow out curly.

Well, thanks Camille! Weird... It's hanging out with some other succulents in a south window. Guess I need to throw it upstairs under one of my high light LEDs. Ugh... Dr Seuss tree takes up orchid space. This sucker must need a LOT of light.

The more I read about this cool looking plant the more I want one!!!
I found this site with lots of cultural info. Albuca Spiralis: A Twisty Frizzle Sizzle | Epic Gardening
In it's natural habitat in South Africa it does nearly all of it's growing in the winter. Conditions are cool, wet and bright. They like full sun, and it seems that you have to dial in watering to get spirals : too dry and they won't curl, and too wet they also won't curl...

I guess I just lucked out with the climate (not all that different from the Cape area of South Africa) ... it lives on the patio with the rupiculous Laelias. Actually, winter light isn't all that bright (yard orientation has the house blocking the winter sun from the south) but guess that it gets enough, and gets plenty during the rest of the year.

Hmmmmm..... I'll bet I'm watering it too much. Gonna leave where it is and back off on the water. Weird, mine was dormant through the winter then started up about a month ago. It is a cool plant... you can thank Roberta for this particular enablement. I'm just another victim. :rofl:

---------- Post added at 11:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 AM ----------

PS Yes, good website Camille. Pretty positive now it's too much water. Ugh.

i am glad you brought that one around again...i have been thinking about it myself

Here's a fun plant that Dolly sent me a ways back. Little heart leaves... didn't do anything first two years. All of a sudden this happens...

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...CarolPlant.jpg

She'll have to tell us what it is. She told me, there was likely a label, and of course I don't remember now... epi-something maybe? It was the best picture I could get, laying on my belly in the mud. The flowers are simply exquisite, look like some sort of orchid, about the size of a nickle. I was going to get a better picture, but then snow happened. UGH.

Genus Albuca comes from a huge area of Africa. There are species that get only summer rain, species that get only winter rain, and some that straddle the regions. Some of the summer-rainfall species are being grown outside in New York State. There has been a huge amount of taxonomic revision in what used to be family Hyacinthaceae. For now Albuca is an accepted genus.

Most behave as opportunistic growers if they have water all year, but the winter growers look much better with only winter water.

The plant Roberta showed was introduced into cultivation about 25 years ago, by southern California succulent growers, with the wrong name. Because it's easy to grow, and looks really cool, it's been distributed widely - with the wrong name. It has waxy, non-glandular leaves, and is actually Albuca namaquensis. You will find A. namaquensis sold with the wrong name almost everywhere.

The real Albuca spiralis is in cultivation. It is also a really cool, and easy-to-grow plant. It has even narrower leaves, tightly coiled, covered with short stalks bearing glands. The flowers are similar. I have both species, and have raised many from seed.

You can read more about Albucas (and any other geophyte) at the Pacific Bulb Society. From the top menu choose Photographs, then the genus of interest. Detailed photos of both species I mentioned are shown.

Both A. namaquensis and A. spiralis look best (curliest) if given as much sun as possible from the time leaves are first visible.

A. namaquensis (Roberta's plant) is one of the earliest winter-growing bulbs to appear, usually August in the Northern Hemisphere. As soon as you see any leaves, put it outside in the maximum sun possible. It does fine in a small pot in full Arizona sun with temperatures above 110 F / 43C, so don't worry.

Water about once a week. Let it go dry between waterings, but not for too long. If you water too much it won't be very curly.

Keep it in as much sun (or indoor light) as possible all winter. Insufficient light and too much water prevent it from curling properly.

It tolerates overnight freezes into the teens F / -8C, but expects the next day to be above freezing. In spring, as temperatures rise, it will flower and set seed. Stop watering when the flowers fade and fruits begin to swell. It will mature fruits as the leaves dry and go dormant. Collect the seeds and store for the next fall. They are extremely easy from seed, and will self-sow in your collection if conditions are correct.

When dormant, store over summer where they will be warm and dry, with no water. High humidity combined with high temperatures may be a problem. I don't have that. I store mine on a windowsill so I will see the new leaves as soon as they emerge.

The true A. spiralis, with glandular leaves, grows exactly like the above, but it emerges later in fall. Both these species do offset, unlike many Albuca, and will break pots as the bulbs grow.

It's Epimedium grandiflorum. (Maybe Rose Queen?) Common name is Barrenwort. Used in China as a medicinal. Not related to orchids. It's in the Berberidaceae family. I lose tags too, WW.

Ha! I knew it was epi-something! Know it’s not an orchid, but reminds me of some of the neos. Dolly lose a tag?!? Never!!!:bowing

ES- amazing info

Dolly and Ww you crack me up

FYI: ES' info wasn't about the Epimedium. 😉

I'm so excited!
Many years ago I fell in love with Jacaranda trees after seeing them planted along the streets in a Spanish town. Last year I managed to get 3 and plant them in my garden. They're still pretty scrawny although tall! I knew they have to be a fair age before they bloom so what a delightful surprise to find a spray of bloom on one! :love:

https://i.imgur.com/R2aaBHX.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BL6QxMA.jpg

Apart from 3 holes that are reserved for plants that I am growing on a bit, I have finished planting my garden! Need to do a bit of tidying up and try to sell the leftover soil.
However, panic has set in! Our ayuntamiento (local council) has pledged to give every house the ability to connect to Fibre Optic broadband. We never thought it would come to our side of the island as we are on solid rock, but they have been channelling out by the sides of the lanes, very slowly!, and it's getting close! But, and it's a big but, a channel will need to be dug from the road, through our garden, to get to the house. That means a large tractor with a pecking thingamy manoeuvring through my recently planted trees. It will also have to tunnel through the rock under our lava rock garden wall.:scratchhead:
To say nothing of lifting part of the terrace .......:(
It's got to be worth it though - there are many days when I can't get online and it's been several weeks since I could upload a photo to the cloud - our current service is dire.

That's great! But sounds expensive!! Do you have to pay for all the trenching stuff? Hopefully not...

Now I am enjoying so much the color of our garden with the bougainvillea ...

https://i.imgur.com/iKJAacD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nGHK4RE.jpg

💕 Common beauty...

We have to pay for the trenching from the road into the house but it'll be worth it! Currently get 10Mb (megabits) if we're lucky, will get 600 Mb(megabits) with Fibre Optic. That's 75MB (megabytes). And the cost is less! We'll be able to watch TV! (Streaming service, nothing English through TV aerial since SKY changed their footprint a few year's back.)

Hoya carnosa compacta

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2dc527fb_o.jpgUntitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

Smell like chocolate?

It just opened yesterday! Is nighttime the best time to get a hit of that scent?

Beautiful flowers, and superbly photographed!

Non-flamboyant whites (but ummm, very fragrant).

Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

https://i.imgur.com/8xGsUcIl.jpg

Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides)

https://i.imgur.com/sP9yVGpl.jpg

A splash of color - Amaryllis (Hippeastrum 'Clown')

https://i.imgur.com/KDyfSvUl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uxHYzcql.jpg

Hibiscus cannabinus
 

Hibiscus cannabinis has edible flowers (and leaves etc) ----- having flowers that partially resembles cannabis leaves.

The colour of the flowers in the shade is medium to darkish burgandy. Quite pretty flowers, which I like.

The petals don't have much flavour (pretty much none) when eating the petals ----- sort of like a nice thin iceberg lettuce could be a fair description of what it tastes like.

Growing these plants from see is straight-forward. The seeds can germinate very fast - such as overnight (after maybe a soak in hot tap water for an hour or so before planting the seeds).

These plants reach flowering stage pretty quickly too ---- possibly within a few weeks - maybe a month.

Google drive links (higher res) :

Pic 1 link
Pic 2 link


https://www.orchidboard.com/communit...1&d=1621716926

https://www.orchidboard.com/communit...1&d=1621716926

Lovely plant SouthPark!
I'd like to give these a try but I've not had any luck tracking seed down. 1 US site that doesn't take credit card or Paypal and some sites that also offer 'blue rose' seed etc :rofl:
Sade - if you read this, have you come across any available seed? The range of seed in the shops here is very, very limited and I haven't found an online EU supplier.