If my name began with a Y, this plant would have come home with me immediately. On the other hand It might to be nice to have so that when people inquire about it's name I could respond with "Y do you ask?" Of course the response would be, "Y not?" I'm easily amused.
Tromotriche longii (née Stapelia longii) Aren't you glad you're not a taxonomist? If you are, we don't all despise you, but you can't seriously think we're thrilled that you keep renaming the kids every few years.
Interesting blooms made this hardy-to-zone-eleven hanging basket tempting especially since it needs to be kept dry during the winter. I do well with house plants that thrive on neglect. Rather I don't kill house plants that can take neglect.
I'm loving the new Aglaonema cultivars with pink and/or red markings on their leaves coming from Thailand. This and one called 'Valentine' are the only ones I've seen locally but here's a link to pictures of quite a few others. I've just ordered a seriously red - leafed one from Thailand which will be sent bare root and will take quite a while to get here. I'll let you know what happens. I love these because they can take quite a bit of neglect, low light , dry soil for a while, etc. Any house plant that can survive at our house is pretty much foolproof. (I'll post about my sansevierias this winter.)
This combo pot of succulents was seriously tempting but I had to kick myself because with the exception of one of the plants, which I purchased, I have all of these kicking around waiting to be planted. I even have some of the exact bowl shaped terra cotta pots that this one was planted in which have been sitting in a stack in the garage since I found them on sale @ two for a dollar at the dollar store a few seasons ago. A gardener can always use terra cotta pots, right?
The shy weeping form of this Agapanthus is charming. Not quite charming enough to remember the variety name. Maybe it's a function of my Teflon-coated memory rather than a reflection on the merits of the plant.
The new so-double-that-they-bear-no-resemblance-to-their-prarie-wildflower-parent echinaceas aren't among my personal favorites but the ones that are still single with that glorious cone in the center but whose flower colors vary from purple and white I find delightful. Still can't grow them very well but they're great in other people's gardens.
A nice big display of Sunset's new introduction, Slavia 'Amistad,' takes me back to June when we visited Sunset's headquarters in California and saw this plant growing gloriously in their trial garden. It's got the black calyxes of S.'Black and Blue' but has purple flowers and is supposed to be even hardier.
Warning: If you are at all squeamish or prefer to be in denial about the S word (September) or the F word(fall,) you may wish to avert your eyes and scroll past the next picture.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Say it's not so. It can't be this time yet.
Quick, here's something to purge that from you mind. Since Cisco featured one of these wooden pots being planted on his show, I've seen them popping up at quite a few nurseries. What do you suppose the lifespan of a wooden planter would be? Do you like the idea of this divided planter? What would you plant in it?
You may recall a fellow blogger's infatuation with this plant. If not, here's a reminder. I'd seen one at WeHop that came from San Marcos Growers but these were clearly not from there. Didn't take a picture of the tag but this looks like the work of T & L growers. The bold print on the tag calls it "Little River Wattle," but the fine print confirms that it's indeed Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' Hardy only to zone 9, these stayed in the house plant section because they need more light and water than anything gets inside my house.
Not sure I'd want a wooden planter...but that beehive configuration is pretty cool! I admit, I'm not a fan of most of the new Echinaceas...call me old-fashioned...I like the ones that are closer to the species. Oddly, I've never had a problem with Salvia 'Black & Blue' overwintering...it's just that they don't seem to come up until almost July that always annoyed me!
ReplyDeleteWood doesn't seem like it would last long in our climate especially if it was left out during the winter. My experience is similar to yours with Black and Blue. Just takes forever to come back. Totally in love with S. 'Blue Angel' but it always rots on me during the winter.
DeleteI love the orange Echinacea (got one last year). Why are you having difficulty growing them?
ReplyDeleteThe Black&Blue salvia is on my list for next year. It's color I find irresistible.
I usually plant Ecinacea in areas of my garden that are already too crowded and it sulks while the other plants grow up around it and shade it out. I've only tried it once or twice and it, along with rudbecias are now something that I enjoy in other people's gardens. If I were a better plant parent and gave them more favorable space, they'd flourish.
DeleteSadly my 'Cousin Itt' now resides in plant heaven.
ReplyDeleteThe "S" word doesn't bother me because it's still summer until almost the end of the month (and besides September is the new August). But those plants and the "F" word...no thank you!
May your cousin rest in peace. September is the new August - You're funny!
Deletebeautiful plants! Thank you for warning me about the "S" and "F" word. I am in denial. I even warned some friends not to use those words in my presence so long as they wanted to avoid inducing panic attacks and outbursts.
ReplyDeleteRemain calm Louis and repeat "It's still summer." until the panic subsides.
DeleteWe rely on you too heavily to ever plan an intervention, enablers that we are.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for such a nice group of enablers! Fall is a great time to plant!
DeleteIs it safe to say it's one of your favourite nurseries? If it gives constant joy and inspiration why not? Your pics of the place are always a delight to see :)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny but I don't consider it my favorite nursery. It's fairly close to my home so I visit a lot and they always have interesting things.
DeleteOh no, I must go and look if it is that time already in the nurseries here... I'm afraid it must be... it reminds me of what happens with clothes, you can already find winter coats when you don´t feel like buying them as it is not cold yet.
ReplyDeleteI love autumn and if it wasn't followed by winter, all would be perfect! You are right, the stores always have things far before we want to even think about wanting or needing them.
DeleteWhile we're speaking of house plants, will you tell us how you successfully over wintered your Begonia Luxurians? And made more, to boot?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of replacing my cultivar echinaceas with the species only because I never see any bees on mine. Maybe they're too busy inhaling other things?
I brought the big begonia luxurians to work with me for the winter and it grew a lot with no natural light only the flourescent light in the ceiling. I'd cut some parts back the spring before because the plant got a little leggy. (The winter before, it wintered over in an upstairs room at our house that we seldom enter and its cries for water were often unheard.) Anyway, the cuttings got put in the glass room with a tiny bit of winter heat during the coldest weather. It's a pretty tough plant but does like to be watered.
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