Tales from the Cryptanthus

Well, more like tales of the Cryptanthus, because while I may be a Crazy Plant Lady, I am not under the impression that plants talk to me. (Nor do I talk to them; if they want extra carbon dioxide, they can get it themselves.)

Anyway, I find the Earth Stars to be cool plants, so I've accumulated a few more this summer. I believe that these are all varieties of Cryptanthus bivittatus:

Cryptanthus bivittatus 'Ruby'

Cryptanthus bivittatus 'Pink Starlite,' I think

NoId Cryptanthus bivittatus varieties

All of the above were purchased at Home Depot, where I also saw what has got to be the worst example of plant marketing I've ever seen. Plant hucksters have been gluing strawflowers on cactus for years. Recently, they've been dyeing Phalaenopsis orchids blue. And now, they are giving us painted Cryptanthus:

Cryptanthus varieties defiled with pink and red enamel. These photos were taken surreptitiously in the store with my cellphone, (try saying that 5 times fast) hence the blurriness. These were in dish gardens, and in the one with the red paint, there is a naturally pink Crypt on the left.

This is ridiculous. I doubt the leaves will stay healthy with that stuff on them. Also, the painting was quite slapdash, and the result was ugly and totally unnatural-looking. It looked like a toddler had run amok with Mommy's nail polish.

But there are cute and clever things one can do with Crypts, as seen here in a couple of pics I took at the Chicago Botanic Gardens last week:

Flamingo topiaries in the Sub-tropical Greenhouse

Closer view of one of the flamingos, showing how densely the Cryptanthus are planted

I'm not usually a topiary fan, but I found these to be fun and fabulous uses of both form and color. Not something I'd try myself (where would I get enough crypts, let alone enough patience?) but definitely something that I can appreciate and enjoy sharing.

I Put A Smell On You

This past March, I bought a few bulbs at the Chicago Flower Show. Somehow, I managed to forget that I had done so. Then one morning in early April, I came down into my kitchen, and smelled a pronounced odor. I couldn't quite place it. It didn't smell like any sort of rotten food, nor did it smell like my cats had used something other than their litterboxes to relieve themselves. But it was pervasive, and it was a stench. I finally traced the aroma to a plastic shopping bag tucked away in the corner, where I found this:

Sauromatum venosum, aka Voodoo Lily. When I put it on the floor to photograph, Peppermint the cat came over to investigate. He took one sniff, and did a giant backward leap, his spine arched and his tail fluffed out in alarm.

Two closer looks at the inflorescence. That long dark spadix is normally straight, however being cramped in a small plastic bag for a few weeks caused it to twist. It looks serpentine and sinister, as something called Voodoo Lily should.

As intriguing as it looks, something that smells so bad that it discomfits the ever-intrepid Peppermint cannot stay indoors. Even a Crazy Plant Lady has limits. I potted it up and put it outside in the garage, since it was too early in the spring to put it outdoors. Though sources vary on how hardy it is, the far northwestern Chicago suburbs are definitely not in its range. The odor ceased after a day or so, and the flower began to fade. Later that month, I put it out on the porch.

The bulb, with the flower stalk in the center and three nascent leaf stalks around the perimeter

This is what the plant looks like today:

I love the tropical looks of the leafed out Sauromatum...

...And I especially love the spotted petioles. (The dried husk hanging down on the left side of the pot in the top picture is the remains of the inflorescence.)

My plans are to enjoy the plant outdoors on my porch for the summer and then decide what to do with it in the fall. Oh, and the other bulbs I bought and forgot about were Liatris spicata for my outdoor garden beds. They were planted out later, and are doing fine.

Entertaining Royalty in My Garden

No, not the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I wouldn't begin to know what to serve them. I do know what pleases this visitor, however:

Monarch butterfly caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) enjoying a milkweed plant (Asclepias syriaca) in my front yard garden. (As always, click for a more detailed view.)

I've been allowing common milkweed volunteers to grow in my garden for eight years, hoping to encourage Monarchs to reproduce here. This is first year they've ever produced flowers, and the first year I've seen a caterpillar, even though we do get a fair number of Monarch butterflies.

Front Garden. The tall plants in the rear, just to the left of the hanging basket, are the Milkweeds. The orange flowers in front are Asclepias tuberosa, (butterfly weed) which also attracts Monarchs.

Closer view of Asclepias tuberosa, Gaillardia, and Rudbeckia hirta

Here are some other pictures from my front yard gardens this summer:

The two-year old bed at the foot of the right side of our driveway really came into its own this year. The gray plants are Artemesia stelleriana 'Silver Brocade,' the purple spikes are Salvia nemorosa 'East Friesland' and Salvia x sylvestris "May Night."

This is the more mature garden to the left of the driveway at the sidewalk, filled with Salvia, Sedum, Sempervivum, Gaillardia and Juniperus, not to mention the Clematis-covered trellises.

Hemerocallis NoId (I thought it might be 'Chicago Fire' or 'Chicago Apache', but it doesn't quite match the pictures of either of those that I can find online.)

Echinacea 'Sundown'

The new backyard garden I planted last year has really taken off, and I will be featuring it in an upcoming post.

Garfield Park Conservatory Severely Damaged by Hail

I was incredibly saddened to learn that the beautiful Garfield Park Conservatory was hit by a devastating hailstorm last week. Among the most severely damaged areas was the exquisite Fern Room that I featured earlier. The story can be read here at the Chicago Tribune site.

I still have dozens of photographs from my visit there in May that I want to share. The pictures in this post, with a couple of exceptions, are from the Palm House and Aroid House, which due to previous renovations, were among the least damaged areas.

Entrance to the Palm House, with the Fern Room (triangular roof) in the distance

Strelitizia, Bromeliads, and Crinum jagua (aka Spider Lilies) overlook the reflection pond near the entrance. This is the square pond seen in the picture above.

The Palm House landscape includes tropical and subtropical foliage in contrasting shades, as well as blooming plants.

Another view, emphasizing the height of this part of the Conservatory

Three views of the giant Scheelea Palm, from the top down, and the sign detailing its history

Lipstick Palm, Cyrtostachys renda, surrounded by a Fittonia groundcover

The highlight of the Aroid House is the koi pond, which includes glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly

Philodendron 'Xanadu,' which can be a problematic houseplant, thrives in conservatory conditions in the Aroid House.

This large Monstera deliciosa was located not in the Aroid House, but in the Fern Room.

Time will tell what will become of the beautiful Fern Room, and the plants it contains. I am so happy that I got to see the Conservatory again after all those years, and so disheartened at what has happened. I hope that it can be restored to enchant visitors with its beauty and history. According a follow-up story at the Tribune, some areas have already been reopened to the public.

New Indoor-Outdoor Plants

Last week, I was at one of my local nurseries looking for annuals and perennials for my outdoor garden. Even back when I was living in an apartment, and had no outdoor space, I always looked at the summer annuals and tropicals. Among the plants marketed as annuals for "creative" containers, there were always several plants that can make good-to-decent houseplants. Common examples were Asparagus sprengeri and A. meyeri, Begonia 'Dragon Wing,' Hedera helix, Strobilanthes dyeranus, (Persian Shield) and Solenostemon (Coleus.) Now, even though I do plenty of outdoor gardening, I always look to the annuals with houseplants in mind.

This year, I came across a couple of plants I really like, so I snapped them up. About ten to twelve years ago, I tried several times to grow Murraya paniculata. The available plants were "starter" specimens, in three- to five-inch pots. I never succeeded with them for more than a couple of months, so sadly, I decided not to buy them anymore. Then after reading the plant profile a few years ago at Plants are the Strangest People, I decided that I would try one again, if and only if I could get a reasonably well-established plant in a larger pot. But they became unavailable for quite some time, due to, as I understand it, a quarantine caused by a citrus disease. So I was surprised and happy to find this at my local nursery:

Well-branched Murraya paniculata, ready to be potted up from its 7-inch nursery pot

I also treated myself to a Plumbago auriculata. I had originally purchased one in 2003, and kept it for at least five more years, putting it out in summer, and overwintering it in a cool room. After that, it kind of petered out, since P. auriculata really needs both cool temps and lots of sun over the winter. I can only provide one or the other, so the plant loses vigor. I figure five years is a good run for a plant most people buy as an annual and discard, and I love those blue flowers. I hope this one lasts as long.

Plumbago auriculata, whole plant

Closer view of those fabulous sky-blue flowers.

My plan is to let both of these plants spend the summer outdoors, the Murraya on the porch, and the Plumbago in a container in the garden, maybe temporarily planted with some annuals. (My last P. auriculata looked really pretty in a pot with a pastel pink Pelargonium, though it did seem somewhat like a baby shower theme planting. Maybe I'll try something yellow, instead.) I figure spending sometime in the fresh air and sunshine will increase their vigor, and I'll be able to have them more or less permanently (the Murraya) and for a few good years (the Plumbago.)

Garfield Park Conservatory Part 1: The Fabulous Fern Room

On Saturday May 11, my husband and I visited the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago for the first time in about 6 years. I had forgotten how large and how stunning the place truly is. It was constructed between 1906 and 1908, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Fern Room is especially beautiful, and, I think, worthy of a post all its own. Here are just a few of the pictures I took.

The entrance of the Fern Room, which also houses a variety of cycads, fern allies such as Selaginella, mosses, and a few tropical flowering plants, such as Monstera deliciosa, for variety. Edited to add: Since this post was published, I replaced this photo with a larger version, which looks particularly detailed when clicked.

Plaque visible upon exiting the room

A view of the room from another vantage point, showing the indoor lagoon that forms the center of the display.

Asplenium nidus, in a bed of Selaginella

A cycad, Dioon spinulosum

Another Dioon spinulosum, showing new growth spouting from the "trunk"

Ferns and Cycads around a bench, with duct work in the background. Part of the beauty of the conservatory in general is the age of the structure, and the fact that the workings, are for the most part out in the open and unobscured.

Closer view of the area above the bench

Platycerium (Staghorn ferns) with other Ferns and mosses in the foreground

Showing off the epiphytic nature of Platycerium on a Fern "tree." I've seen this done before with Bromeliads and Orchids, but never with Ferns.

Cycad, with cone. I believe this is another Dioon, but I forgot to note the label, so I'm not positive.

Young Pteris and Adiantum ferns, emerging from looks like moss, but which are actually gametophytes, the life stage that comes between spores and mature ferns.

Edited to Add: There is some actual moss in the picture, along with the gametophytes.

Your blogger, Karen715, standing near the entrance to the Fern Room

View of the Asplenium which was behind my head in the previous photo. I was amazed at the small size of the container in comparison to the plant.

Part 2 will cover the rest of our trip to the Conservatory.