In Praise of Echeverias--First Time Bloomer

I worry a bit about my succulents all winter long. I tend to think of most of them as tender container plants that must spend the winter indoors, rather than as houseplants. (Sansevieria, Crassula ovata, and Euphorbia are the notable exceptions. As long as they aren't in the dark, those plants really do seem just as happy indoors as they do outside.)

Echeveria can be especially problematic. Some of them get quite leggy, even with the best indoor light. So I especially prize those that don't.

Here is my Echeveria chihuahuaensis, in a picture from last September:

Echeveria chihuahuaensis (I believe) nicely colored up from the sun

The same plant, a few days ago. (The excessively blue tint of the photo is the result of the nearby fluorescent lights.)

The tips of the plant aren't as red as they were in the sun, but the plant is staying nice and compact. And it is getting ready to bloom. There are three stalks: The well-developed one on the left, the smaller, reddish one on the right, and a tiny one near the center that can be seen if the picture is opened full-size. (It is in front of the leaf that is near the largest bloom stalk.) I've heard that the more ordinary Echeveria species (as opposed to some of the fancier hybrids and cultivars) are less likely to get leggy in home conditions. I have no idea if this is true across the board, but I've noticed that like E. chihuahuaensis, Echeveria pulidonis, Echeveria purpurea, and Echeveria lilacina seem to stay compact during the winter.

Sansevieria Surprises

Sometime between last fall and now, my Sansevieria francisii flowered, and I missed it. This was probably because it was on a crowded table, hidden behind some other plants. I also missed watering it for a while, so it is also looking a little dehydrated. I do expect it to recover fully, and in the meantime, there are these:

The remnants of Sansevieria francisii flowers, (the thin white things hanging off the stalk) along with what looks like fruit/seed pods.

Close up of the seed pods

Previously posted picture of the whole plant, from 2009. Right now the small offset seen here is as big as the base plant from which it sprouted.

I have no idea if S. francisii is self-fertile, so I don't know if I'll get viable seeds. But I'm going to try to let the fruit ripen, and see what happens.

In other Sansevieria news, I have discovered that I have made something of a cultural faux-pas. So that others may learn from my mistake, here is some advice: Never, ever put a plant with a stiff cylindrical growth habit into a clay pot with a rigid inner lip. The irresistible force (growth) will meet the immovable object (pot lip).

Sansevieria cylindrica, with four new offsets growing all around the edge of the pot.

I am going to have to repot before the new growth is injured by the rim. That is what happened to the thin leaf seen pointing to the right in the photo. Even though I managed to direct the growth away from the pot lip, the leaves of that particular offset had a damaged tips which shriveled and had to be cut off.

Whole plant

I am very happy that it is producing so many offsets, though. It had been sitting there so long without doing any growing at all.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, January 2011

Once again, I am joining the garden blogging community in celebrating Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I'm pleasantly surprised to have several plants blooming this week. First of all, I'm thrilled that at least two of my Hibiscus rosa-sinensis plants have bounced back sufficiently from their white-fly infestations to grace me with flowers. (If this is their swan song before their insect-induced demise, I don't want to know about it.)

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis with a peach-colored double flower

Another tropical Hibiscus, this one a single-flowered yellow

Also in flower are the two NoID Phalaenopsis which surprised me by putting out new buds on old stalks, which I originally wrote about on November 27.

Yellow NoId Phalaenopsis, which has been in bloom since November

Two views of a multicolored NoId Phalaenopsis flower, which just opened this week. When clicked for a larger view, the second pic really shows off the sparkly petals.

Hippeastrum 'Lilian' is blooming for the third time. You can see the remains of the second flowering on the left. I must get around to cutting that off.

Besides the Mystery Echeveria which I wrote about in my most recent post, the only succulent currently in bloom is this Euphorbia milii:

Euphorbia milii, also known as Crown-of-Thorns. There are two different plants in this pot. The multicolored yellow flowers belong to the plant with the longer, paler leaves; the pink/peach flowers belong to the plant with the darker, more oval leaves.

Apparently, the color theme for January is yellow, peach and pink. Nice, cheery colors for a not-so-nice, dreary month.

A Blooming Mystery

We're not big on efficiency here among the leaves. As I've mentioned before, I have a tendency to misplace plant tags. I don't keep formal records of my plants, or of plant-related information or tasks, though I've made half-hearted attempts at spreadsheets in the past. I do have an excellent memory for the most part, but there are times when it fails me.

Unidentified succulent plant

Apparently this time it has failed me spectacularly. I don't remember where I purchased this plant, or how long I've had it. It doesn't particularly bother me that I don't have an ID for it now; it does bother me that I don't remember if I ever had an ID for it.

I'm inclined to think that it is an Echeveria or a Graptoveria. The leaves suggest the latter to me, however the flowers are very Echeveria-like.

Three views of the flowers. In form, they look exactly like the flowers of all the other Echeveria varieties I grow, and the color is similar as well.

If anyone knows what this is, I'd be happy and grateful to hear from you. In the meantime, I think I'll have another go at making a spreadsheet to keep track of things.

For the New Year: Change from Within

It has occurred to me that pride and perfectionism are among the sources of the difficulties I have had coming up with posts recently. I take great pride in having healthy, good-looking houseplants, and I love writing about and showing photos of my successes. But I also feel embarrassment bordering on shame when something goes wrong. I suppose such feelings are understandable when the problem is due to lapses in care (forgetting to water, or worse, putting off watering for too long; not keeping up with grooming; placing a plant in a spot that I know is all wrong for it. These are all things of which I have been guilty from time to time.) But the embarrassment is kind of silly when a plant starts to decline for reasons I don't understand, or for reasons I don't necessarily have full control over. (Pest infestations come to mind for the latter.) This has prevented me from posting pictures of plants in less than good condition, and more importantly, from sharing things I might do to fix things. It also deprives me of the chance to provide good before-and-after shots of things that do improve.

So this year, I resolve to be more forthcoming with the problems I have with my plants and, gasp, to even post the occasional ugly picture. Like the following:

Bedraggled Hibiscus rosa-sinensis plants, quarantined in my basement after treatment for a white fly infestation. I'm hoping that they recover.

While I hope less embarrassment will lead to more interesting posts, I do hope that my plants will thwart my resolve just a little bit, by staying healthy and good-looking!