The Variegated Thumb

Sorry for my unplanned hiatus over the last couple of weeks.  Life has been very busy!

As Spring approaches. more blooms are appearing - inside my greenhouse and outdoors.  I’ve gotten a couple of Gerbera daisy plants as gifts over the last 3 years or so.  Usually they were blooming when I received them, but I could never coax another bloom out of them.  For some reason, I’ve had trouble with them drying out and wilting, only to be revived again when I noticed and gave them a healthy watering.  But I never could keep them happy long enough to bloom - until now!

My first ever "earned" Gerbera daisy bloom

This Gerbera daisy just bloomed last week and still looks great.  Gerbera blooms seem to last quite a while.

The spring Crocus have broken through.

In the corner garden, Daffodil, Tulip and Crocus stems have risen.  Only the purple crocus are blooming so far, but soon they will be joined by the orange crocus and the Daffodils.  It might be closer to May before we see Tulip blooms.

Buds on our Quince bush

Our Quince bush is covered in buds again and will be opening up any day now.  It is a sight to behold.  We’ll probably be taking cuttings every couple of days to bring inside and enjoy at our dining table.

Some of my plants have been surprising me with blooms lately.  I figured the lower sun angle would be enough to trigger dormancy in some plants, even in the 65 degree temperatures of the greenhouse.  But none of my plants are going dormant and some of them are blooming for the first time.

Our neighbor across the street (the one who gave me the Begonia cuttings) is letting me overwinter her variegated Bougainvillea in my greenhouse.  It is in a hanging pot along a rod I installed in the top of the greenhouse and has just been hanging in there.  It didn’t have a lot of leaves when I took it from her and I haven’t seen very many new ones form.  But all of the sudden, it is blooming!  I think I will have to run it over to her house soon (on a warmish day) and show her the blooms.

First blooms from my Bougainvillea plant

I also have a Bougainvillea that was my Mom’s.  She gave it to me about three years ago.  It has had moments of rapid growth and lots of new leaves, but always drops its leaves and looks really sad in the winter - until the greenhouse.  It has been pretty happy this winter in the greenhouse and is actually  producing the first blooms that I have seen on it since it has been in my care!

New blooms on my purple shrimp plant (Justicia scheidweileri)

I bought several Shrimp plants last Spring and Summer, most of which were blooming when I bought them and have continued to do so.  One of them, the Purple Shrimp Plant (Justicia scheidweileri), has been particularly difficult, though.  It wilts quicker than another other plant that I grow.  But it also bounces back quickly and is blooming for the first time since it lost its initial blooms.

After forming some small white flowers, which I didn’t photograph in time, my Ying Yang Bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris) are now forming pods of new beans.  I hope to get a decent crop from these plants, so that I can keep a bean or two myself and share the others with other local greenhouse owners.

Newest bloom on my yellow Datura

My lime tree and yellow Datura continue to bloom on a regular basis.  I dropped seeds from the Datura parent plant onto the soil under the same plant and some of the have sprouted and are producing new little plants.

Seedlings of my yellow Datura plant

I am anxious to see some of my Hawaiian ginger plants bloom, but that might have to wait until this Summer.  Some of them are quite large now - over 4 foot tall.  I would expect those are pretty close to blooming size.

The Carrion Plant (Stapelia gigantea) is a rather inconspicuous plant when not in bloom.  This lanky, hanging succulent thrives in dry conditions.

The Carrion Plant (Stapelia gigantea)

However, the large bud that forms on a happy plant will alert you that something is about to happen.

Stapelia gigantea bud

These buds open to form a huge flower that looks a lot like a starfish.  You might wonder about the name, and don’t worry, I’m going to tell you.  This plant is called “Carrion Plant” because of the pungent smell that attracts flies to pollinate the blooms.  I came across this plant blooming at the Myriad Gardens last weekend as I was weeding.  I had actually walked by the plant about 10 times before I noticed it.  Thankfully I had to weed on the ground where the bloom happened to be laying or I would have never noticed.

Stapelia gigantea bloom

I was surprised to find that the strong smell I heard about was very localized.  It was only apparent when I put my nose very close to the bloom (within an inch of the center).  I imagine there is probably a point in the life of the bloom where the smell is more prevalent, in order to lure in flies that happen to be flying more than an inch away from the bloom.  Either that or flies have much better noses than I do.

Dendrobium Christmas gift

This Dendrobium orchid has a total of about 25 buds born on two stems - about 8 of those still closed.  The color of the petals is pale yellow and almost green.  There is a new book out from my favorite plant-book publisher, Timber Press, called Green Flowers.  In a way, green is the most boring color that a flower can be, since the majority of plant material is green.  It just blends into the background, part of the noise that nature can sometimes be.  We tend to gravitate towards the colorful spotlights of red, pink, purple and yellow, which readily stand out on all shades of green foliage.  And it’s not just us - insects are attracted to these colors.  What to us says “beauty” says “food” to many creatures.

Dendrobium blooms

But there is a simple beauty to the green flowers.  Maybe the texture and shapes are better observed when the color doesn’t trump the senses.  The pearly sheen that is unique to orchid flower petals stands out on this flower.  There is also a really subtle hint of red on the inner part of the flower, that I pretend is there just to reward those who take the time to look closely.

Dendrobium bloom detail

This particular orchid had a generic “Dendrobium” tag on the stem and a specific tag with hybrid identification in the pot.  Unfortunately, the tag was snapped in half and all I have is a couple of letters - not enough for me to have figured it out yet.  But I’ll keep trying, out of sheer curiosity.  I don’t really need to know anything more than the genus for this particular orchid, in order to take good care of it.

My mother-in-law has a knack for growing very large plants.  I should qualify that statement by explaining that she does not grow large plants, but grows plants large.  In other words, plants in her care tend to grow much larger than their “normal” size.

Geranium bloom head

One such example is her ordinary Geranium that is about 8 feet tall.  Yes, an ordinary Geranium.

An ordinary Geranium of extraordinary height.

I believe the key ingredient here is lots of light year-round.  This Geranium produced some behavior recently that I had never noticed before.  The blooms were actually pollinated and produced seed pods.  I don’t know whether this is common for Geraniums to do in Oklahoma and I have just never paid attention enough to notice, or if this is somewhat rare.  Anyway, I do have some seeds from this mammoth plant that I might try to germinate soon.

A Geranium flower head with spikes protruding from seed pods.

She also has a corn plant (Dracaena fragrans) which is of unusual height.  It grows in the 2 story foyer to their house and is likely 18 feet tall.  This plant has a good history, including at least one suspected period of death, from which it valiantly arose like a phoenix.  Even recently it went through a spell of poor health, but has been sprouting anew, after the top was lopped off.