Striking Plants

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Some plants are just shouting for attention...

Here is a rare occasion that I see the 'true colours' of my Kaempferia pulchra. The leaves are usually just green due to the not so ideal condition that my garden has. But this time round... one fancy leaf (yay!) appeared in one pot and in the pot that I have in another location.



My Plumeria has been without any leaves for quite some time. Now, it has grown some leaves (finally!). The three branches flourished after the plant flowered for the first time.




Below the Plumeria in another pot, a self-sown dwarf Ruellia in bloom...



Though I have chopped the small patch of Arundina plants, down to about 20 cm high only, it surprised me the next morning with a plump Arundina flower. It's probably the shortest Arundina plant in the pot ;-)



Behind the Arundina is the Eggplant and Lemon Basil bush. I have been pruning the Lemon Basil flowers as and when I spot them forming. As for the Eggplant, it just left a few branches on the shrub.



Though this Neoregelia 'Tangerine' blushes in a deeper shade this time, the plant has not turned all red like it used to be. The top leaves were really strikingly red when I purchased the plant two years ago. Also I have not noticed any pup from this plant yet. Have you grown this plant before?



Black Bat Flower is an astonishing plant. Its 'whiskers' are long and graceful... a plant that will not go unnoticed in my garden :-D



My cacti (the one below and the tallest one in last pic) have been pretty happy but I wonder if they can be pruned.



Have you pruned such cactus before?




My green thumb came
only as a result of the mistakes I made
while learning to see things
from the plant's point of view.

H. Fred Dale



Update @ 9 April 2012: Kaempferia pulchra plants growing freely below trees...


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22 comments

  1. Gorgeous plants! Nice job. I have grown some of these, but not all of them BECAUSE our weather here is too dry...but I have attempted:) I love love love your cacti. Nice job!

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  2. My gosh Stephanie,
    You have a rare garden indeed, I love the elf-sown dwarf Ruellia, just the idea of it sowing itself is a wonder!
    The Arundina is a treasure.
    The Bat plant is very amusing, both in name and resemblance to a bat, too cute !
    Brad

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  3. The Bat Flowers are just such a magnificent looking bloom. Love the pretty little Arundina too. They are both stand outs for me in your post today.

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  4. I guess one of the things I really appreciate about you Steph is how closely you observe your plants, and that probably enables you understand them as much as possible from their point of view. I love your cute happy fun pot for the cacti. I prune anything if it's in the way - part of the trial and error thing. Of course it's risky though ... That Black Bat Flower is new to me and I love it because I have a liking for weird and wonderful. cheers, cm.

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  5. bat flowers? You have a lot of rare plants! I never seen them!

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  6. Ruellia is one plant that does really well in my garden. Your dwarf Ruellia is cute I love your Black Bat Flower!

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  7. that bat flower is super cool! I tried to get some plumeria (in the form of a cheap little stick) at the philly flower show, but couldn't find any. Looks like the world is now crazy about air plants!

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  8. Great-looking plants! I love the cactus and the clown pot!! The bat flower is new to me. What an amazing collection!

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  9. Stephanie; the plumeria looses its leaves in winter, perhaps in your climate too? I never prune cacti, unless for further propagation or cut of some which have withered or diseased. Since a long time I want a bat plant, but I have not seen one for a while or I forget about it!
    I think your Neoregelia might like more light to get the deeper colour. Always interesting and beautiful plants are in your care. T♥

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  10. Hi Steph. Your bat plant is sinister and impressive. I should really try to grow another (my seed grow plant went to plant heaven).

    What makes your kaempferia plants happy? Water? Mine die back in winter but always come back when it warms up and rains.

    One of my seed grown sarracenias is looking pretty respectable. They grow quite slowly from seed.

    My flytraps still have their winter leaves, but they are flowering!

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  11. You pruned your bamboo orchid?
    Really - I thought they were a sensitive plants.

    I have the bromeliad but they don't seemed to have any shades whatsoever.
    But they have been putting out many pups.
    Try putting a layer a sand (whitewashed ones) around the pot - they seemed to put out pups with sand compared to other soil material.

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  12. For an instance I thought you were gardening in Northern Hemisphere welcoming spring in your garden at the moment. You have an amazing collection of plants. The bat flower is really an interesting one.

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  13. I have some Neo's but no Tangerine. Love the bat flowers.

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  14. Great selection of plants! The tall one in the last pic looks like Euphorbia aeruginosa, and I've cut a branch from mine if it helps at all. I don't see why they couldn't be pruned. Best of luck!

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  15. You have so many unusual flowers! The bat flower is really terrific!

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  16. I too have a Bat Flower plant but it hasn't flowered at all in the last 18 months or so since I got it. Can you please give me some tips on how to make it flower? I promise I'll dedicate the first flower to you:)

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  17. Bat flower would be interesting to see... have never heard of it, even... :-)

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  18. Hi Shailaja, the bat flower plant blooms without any deliberate effort from me. I just place the plant in a bright shade and lightly water and feed it.

    Hi Catmint, NotSoAngryRedHead, thanks! I have discarded two stems from the cactus already ;-D

    NotSoAngryRedHead, I am grateful for the ID. Over here the plants (almost all) we buy are without ID.

    Hi James, those bamboo orchid plants were looking like weeds so I pruned them. And thanks for that idea on adding sand to the bromeliad. Brilliant! Will see how to do that as the bromeliad has grown much taller (leggy), much higher than the pot...

    Hi Prospero, congrats on your flytraps and sarras! My kaempferia plants are in the porch as I couldn’t find a shady place for them in the open. They are fed occasionally with balanced liquid fertiliser that’s all. The earlier prolonged rain (lower temperature and sunlight) could be one the factors that brought out the pattern on the leaves. I have just uploaded a photo of the plants growing freely below trees in the ground to this same post. The leaves were not so big but the plants were happily growing with just dried leaves (leaf mold) in their natural environment ;-)

    Hi Titania, I think it is the earlier bad weather (lots of rain and less sun) here made my plumeria shed its leaves :-(

    All, thanks for your kind words! The bat flower plant is rarely grown by gardeners here as well. Most of my visitors (well almost all hehe...) are astonished by the black flowers ;-D I hope the plant will be available to you soon.

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  19. hey, any reco for creepy crawlers? thunbergias seem to 'lush' for comfort!

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  20. Black bat flower is beautiful! Cactus plants are very nicely planted.

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  21. Hi kc, have you grown morning glory before? The plant flowers non-stop and big blooms.

    Hi Asha, thanks!

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  22. Hi Stephanie
    Any idea where you can get the bat flower?
    Thanks!

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