Heythere, Toni! I am so in love with the plant in your top pic. What beautiful coloring! Love the Dr. Seuss look about the big 2nd one, too. Nice, thanks for sharing them! I have 3 Dracs, the 2 from this discussion, and a corn plant that WM had on clearance this spring. I knew there was nothing wrong with it, it just wanted to get out of WM. It's grown a lot this summer, too. I think the big one making new tops out of the branches is about 35 years old. Nobody remembers when it joined the family. Is the Aglao/Dieff planted in the same soil as your marginata? Are you asking about the Philodendron? If so, yes, those 2 plants have been companions in the same pot for around 10 years. I cut pieces of it off all the time to keep the mass at a manageable level. It's really cool the way the philo has roots about 2 feet long that grow all the way down to the dirt. This summer the philo has started making leaves 3 times as big as they used to be. I've read how they go into adult phase upon reaching the top of a tree but didn't think this little tree would be enough of a climb for it. I don't allow it to get much higher than the point where all of the branches start breaking from the main trunk, and keep weaving it around the trunks and back down to the soil. Maybe a factor as important as height is security/bracing. It's got a good grip on the tree in several places. I feel like I'm in the tropics when I look at that pot. That philo came from my Uncle's funeral about 15 years ago, and has had a hard-knock life also. It came in a wicker basket planter with plastic liner from florist and although I knew better, I never did anything about making a drain hole or repotting it. About 5 years later, I had the basket hanging on a shady hook in the yard and the wicker broke (decomposed?) from filling up with rain water while I was away and I found the plant in a heap on the ground the next day. I discarded the roots and put several cuttings in water, gave a few away, and put one in the pot of the Drac tree hoping it would hide the soil. It started doing that right away and the cuttings in water did great and even got moved 800 miles but then got neglected and dried out. So you could say this tree saved the philo's life. At this point, I'm not sure which plant is supporting which. Like me, both of them seem to really like being transplanted to the south and drinking sweet tea.

Everything I have read on the subject of growing bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, allium, crocus, etc... states that bulbs planted in the fall will require some time to grow decent root systems in order to bloom well in spring. This would apply to bulbs planted outdoors in the north, in autumn. The bulbs will set down a decent root system so that when spring arrives, they are ready to begin top growth and flowering, as signaled by, I'm assuming, warmer soil temperatures and sunshine. But since hippeastrums are taken out of their natural bloom schedule, and are forced into blooming around the Holidays, for the most part... I think we sort of screw them up for good root growth before blooming, as would happen if they weren't tender bulbs and were planted in autumn for intended spring flowering. I notice that some of my hippis grow roots before or during flowering, while others seem to grow them after flowering. Some bulbs flower and are very loose in their pots, requiring staking in order to not tumble right out... others feel firmer within the soil while blooming, and may only require staking because of scape height or flower weight. My thought is that root growth can't really be forced too much upon receipt of the bulb, but that shortly after the first flowering, it should grow and maintain a healthy and nicely established root system.

Dr. R. is in a lot of sun. He still has not moved over the 1" mark, but the leaves, small as they are, are nice and green and healthy. As of July 31, there is STILL no sign of life on at least 3 of the clems, but from what many others have said, I just must be patient and wait until next year and see if they 'resurrect'! I have a 4 year old Henryii that had buds this spring up to about 5 feet, then suddenly they all wilted down to the base and new ones shot up from the thick woody trunk there. Even my old Jackmani performed very erratically this year, but is nice and in full bloom now. And my Huldine is fantastic while another variety within feet of it has done nothing. Some others have been just beautiful and grown very large. Just the nature of the beast I guess!

And where do you live? I prefer the federal holiday schedule. Easter is too early to fertilize and 4th of July can be too hot for chemicals. For chemical fertilizer I would fertilize on Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. For organic I would do it on Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. If you live in the south you can start on Washington's birthday. In your case you fertilized too early and are reaping the rewards of excessive grass growth. Yes you need to fertilize at the end of this month. If you are using organics you could do it again in the summer but for chemicals I would skip a summer app.