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OT: Non-Passiflora photos

14 years ago

I know almost all of us grow other things besides Passifloras. In many parts of the country it's also too early for most Passifloras to bloom. So I thought it would be fun if we posted pictures of some of the other things in bloom, especially those that are unusual, spectacular, or people are unlikely to have seen before.

My first is actually done blooming, but it's very cool, so I'll post it anyway--Isopogon formosus (source UC Santa Cruz Arboretum). It's a Protea family plant from Australia.

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The second is still going strong,although this photo is a week or two old. Echium wildpretii (seed source J.L. Hudson). I was surprised how this plant got 6 feet tall after starting relatively small. Still, they can get almost twice this tall. The photo doesn't accurately capture the colors--this is an amazing plant.

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The colors are a little better closeup. Each individual flower (I estimated the plant must open about 10,000) is about half an inch.

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Calandrina spectabilis. I had never heard of this until I saw it growing in front of Flora Grubb in San Francisco. I had to have it. Flowers open successively on each spike. This is from a couple weeks ago; a few days ago 8 flowers were open.

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Fuchsia boliviana Alba is not even open, but it's still cool. The peduncle (if that's the correct term here) is about 5 inches to give you and idea of the scale:

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Comments (11)

eristal
14 years ago
Great pics!! I know what you mean about about the Calandrina spectabilis... now that I have seen it, I have to have it!

I'll try to get pics on soon...

Eric
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karyn1
14 years ago
I love the echium. I wish I could grow one besides Blue Bedder here. I've tried but they never reach blooming size.

Here's a few of the plants that are in bloom. Some stuff is in the greenhouse, others outside.
A miltonia blooming at an odd time. It's usually a fall/winter bloomer for me.

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Garden Treasure, Raspberry Sorbet, Festiva Maxima peonies and a couple others that I forgot the names

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Golden Flame honeysuckle (aphid magnet as you can see!) and Amethyst Falls wisteria

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An adenium that's been in bloom since Jan. It's not the nicest but I have a soft spot for it because I started it from seed a few years ago.

Gartenmeister fuchsia
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Karyn, You see a small number of Echium candicans/fastuosum, aka "Pride of Madeira". Even that you see many more on the coast and in San Francisco. Its a heavily branched bush and a perennial, unlike E. wildpretii, which is monocarpic and frequently biennial. I'm wondering whether the unbloomed multibranched E. wildpretii, if it doesn't bloom all at once, might turn out to be a short-lived perennial. I always thought "wildpretii" was such a great name for the plant. Then I found out it was named after Dr. Wildpret, and is not a descriptive name. I just looked it up--Wildpret's full name is Dr. Wolfredo Wildpret de la Torre. They picked an appropriate plant to name after him with a full last name like that (torre = tower). The common name for the plant is "tower of jewels". Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of Echium candicans on Flickr
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Many years ago we had massive earwig infestations in our ground, and yes, they would munch on plants. After asking everyone I could think of,(most of which didn't believe that earwigs were eating my plants), someone told us the best advice. Ivory soap in water in a spray bottle. This will kill those puppies pretty fast and not risk harm to much else. However, pollywoggin mentioned wings, and the earwigs we have in my area certainly do not fly, thank goodness. Hopefully without sounding like I'm insulting your intelligence, Pollywoggin, but are you sure they were going to set fruit before they appear eaten? I would suggest cross-pollinating your flowers yourself. You will get much likelier success, and probably larger fruit. It certainly can't hurt to try, right? Good luck
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passionflow
14 years ago
Not Passiflora but remarkable and fascinating plants. Love the Echium wildpreti. I wish we had your climate. We have had our worst winter for 30 years in UK and most of the rest of Europe and a lot of plants have been lost. I only have a Yucca to offer -but the fact that it flowered after 27 years made me start asking a lot of questions....
Thank you.
Myles

Here is a link that might be useful: Yucca plant.
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mark4321_gw
Original Author
14 years ago
Where did Eric go?

A few more pictures, all taken today. The first one is actually a plant from Eric and Crystal--the first bloom on a Cuphea cyanea that they gave me cuttings of:

I really like this plant, so when I saw a bigger one for sale at Flora Grubb in SF (for $6, I think), I had to get it. It is also doing well (except for the part I stepped on):

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The Fuchsia boliviana Alba I showed in bud earlier has started blooming:

(to get an idea of the size of these guys, an individual flower starting at the top of the tiny fruit down to the bottom is about 3.5 inches long).

These are just young buds of Aristolochia trilobata (also called A. macroura). The tails get a foot long. I've heard some varieties have tails up to 3 feet long (and I love to get one of those).

Sometimes I like the small, simple ones. This is Physalis peruviana, a plant not grown for its flowers, but its fruit. It is also known as Cape Gooseberry and is closely related to the Tomatillo. From the Andes, but I don't remember exactly where.
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mark4321_gw
Original Author
13 years ago
Karyn was curious what Aristolochia trilobata/macroura looks like when open. The most mature bud just opened. The "tail" is about 10.5 inches:

Here's a closeup of the flower:

You'll notice inward/downward facing hairs that keep insects trapped inside the flower. The friend I got this plant from dissects flowers like this sometimes (see link at bottom). I've had better luck than he has blooming the plant while small.

A lot of people wonder if the plant is carnivorous, given its Nepenthes-like appearance and ability to trap insects. However the flower just traps the insect for a day or two--so it can immediately pollinate a flower if it is covered with pollen, yet hang around until the pollen of that particular flower is ripe.

The flower smells bad (to attract flies), and while I mostly had to get close to smell it I did occasionally get whiffs of the smell of decay when a few feet away.

Here is a link that might be useful: Albert's dissection of A. trilobata (scroll down)
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karyn1
13 years ago
One of my favorite plants is just beginning to bloom again. Strophanthus preussii

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Here's one of the first brugs of the season. I love the way the blooms change color and can't wait for some of my doubles to start blooming.
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pshawn
13 years ago
That is a gorgeous Brug Karyn! What variety is it?
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four (9B near 9A)
9 years ago
mark4321_gw >> "Aristolochia trilobata/macroura.... traps the insect for a day or two"

What is different a day or two later, by which the insect no longer is trapped?
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mark4321_gw
Original Author
9 years ago
I believe the small hairs, which line the interior of the flower, and point inward, shrivel a day or two after opening.
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four (9B near 9A)
9 years ago
Or maybe after being triggered by movement?
Insect entry would not conform to a timetable.

In either case, I believe the shrivel part,
because I opened a flower today, and it is hairless.

Nonetheless, something did not work for the Blue Bottle Fly inside. Dead.
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mark4321_gw
Original Author
9 years ago
Actually, insect entry would presumably correspond to when it smells bad, which is right after it opens. At that stage the hairs are still erect, presumably, then shriveling a day later. Flies have very limited lifespans--that one was probably just near death.
0

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