Caladium bicolor
tropicbreezent
5 years ago
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tropicbreezent
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Menards has summer bulbs out.
Comments (9)My camera was not working when those were blooming last year, or IÂd include a picture. Because I had bought them on clearance in spring 2008, they just had green growth that year. I think Aubade had one flower in 08. Last year was the first time I had enough to really tell. Even though they did not exhibit their true height in 09 either, the flowers were large and beautifully formed. (I should just stop buying on clearance, but I canÂt resist a bargain.) ItÂs just personal preference, but I donÂt like the form of the "flat" open looking Orientals like Casa Blanca. I like them to have enough of a cone or trumpet shape to give them some depth. Both Legend and Aubade had this. Nice form and just enough ruffling. I love white flowers and the yellow stripe sparks the white up just enough. I believe Legend has a slight sprinkling of small red dots. The pictures I found of it online do not show this. The Lily Garden is offering it but their picture does not show the dots. Maybe that means that the MenardÂs Legend is not the true one....See MoreRed elephant ear
Comments (22)This nursery is not marketing to specialists or collectors, and not even to the gardening public, it's marketing to the GENERAL public. As such I expect a certain amount of marketing hype and "rare" and "exotic" are just marketing terms. I do see plenty of misinformation coming from such companies--those marketing to the general public frequently don't provide the botanical names of their plants, although I would never order from such a company--but it's hard to tell if it's anything truly underhanded or just simple ignorance on their parts. And let's face it, much of the general public doesn't really want or care about the botanical names, they just want their snapdragons and geraniums. Think about various plants called "foxglove" in the trade, like Ceratotheca and Rehmannia. Is it unethical to call those things "South African foxglove" and "Chinese foxglove" when they are not Digitalis? Mass-marketers will ALWAYS go with a more familiar name, even if it's not entirely accurate. "Elephant Ear" sounds more glamorous, more familiar, and more user-friendly than "Caladium". That's precisely why I see websites like Gardenweb and Garden Watchdog as being so valuable: they provide a way for us to educate ourselves and each other, and to help us steer clear of the unethical businesses, and provide information to those who are a little less horticulturally literate. If this is really a shady or unethical nursery, the buyer feedback on Ebay will eventually catch up with them. But so far their customers seem pleased, and for better or for worse in business, that's the bottom line. BTW is that black-leafed elephant ear really 'Black Magic'? Who knows. I would be VERY cautious about identifying any unlabeled plant with a cultivar name (and especially from a photo only). This name has been applied to at least a couple of different dark-leafed clones in cultivation; plants I got as 'Black Magic' from two different sources turned out to be what Plant Delights is calling 'Black Runner'. A couple of other names are being thrown around and who knows how many dark-leafed cultivars there really are, and what the proper names for each of them are....See MoreWhat plants are you coveting this spring?
Comments (13)debsz5, the RBG garden show is a MUCH smaller event than Canada Blooms. It has several display gardens, but mostly it has vendors of plants, garden tools, pots, as well as landscape companies. It has nurseries from around southern ontario, so I have found it a good place to get some unusual plants from nurseries in niagara, etc which I wouldn't usually travel to (from Hamilton). Some nurseries sell their plants at the same price as at the nursery and others put on a 10-20% discount for the show. It was at this show that I first saw a live cornus controversa variegata -- a beautiful 6' specimen in bloom but with a hefty $400 price tag! It stimulated me to go out and find a source for a much smaller one (for $60)....See MoreSpring Me a Surprise - Received...
Comments (150)I received a surprise today from Chris (grolikecrazy)! Thank you. :) The plain letter envelope had holes in it- looks like it was damaged in transit. There was no bubble wrap or other padding inside of it to cushion the seeds. Seeds sent to me with no bubbles almost always do get destroyed like this, because the PO runs mail through some hard metal rollers unless it's in a bubble mailer marked FRAGILE in big red letters. :( The Dianthus barbatus seeds were about 75% destroyed and the Red Noodle Yard Long Bean seeds were completely dust. Thank you grolikecrazy, for kindly sending to me. I can still sow the few Dianthus seeds that made it, and hopefully get some plants! Excited about that. :) I'm sorry this happened, Chris. You were so kind to send seeds to me. I'm very glad you were thinking of me, and some of the Dianthus seeds do appear to be usable. It made my day to receive this, even if it is just a few seeds. : ) Thanks, Grovespirit Wondering why the surprises I mailed out haven't shown up here yet. I do hope they didn't get lost in the mail....See Moretropicbreezent
5 years ago
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