Which species is it?

Not as a houseplant. Several species are landscape shrubs in my area.

I believe it's C. Thomsonia, flowers are white w/ red.

yep, Clero. thompsonii.

i've rooted them , but they take a lo-ong time. and often just rot. i had one a very long time ago and it bloomed with south-west exposure (lots of direct sun).

when it gets big it's a water guzzler. ..need to find my last one a few years back (from small sucker that i dug up in FL: it's very common there):

i chucked it as it became a monster :), but never bloomed - it vines rapidly, you'll need a bigger pot soon ;).

once yours grows some more try rooting it in flooded perlite (tall glass with perlite, bottom 2" of water, tented). But don't use tips, use lower vines, like cut off the 4-5 leaves on top, and then take a cutting with 4-5 leaves and 4" stem after.

mine was in west window and then in North-east with 3-4 hours of sun: it's not enough to bloom. it wants southern exposure with lots of direct sun!

PS. the other species in my collection are a lot more forgiving - paniculatum, speciosissimum, trichotomum, and bungeii. The latter two are hardy in Atlanta but do not put bungeii in the ground as it is very invasive. Clerodendrum trichotomum is weedy too but nothing like bungeii.

I rooted C. speciosissimum and it bloomed indoors first year after 6mo! it's a very slow grower for me, but still alive after 2 years and now with buds.

I want to try C. splendens. but I think it's too vigorous for indoors :).

I bought both Clerodendrum paniculatum and speciosissimum right here in Orlando a few years apart on my annual pilgrimages. One was at Lowe's and the other one maybe Home Depot. I got down here too late today to go browsing at the big box stores (they have some plants we can't find back in Atlanta). Both of those species are fairly easy to grow and keep over winter (they can dry out some) but I haven't tried propagating those. Headed to the begonia superstore tomorrow to buy a truckload of begonias for our annual club begonia sale.

Isn't splendens similar to speciosissimum ? I like most of them but I would like to add musical notes and starburst next.

> Isn't splendens similar to speciosissimum ?

the flowers look similar, though they grow in differently shaped clusters.

but leaves are quite different. C. speciosissimum is more of a shrub, but C. splendens is definitely a rampant vine. i won't have space for it indoors for sure...

oh, i have a question: both my C. thompsonii and C.specio.. produce nectar on the underside of the leaves: tiny dew drops. i thought first it was mites, but no i think it's just exudation.

do you experience similar thing happening on yours indoors?

Thx to you both for the info.

It's a heavy drinker now Petruska, I cut it back from time to time to try & root it so it hasn't gotten too large. That pic is maybe a yr or 2 old, but w/ several cutbacks, it's still abt the same size now. The mentor from whom I got it got his to bloom, but he could summer it out on his roof, I have no outdoors for it.

Thx HC for your suggestions, perhaps next time I'll try to root a cutting directly into moist Perlite & a dome or sealed container & see if it does better.

petrushka,

I think the "tiny dew drops" are cystoliths. I've seen that at times but mostly in philodendrons and Begonia aconitifolia.

I think the spelling is thomsoniae instead of thompsonii?

Karen,

I didn't really give much care to the cuttings of thomsoniae. Just stuck some callused cuttings in some fresh potting mix and kept it wet (never let it dry out). I just knew it was easier than I thought but nothing ventured, nothing gained? You could also layer it to ensure an easy method of propagating it too.

>I think the spelling is thomsoniae instead of thompsonii?

oops! you are right! :)...I get mixed up on spelling some names. should've checked...my bad!

looked up 'cystoliths' ..hm-m..special cells? but my drops are liquid, they wipe off? at first it's just drops, but then I also get like tiny spots where they've been.

nothing I did (spray, systemic, watering less) changed them. they just stay there...

I also thought it might be bacterial? a lot of stuff in FL has bacterial infections that are impossible to clear. though I started using Azamax soil drenches and that almost cleared my drops on philos...(they were not just regular exudations).

just curious, do your plants get them or not?

As the cells "exude" the minerals I would imagine them to be "liquid" to begin with (much like urine removes minerals and other waste products) but as the water evaporates, the minerals would be left behind much like scale on water nozzles and pipes?

You probably need to ask a botanist about your observations.

Yes, several of my plants get some small almost spherical objects under the leaves (clear usually). If it doesn't move it is either a fungus/bacterial growth or mineral deposits.

I rooted one C. thomsoniae in water, and yes, it took what seemed like forever, but it was a mature part of the plant. It's grown like a weed, and is now putting out buds. I trimmed it back a couple of times to get it to branch and have those cuttings rooting now. Some took longer than others. Some have rooted, some not, and some didn't put out but one root. I'm going to pot the rooted ones out tomorrow.

I also rooted a C. tricotomum (Harlequin glory bower) cutting in soil, but it doesn't seem to be growing as quickly.

I've rooted many Clerodendrum cuttings in water, but I can't remember all their names. Some had nubbies already on their bark, which seemed to make them root faster.

Karen, just realized you said you keep cutting it back and it's never bloomed. It blooms on new growth, so maybe let it grow for awhile, and feed it with some bloom fertilizer. Mine like the 15-30-15 Miracle Gro liquid.

Mine's so thirsty, I was a bit late to water & it wilted, but perked right back up, thank G_d.

Yes, DG, I've cut it back at least twice, including just recently. So OK, I'll let it grow some & fertilize; I've got some Old Bloom Buster fertilizer from Hoyas I could use. Thx for the insight, good catch.

I hadn't known it needed direct sun; tough competition for west window w/ my Hoyas & Aloes, hum ...

It doesn't need direct sun, it's a shade plant. It will burn up in direct sun. Mine is in morning sun and so was the huge one I had before.

Some clerodendrum need full sun, but yours isn't one of them.

it won't bloom indoors unless it has partial sun, the plant OP is asking about is not grown outdoors in FL :).

Mine has bloomed indoors under lights (T8 12 hours a day).

Requesting your thoughts about the flowering behavior of my C. paniculatum. Dozens in ground in various places and lighting, all propagated from cuttings of descendents of one potted plant. That small plant was flowering, as were the potted ones that I have seen at the nursery. In contrast, my plants never flower when small, instead they flower only after growing tall. That is so even when I shorten tall ones; they just repeat growing tall, then they flower.

Is it that I must grow in pots in order to get them to flower without their growing tall?

four,

Maybe Clerodendrum paniculatum needs a year to mature after starting from cuttings before flowering? I have not done cuttings of it but I really should as the one I have is nearly six feet tall now. It has bloomed outside and inside too so I really don't know what it really needs to bloom consistently.

Last year in August

Last year early March indoors

> "a year to mature after starting from cuttings before flowering?" Not a bad thought, but no. Within a year the new plants flower; they grow tall then flower. The new and the old that I lower regrow tall then flower.

The new and the old that I lower regrow tall then flower.

I am not sure exactly what you mean "..lower regrow tall..."? Do you mean you cut back and the new growth will then flower? If so, is this a problem?

The problem is height: > "my plants never flower when small, instead they flower only after growing tall....even when I shorten tall ones"

I have Clerodendrum nutans growing in shade. Originally it was planted in a sunnier position but has since become overgrown. It's still doing well. Also have Clerodendrum floribundum which was self sown and, although not badly weedy, it's growing all over the place. It seems to prefer a lot more sun.

four,

I understand what you said now. It sounds like you need to "bonsai" your plants to keep them small and blooming or find a dwarf form of C. paniculatum (if one exists). Good luck!

> ""bonsai" your plants to keep them small and blooming" Probably is the explanation for my original and for the other potteds that I have seen. Thanks.

tropicbreezent,

I had to look up those two species of Clerodendrum. The C. floribundum looks very similar to C. trichotomum in seed and flower but the trichotomum is a small tree in comparison to floribundum.

C. trichotomum this summer. About 15 foot tall.