aeonium arboreum

order: saxifragales
family: crassulaceae
genus: aeonium
species: arboreum? (spathulatum? decorum? harworthii?)
variety: luteovariegatum?

It's a headache when it comes to identifying an unknown orpine member. Fortunately this one has a stem, so I can eliminate sempervivum. So it's either echeveria or aeonium. Next, since its leaves are attached loosely on its stem, I know it's an aeonium rather than an echeveria. The most difficult part is identifying the species and variety. Is it an aeonium arboreum 'luteovariegatum'? or aeonium harworthii 'Kiwi'? or aenonium decorum? According to some source, different aeonium species readily cross breed both in wild and in cultivation. So precision in identification shouldn't be targeted. All in all, it's a lovely aeonium.

I read that aeoniums are winter growers and like to have summer rest. When hot summer arrives, they stop growing and do not want to be watered. (Is that so?) I really am not sure. How should I know when it's sleeping already? Is it harmful if I spray some water on the surface of the soil? It can't possibly cause root rot if the soil dries up within an hour, can it?

If noone's there to answer all these questions, then I'm going to have to try it out myself.

dwarf mondo grass

order: asparagales
family: convallariaceae/ruscaceae
genus: ophiopogon
species: japonicus
cultivar: 'Minor'

As I was beginning my research on this dwarf mondo grass, I was surprised to learn that it belongs to the asparagus family (asparagaceae). Not that I'd be surprised by its attributes, but I just didn't give it a thought. Later I found more suggestions. Its family seems to be unclear, with possible classifications being convallariaceae, liliaceae, asparagaceae, ruscaceae, etc, etc. Someone ought to make a final decision. For the sake of this blog, I'm going to put it under convallariaceae. This grass has always been used in japanese gardens in warmer regions. One thing I still need to find out is its natural habitat. Seriously, some suggest that it should not be exposed to temperature below 10 °C and yet other claim its winterhardiness down to -18 °C.

My ophiopogon was a good bargain. A ceramic saucer full for 5 eur, whereas garden centres ask for 3 eur for one single plant in a small plastic planter.

This plant is easy to propagate by division. I may need to do this soon to make room for new growth.


>>Update:

mondo grass bearing flower buds in the spring 2013.

from the umbel of flowers of yesteryear, there is one blue berry remaining.

poinsettia

order: malpighiales
family: euphorbiaceae
genus: euphorbia
species: pulcherrima

first published on 09.05.2012:

At a friend's flat, there's a poinsettia standing on the window sill in the living room for nearly 2 years. It seems like it's been mostly forgotten, except the few times a month it's given water. During my last visit to her place, I and my friend sat in the living room and observed that the bracts of the plant were turning red. So we began to take a closer look at it and admired how the leaves had shrunk in size as a result of nutrients deprivation. We both agreed that with smaller leaves, the plant suddenly looks more attractive than those that are on sales during Christmas season, which are sometimes seemed as a kitsch. We then set out to hunt down a new plant to start with.

The plant I selected is so small that it fits perfectly into a small bonsai pot. A ficus panda used to be in this pot but it didn't survive the first month itself with me. Whatever the cause could be, I think I wouldn't want to try that plant again.

This plant on the other hand seems to be not as demanding. Since I already know what kind of attention this plant gets at my friend's place, I know what to do with it. Window facing the same direction, i.e. south. Infrequent watering and rare feeding: that's my programme.

The plant is yet to show sign of throwing out new growth. Since I want to skip pruning this year, I'm wondering how long the plant is going to retain its old leaves. I'll keep on updating once there's any change to this plant.

>>Update:

By August 2012 the plant's canopy has put on volume threefold. Old red leaves are still on the plant while new green leaves grow above them, making the plant a reverse of typical poinsettia seen during Christmas season. The size of the leaves didn't shrink down tremendously because the plant drew enough nutrients from the fresh soil I gave it during repotting. However a measurement reduction from 10cm to 7cm is satisfactory. Next year if I repot, I want to use a lean soil.

brazilian jasmine // mandevilla

order: gentianales
family: apocynaceae
genus: mandevilla
species: sanderi

first published on 03.05.2012:

I love mandevillas. The first one I've ever seen was two hybrid plants with very bright red blooms placed on both sides of the entrance to a japanese restaurant. They were beautiful. I learned that this genus also belongs to dogbane family, one that I like to collect.

I've got this plant in April for a fair price. It wasn't as expensive as those patented hybrids. One thing that I'm concerned with the purchase is that the pot comes with 3 plants. Every time I have multiple plants in a pot I hope that a friend will be willing to take some away, because I'm really having problem with space. So I'm hoping someone is going to ask me for this plant soon.

Both foliage and bloom are similar to those of a desert rose, a related genus. Although mandevilla's leaves are significantly larger and more rounded. Moreover I notice that, there aren't visible male and female sexual organs in mandevilla's flowers. Newly open flowers have intense pink colour that fades over a couple of weeks.

Care instructions? Moist soil (not soggy), bright, sunny site. It's normal that they drop their lower leaves. So in order to have a fuller appearance, it's advisable to prune back to where it should branch out new. To save space, fall would be a good time to do this, while moving the plant indoor.

>>Update:

By September 2012.

By September 2012, my mandevilla has grown to be three times the size it was as I got it. Despite its climbing habit I did not provide it support, hoping that it can be trained to support itself this way. As for now I'm still quite happy with the result. New shoots that emerged from the trunk base are more vine-like with very long internodes. This could be the result of the frequent feeding with 8-8-6 fertiliser in the past few months. I've switched to 4-6.5-8 fertiliser beginning this month to encourage wood development. I hope this will stabilise the plant a bit. In one or two weeks when night temperature gets below 10°C, the plant will come back into the house. Depending on how much space I have, I might need to prune back longer stems.