japanese holly

order: aquifoliales
family: aquifoliaceae
genus: ilex
species: crenata

First Story

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28 march 2012

My japanese holly is my very first bonsai plant. It's not the most perfect bonsai, but I think it's good enough for beginners like myself. It has already got a triangular silhouette at the time I got it. What it needs at the moment is gaining volume in its polsters of foliage. I actually want it to grow bigger, but this will take a long, long time.

It went dormant in winter. It's said to be tolerant of low-light condition. So it was easy for me to find a spot in our staircase, where the temperature doesn't fluctuate much away from 10 °C. Nothing happened since then. Since it's an evergreen, it didn't drop a single leaf.

Once dormancy broken, I brought it back into my bright study. For the first three weeks, I noticed no changes at all. After that, fresh lemon green started to show up. At present, the flower buds have already developed around the new leaves. They are right about the plant being able to back-bud easily, without you having to do anything. So if you accidentally ruin a branch, you can still take on corrective measures.

Update

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2013

repositioning and pruning january 2013.

My holly plant only had a flush of growth this year. After spring pinching, there wasn't any more growth for the entire year. After experiencing at least 2 months of cold it's allowed to wake up in mid-january in preparation for repotting. While moving it into the house, I gave it a major pruning according to its new design. I rotated and tilted the plant to an angle in order to have a new front view. The result is a trunk movement that is more subtle without being boring and the main branches are also brought closer to the trunk. I actually quite like the tilted rooball that is by now completely covered by moss. It gives an impression of a slope close to a brook. Slope is good; it's dramatic. I'm tempted to plant it on a piece of stone slate, though I know I won't find a suitable piece in the near future. So, it's going to get its old pot for now.

R.I.P

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31 march 2015

I had so many plans for this lovely plant, but it didn't make it through the time I was away in Asia to visit my family. Alas! The care-taker must have forgotten to water it on several shifts. When I came home, the plant looked desiccated, leaves turned khaki, stem shrunk. The water given posthumously remained in the soil for a whole week before I realised the plant's gone. Dead leaves persist on the branches but all axial buds are visibly dead. So yes, death confirmed. This is unfortunately not the only casualty during this time. My adenium that was supposed to be kept dry was drowned in a pool of cold water till I came home. Rotting was already under way.

crown-of-thorns

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

First Story

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21 april 2012

Crown-of-thorns is a plant I knew as kid. Our neighbour used to have a bush in front of their house. It's a plant that had the same level of popularity as ixora at that time. I must admit that before this I'd never really liked it. After being to botanical gardens in the past year my interest for plants escalated tremendously. From that instant on I already knew that this plant was going to be in my wish list.

Again I got this plant as a discounted item for 0,90 eur. I think the reason the plants were in sales was because it was a low season in winter, where people don't usually go look for plants. But I did. If I had more room at home I'd probably got a dozen more plants.

This plant belongs to the spurge family. In German it's called 'Wolfmilchgewächse' which is literally translated as 'wolf milk plants'. So called probably because these plants contain white sap that can be poisonous if in contact. The genus 'euphorbia' is the most diverse genus in the family and is one of the most diverse in the entire plant kingdom. Like many other spurges, euphorbia milii also have colourful leaf-like bracts surrounding the inflorescence. Its structure is very similar to that of its close relative, poinsettia (euphorbia pulcherrima). Red bracts (other colours exist in both species), small inconspicuous inflorescence, thin green leaves that tend to change colour in response to light exposure. The differences between the two make it even more interesting. That makes one realise how manifold the nature actually is. As the name reveals, crown-of-thorns have got thorns all along its stem. The inflorescence tubes ascend vertically and branch out further at tips. They don't grow towards the light. They just want to grow higher to get attention from fellow pollinators.

It's quite easy to care for this plant. At least I haven't got any big issue with mine up until now. Just let the soil dry out between watering. Bright window sill. Keep above 13 °C to prevent leaves drop. Ideally more than 8 hours direct sunlight daily. Fertilise sparingly in summer as over-fertilising prevents blooming. Trim branches to shape plant in early spring. Spray cut end with cold water to stop bleeding. And be warned again that its sap is poisonous and is lethal to fish.

Update

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31 march 2015

september 2014.

This is the first update after 3 years of growing it. It has grown tremendously during these years and has been potted up 3 times, mainly for the reason that it doesn't topple over easily. The stems have elongated manifold, though there is no branching to be seen nor has there been any new stem. I decided, at least for now, not to prune them back and will just let it grow the way it grows naturally, which is pretty much vertically.

From my experience growing this plant, I can confirm its hustle-free maintenance for which reason it also lends itself to certain degree of neglect. Short periods of drought do it no harm. However I like to water it regularly when it's growing outside in the hot summer sun and frequently feed it with diluted balanced fertiliser, which clearly improves the colour of the leaves and the bracts.

seagrape // baygrape

order: caryophyllales
family: polygonaceae
genus: coccoloba
species: uvifera

First Story

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27 march 2015

Seagrapes are trees you can see almost as often as sea almonds (Terminalia catappa) along coastlines in the tropical part of Americas, mostly on sandy beaches. Seagrape trees look a lot like the non-related sea almond trees, though usually a lot smaller. When I first encountered the tree in Costa Rica, I thought this tree had to be a Terminalia species. The leaves looked to me like rounded version of catappa's leaves, had the same red tint but are definitely thicker and shinier. The sight of the fruits made the identification very simple: "sea" and "grape" were all I needed to enter into the search engine. Their wood appears to be soft and turn soggy in water. Yet their preferred habitat is one that is washed by the high tides and where subterranean zone is constantly saturated with saline water. In the dryer part of the country, we also came across trees that had just newly leaved out after a dry season. Depending on the wetness of the location, leaves size can vary tremendously. In the driest spot, leaves were only about 5 cm across. Whereas under normal condition, given all the water they need, leaves can reach the size of an adult face.

I managed to find a nursery in Germany that supplies young seedlings so I didn't have to start from zero. It was probably 2 years old when it came to me. Adding the 2 years it's been with me, it should be 4 years old now. The plant is actually quite carefree to grow except that when the seedling starts to shed some of its only few leaves in the winter, I become worried about soil wetness, dry air or cold temperatures. With me, it has always retained some leaves throughout the entire winter, with minimum and average growing temperatures of 16°C and 18°C respectively. Growth comes to a full stop by december and won't resume before April. Since it is a salt tolerant plant, I'm not afraid of salt burn and thus feed it with diluted fertiliser weekly during growing season. I would say, watch out for woodboring beetles, if there are some around your area, because the wooden part looks really chewy.

taiwan pleione // windowsill orchid

order: asparagales
family: orchidaceae
genus: pleione
species: formosana

First Story

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14 april 2014

pleione flowering at last, march 2014.

Staying together with another hobby gardener at home, I had to oblige to enter into an agreement which dictates that I can keep any plant I want except orchids and bromeliads, which are exclusively the fields of the other gardener. This agreement has been violated many times. When I started a pineapple plant, the agreement hadn't yet been drafted. When we purchased this outdoor orchid bulb in late spring 2 years ago, I was the only one who took care of it, which is why it gradually became an exception to the rule. The plant didn't flower in the year it was planted. Soon the winter frost hit us and we've forgotten to bring this poor thing in. We were left with 2 mashy bulbs. Having given up all hopes, we left the bulbs outside over the entire winter. What happened in spring struck us with joy: the plant came back to life. Each bulb sends out its one and only leaf with corrugated surface. Again we didn't get to see its flower that year.

This year, our pleione has finally made itself worthy of a post. When green tips appeared, you could almost see that there's also a flower bud on one of them. It took less than 2 weeks for it to develop into this purplish flower, right before I went away for holidays. By the time I came home 2 weeks later, the flower has already been spent. Now, the next thing to hope for for next spring is multiple flowers and/or the multiplying of bulbs.

Update

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15 march 2015

feb 2015.

This year I woke my pleione from its winter sleep earlier than previously by bringing it into my room by January where it's warm enough for it to resume growth. There are at least 8 leaves this year, each singly attached to a bulb or a new bulb that is yet to develop. It also gave me 5 beautiful flowers. I managed to take photos of the first few before going on vacation this time. When I came back 3 weeks later, the last 2 were at their best while the first three had been spent. I'm really happy with the progress the plant is making, considering that I started with just 2 bulbs two years ago.

I learned that the plants can actually be grown with some wetness in the soil which other common orchids usually resent. You can just go ahead and water it regularly without having to worry about over-wetness. (Don't drown it though!) Because of its ease of growing I became more and more enthusiastic about it.