Puya mirabilis

This is a very nice, compact, and low thorn Puya.  Also a must for those of us with a fetish for chartreuse or green flowers.

I love the contrast of the dark brown and light green.

The old flowers also do a neat twist/cork screw effect as they whither away.  I have pollinated these and grown many from seed.

One more flower...

Unlike the first Puyas I tried these are small 1 foot rosettes, not the hughe 5 foot clumps of Puya berteroniana.  Though P. berteroniana has almost more amazing blue flowers with orange pollen--it is just full of razor sharp teeth on every blade and too big for me.  This one has some teeth, but just small and only a bit painful and only if you grabbed a handful.

If you can handle aloes and agave you wouldn't be bothered by this.  So don't think all Puya are death traps...  The P. berteroniana has myths told about it ensnaring small animals in its thorns and benefiting from the added nourishment--that is not this plant at all.  Sorry I probably should not perpetuate what I bet is not true for any Puya, but some really are that sharp and the thorns angle just that way so that what gets in really can't pull back out.

This this is now my only Puya.  I just visit the big guys at the S.F. Arboretum!   

Stats:

• Native to Bolivia
• Blooms in about a year after planting, 2 from seed--not the decade of some Puyas
• About 1 foot by 1 foot, maybe 2 with time
• Hardy to 20 degrees...  Has survived for me in wet winters and frosts in the 28 degree F, but I suspect best hardiness is to keep it dry and not wet all the time.

Sansevieria kirkii var. pulchra ‘Coppertone’

 This is one of my favorite Sansevierias. The metallic and wavy look of the leaves reminds of the results of fold forming copper especially when tarnished later and burnt well with a torch in the annealing steps.  The color is better or more coppery in brighter light. 

And this month I am getting a rare treat... blooms.  

  
These are way more spectacular plants if they were grown outdoors with bright light.  But like almost everyone mine is a house plan since they are on a zone 10 or 11 plant at best.  And they take low light with little complaint at all except darker color and less growth.

Here is a copy leaves that are newer and have been getting the sun from the window they sit next to.

The plan can grow so leaves over 1.5 feet so needs a large table sometimes to not have leaves reaching out at people, but I am happy with the size.  And the hiegt has never been over 2 feet and the tend to arch more horizontal than up.

Stats:

• Full Sun to Partial Shade 
• Balanced fertilizer a couple times a year--but don't over do it and does need some to flower along with light.
• Flowers sporatically over year
• Low water needs, I use clay pots that breath--your average terracotta, not glazed--though rot is not a big problem, just never had it happen this way and have in glazed pots with poor drainage.
• Zone 10-11 if daring to try outside
• Growth is to a 2 foot rosette 
• Good houseplant, but will grow slow in low light--which is perfect if you want that basic size you have, bad if you love see plants grow fast and send you new leaves to look at each month.

Six-pointed Brugmansia Take Two - Brugmansia Kaia

Here is another set of pictures of six pointed flowers on a Brugmansia.  This is a rare occurrence, with almost all flowers being five pointed.  It is kind of like finding a four leaf clover.  Only I have enough to see it maybe a bit more often than that.  Most of mine are in the B.suaveolens or hybrids with it so it seems more common there.

This one is one of my own named after my oldest daughter, Kaia

It is the result of a yellow and pink cross of two other B.suaveolens.

It has maintained both the yellow and pink coloring, or I guess the pink is pretty orange... but knowing it was crossed with Brugmansia 'Frosty Pink' I see the link.

I made the cross and grew this out from seedlings about 6-8 years ago.  It has had many sets of six pointers usually with the first flush of flowers after each rest.  By rest I mean that this type flowers in flushes throughout the growing season then rests or produces few if any blooms for a period before setting lots of bugs again.  This is a common pattern for Brugmansias.

The orana-pink is sometimes a darker...

 Here is the plant from a distance to get an idea of size and what it looks like in flower.

 
It is a medium to smaller sized Brugmansia, growing 4-8 feet depending on your pruning or feeding.  Thanks for looking!  I have some more pics of a white six-pointer, but will get to that later to still make this seem like a special occurrence!

Six Point Brugmansia

I am not sure which is more common this or four leaf clovers, but these are special...  a six point Brugmansia, an offspring of Jamaican Yellow:

Now this is not a lucky new mutation, just something a plant will do once in a great while, usually younger plants or the on of the first spring flowers.  In my experience I have also only seen in my Brugmansia suaveloens relatives.  Most flowers are only five points like this one on the same plant:

So like finding a four leaf clover it is an occasion to grab the camera, call anyone who'd care, etc.  So with out more words here is a series of nice shoots of one...

Brugmansia Pink Perfection

Here is an amazing double Brugmansia.   Here in California along the coast up North and in the South where frost is rare the Double White is very common, but rarely to never is a colored double found.

I have collect a few through online trades and the like, but even with in the couple yellower and pink doubles this one stands out.  The inner flower drops down and out of the outer flower on almost all flowers.  Sometimes several inches.

Anyone else remembering the Alien movies?  I sure am, only nothing to fear here.

These are also very highly scented at night.  Many pinks are not--but these pinks are related to the double whites more than those.  There are several major groups and probably 7 species of Brugmansia with different characteristics.  If your curious see http://www.ibrugs.com/Resources/BrugmansiaComparisons.aspx, http://www.erowid.org/plants/brugmansia/brugmansia.shtml, or do your Googling.

The pink color is also quite dark.  For years I had seen pictures of dark orange and pink but all I ever saw with my own eyes were mostly white with a hint of color.  All Brugmansia are variable in color to a degree, affected by weather, time of year, feeding, watering, etc. but this one is always a good pink by the time the inner flower has opened.

 

And I have been hybridizing these with other doubles and shredded white.  These seeds are from the improved Double White, another with good drop on the inner flower.

 

 These seed pods, on doubles especially, have interesting attachment scares between the stem and the seed pod.  Or at least it is to me.

 

Where's my Sepals?

Here is an interesting set of flowers on my Fuchsia 'Gafrey Blush' that just started blooming. I see this phenomenon when we have a warm winter but cool nights keeping it cooler than ideal.  Or at least that is the recipe that I think is helping this along, could just be chance.

It is amazing to see all the dangling leaves appear and then start to turn a bit white, then open.

The plant's normal flowers are already starting to appear and open, only the very first ones were green.

This fuchsia is also mite free and listed as such.  I know mite resistant is not equal to mite free, but this one has no other signs of mite damage or mutations. This only happens once a year, if that. Here is a picture of the growth tips, all look normal.

And a final couple pictures to close with...

Life from just the leaves

Here is a fun way to grow many varieties of succulents.   This Graptopetalum (or Grapto for short in my book) is an unknown variety I have had for awhile.  It is perfect for pulling off leaves as it leggy even in bright light (it has a long stem and grows upward as opposed to tight rosette).  Echeveria are often too compact to easily get leaves off cleanly.  The Grapto leaves are always falling off around the parent plant.

In that picture it is rooting in some perlite. But these will sometimes root all alone in the area they fall, one of the possibly more likely ways to propagate one's self over seed.

I'll root many of mine on top of my refrigerator near a bright florescent light. This helps them from rotting.  To be successfully they need to be dry but in a bright and humid environment for 1-2 weeks. No direct sun or too dry environment as that only speeds up drying out.  The refrigerator I have is old and warmer than general room temperature on top so that speeds things up. 

Some sources say just 3 days to develop a callous is all that is needed. Then to just plant in a cactus mix. A callous means the cut is completely healed over. Watch twice a day on some you harvest and you'll see the cut dry and tissue around it swell a bit. I they are big enough to leave out for a week and the room is humid roots will even start while they are just sitting there.

The best specimens are the ones that just drop off or come off easily. The leaf needs to be complete. If it tears and leaves critically needed cells on the stem you won't get roots and a new shoot. I have even had some that just grow roots and never a shoot! 

I have the best luck with leaves of Crassula, Echeveria, Graptopetalum, and Sedum. But many others are possible. On Echeveria that are often tight and compact for me in part sun I will harvest the small leaves that are attached to blooms in spring.

Another trick on Echeveria is to grow it for a month or so in shade or dim light.  It will get leggy reaching for the light and then you can get a bunch of leaves easily.  It will cause a nice compact plant to be lost, but cut the top off after the loose leaves come off and it will root too.  Whats left of the parent will sprout again as well as long as you leave a couple leaf nodes above the soil.

Here is a picture of the leaves or leaflets in between flowers. If they are too small they usually dry out but I can usually grow a few this way.