Tag: queue

syngoniums:

‘Psychedelic Rose’; ‘Kristi’s Spunk’, ‘Esmeralda’, and a group shot.

The wild ancestors of cultivated African violets hail from montane and coastal forests in Tanzania and Kenya, usually in rocky crevices alongside streams. Cultivated hybrid varieties have retained a need for mild temperatures, filtered light, and relatively confined growing spaces. Luckily for them, this makes them ideal houseplants.

One thing that tends to surprise people who’ve never seen a well-grown African violet is how wide some of them can get, reaching 16" or more in diameter in the larger varieties. In practice, this can be difficult to achieve; my pets usually manage to knock my plants off the windowsill at least once a month, and of course, in less than ideal growing conditions, older leaves tend to acquire damage that makes them drop prematurely. There’s also a shape issue. AVs grow in flat rosettes, and will tend to tilt towards their light source. If you have them on a windowsill, they need to be regularly rotated to keep them symmetrical. If you really want a big, flat, show quality plant, your best bet is to grow them under lights.

Up until recently, I haven’t really had the opportunity to try AVs under lights. When we started the seedlings indoors, I decided to put a few on the shelves with them. These are the first round of blooms from this group. I can’t yet say there’s a huge difference between their growth and blooming and that of the windowsill guys, but they certainly do have nicer leaves, being well-insulated from heat, cold drafts, and excited dogs. I look forward to seeing them develop.

floraliia:

My African violet bloomed today!! Which is super exciting because I had to prune off all the flowers due to wilting (I under-watered them) so this is great!!

Also, if anyone wants to get an African violet I’d always recommend getting them from a local nursery/a farmers market/smaller places. I just popped into Lowe’s and the place I got mine from had so much more variety and interesting leaf & flower combinations!!

syngoniums:

My sister gave me a starter plant of this little noid miniature violet a few years ago. She referred to it as the “survivor violet”, because back home it lived on a windowsill with an oriole feeder on the other side. The cats would see the orioles, take a flying leap off the dining room table, hit the window and slide down, taking out the plants below. This happened multiple times (not the brightest cats, alas). The violet was broken up every time, and suffered a few other indignities, but its pieces always rooted and grew vigourously.

Back when I was living at the apartment, I didn’t have a lot of window space, and I often forgot to water the indoor plants. Between that and an ill-advised repot into crappy soil, I finally killed my survivor violet. However, one leaf had fortuitously fallen off into a pot below it. The plant in that pot also eventually died, but the leaf rooted and hung on. When we moved to this house, I finally put it in its own pot, in good soil, in good light. This is the first time this particular iteration has bloomed.

syngoniums:

Some blooming gesneriads.Primulina ‘Rachel’ is in the top two photos. It has pretty foliage but leans quite a bit on the bedroom windowsill. I decided to move all the primulinas here under the lights tonight to see if they like it more.

Streptocarpus ‘DS-Roxolana’ has opened a second flower. It’s noticeably bluer than the old one, which has faded to a straight pink.

Finally, ‘Allegro Peaches n Green’. This picture is not really true to color – it’s an unusual (for an AV) peach with green edges, less muddy in real life than it looks here.

jeremiahsplants:

A Heliamphora head dress! My sister @katrinajoy67 modeling this years largest style.
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. .#heli #helis #highfashion #model #fashion ##heliamphora #heliamphoranutans #sarracenia #venus #plant #garden #flower #greenhouses #botanical #carnivorousplants #carnivorousplant #colorado #colospgs #coloradosprings #flytraps #plants #californiacarnivores #iphonex #shotoniphone #carnivorousplantsofinstagram #venusflytraps #vft #greenhouse #plantsofinstagram #jeremiahsplants (at Colorado Springs, Colorado)
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