New Anthurium

My regular local source of fresh eggs got a new job and is no longer convenient. My back up options (farm stands) are all closed for the winter. BUT a local garden center has a Winter Market in their greenhouses. Local meats, home made breads and local eggs. So we drove half an hour to pick up some eggs.

Did I mention it's in the Greenhouse? 

I love visiting greenhouses in winter. But I'm often feeling so deprived of green that I end up buying houseplants. 

I'm kind of full up of houseplants right now. So I swore I wouldn't buy any.

I only came home with five. And two were small.

Today, however, I'm only going to post pictures of my new Anthurium. I've been having problems with my Anthuriums this winter (probably low humidity and I recently found mealy bugs. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) so I swore I wouldn't buy any new ones until I figured out the problem.

Yeah, right.

Then I saw this beauty.

Gorgeous purple flowers. Yum. And a slightly pinkish purple, different from my other purples.

The flower age more pink.

Still a nice color.

AND she's pregnant!

It's too bad (ha!) I don't live closer to Mr. Subjunctive. If I did I'd constantly be dropping off plants and seeds in the middle of the night. This would be one of them.

Of course he'd probably figure me out and in turn drop off plants at my house in the middle of the night and I'd end up with a house full of over 1000 plants like he has so maybe it's good for both of us that we're not feeding each others addictions.

Reproduction

I have a bad history reproducing plants from seed. I can get the seeds started. They do all right at first.

As are these Anthuriums.

But then I try to transplant them into individual pots and something always seems to go wrong...

Do I water too much, too little? Am I cursed?

But I keep trying.

These are Eucomis seedlings. I bought a plant last in the summer for $5 and decided, what the heck. I'll try the seeds.

But hope spring eternal in the heart of the not-so-young gardener and I also gathered seeds from an unidentified annual (possibly an Amaranthus of some kind. I just haven't found a picture that quite matches -and the closest one I found was just labeled Amaranth).

I guess I'll keep trying but I'm much better at reproducing plants from cuttings!

Here is my annual winter propagation of Cuban Oregano. This is a plant I've had for years but it gets very leggy so I take cuttings during the winter every year to restart the plant.

And I have a few other plants that I have re-started when they get too leggy or too big.

And then, HERE is my pride and joy (as far as plants I have reproduced). I started this plant after I noticed a leaf in the hallway of my apartment building when I was in grad school. I walked past the leaf a couple of times before I picked it up and put it in soil - it was on the ground at least 24 hours before I "rescued" it.

I just don't understand how I am so good at reproducing plants from cuttings but so bad at starting seeds.

At least I can order already started plants of most things I want. Except for Tithonia. I  have a hard time finding that as a plant....

Enabling

Whenever I go to the Big Box Warehouse store I wander through their display of houseplants. Ninety percent of the time they have the same old same old. Of course some of these same old same olds re old reliable and occasionally they are on sale because they need to be watered (seriously, a lot of the plants on their sale rack just need a good watering!).

And once in a blue moon there is something unusual and special. Like my Rhipsalis or my curly leafed spider plant.

This weekend I was looking and found a cute plant that was less than $5 (it's small). So I gave in to temptation and picked it up. I have a shelving unit in my office that is full of small plants there were less than $5. For some reason I think I can always squeeze in just one more...

Uh. Maybe not.

This trip The Husband was with me and he pointed to a bottom shelf and said "it's been a while since you bought an Anthurium."

Not any more.

He's started to enable my addiction. Is there a support group for Anthurium addicts? How about house plant addicts? Mr. Subjunctive, can we form a support group? Actually if we did that we're probably both end up with even MORE plants.

I did put a light in the basement this winter for plants. 

I think I'm in trouble.

Any advice for Smuggling?

Last year in Panama I saw a purple blooming Anthurium.  I wanted it.  I thought about plucking off a leaf and smuggling it back into the US.  

Then I thought - don't be silly.  This is the age of the internet.  You can find anything.

Wrong.

Well, partly.

I can find purple Anthuriums for sale.  From Hawaii.  Including shipping that costs, like, triple digits.  More than I usually spend on a single plant.

So I kept looking.  And looking.  And looking.

Finally found one -see?!

Unfortunately this one was for sale (for a reasonable price) at KEW GARDENS IN ENGLAND. 

Thought about buying it (couldn't steal a leaf to root, too many witnesses) and trying to smuggle it back to the US.  The Husband thought that was a bad idea.

Spoilsport.

He also said he wouldn't bail me out if I got caught.

So I continue to live without a purple Anthurium.

I has a sad.

[Did I hear a someone say there's an Orange one?]

New Houseplants

Over the winter break I was moved into a new office [I guess my old office neighbors complained about all the noise coming from The Mad House - that's what happens when you stick people together who have the same sense of humor].  The new office space has (gasp!) a WINDOW.  With a WINDOW SILL.  

My view is of the next building over and I don't get great natural light but being a True Gardener some of my first thoughts were "what kind of plants can I put there?"

Low light.  Tolerant of dry air.

I have a small  Philodendron hederaceum with chartreuse leaves (variety notlabeledus, possibly aureum).  I can repot that and set it on the windowsill.

One plant will not do. I need more, more I tell you!

This sounds like I need a trip to Kane's (the closest garden center that carries houseplants).

I knew what I needed.  A hard to kill indoor plant.  Spathiphyllum (peace lily).  Kane's had large leafed ones (too big) and smaller, more typical ones.  I bought the smallest pot they had (it'll grow).  It's not in bloom right now but I bet I can get it to bloom.

Unfortunately [????] they also had a large variety of Anthurium.  I have one (Anthurium grocerystorensis) that has a red spathe and a red inflorescence (spathe is the big leaf shaped bit and the inflorescence is the sticking up in the middle bit).  Kane's had...  Wow....  Lots of variety (no purple ones, though.  Dammit.).  I picked up a small (it'll GROW - why buy big?) one with a red spathe and a yellow infloresence.

Sexy!

Now comes the hard part.  Where do I put the new Anthurium?

I need more windows...

Interesting Anthurium Event

A few days ago Mr Subjunctive over at PATSP posted a picture of an Anthurium that he had tried to cross pollinate and he was hoping he was seeing seed formation.

Last night I noticed something odd on my Anthurium.

I think those are seeds.

[They look kind of, well, gross.  If these were on an animal I'd be calling the vet.  They're on a plant so I should be calling.... um...  the plant doctor?]

I did NOT cross pollinate.  In fact I only have the one Anthruium.  I like it.  It's a nice plant.  I wouldn't mind more IF I HAD ANYWHERE TO PUT EXTRA PLANTS. 

So what do I do with the seeds?  Do I cut the flower off and send them to the compost bin?  Do I wait for them to ripen and try to start them?  And then do what with the seedlings?  I'm running out of room for new plants.

If only I had a conservatory.  I can picture it now - an addition on the second story (over the first floor addition someone put in a while back).  Windows on three sides - East, South and West.  Skylights that open to let the heat out during summer.  Tile floors to trap the heat during the winter.  And more than a few plants.  Ahhhh.  

Now I just have to convince The Husband that this would be a good expense.  

I bet he'll expect up to complete the bathroom remodel first.

Spoil sport.

The most stressful time of the year

*It's the most stressful time of the year* come on, sing along, you know the tune!

Twas the week before Christmas and all thru The Edge, the Gardener was frantic trying to wrap things up. 

The Final Exam needed to be written.  A review session needed to be prepared.  Grades need to be calculated.  Oh, the joys of teaching college students.

And then there's Christmas itself.  Gifts to buy.  What to get The Zack, my Favorite Nephew?  And The Dad - always a challenge.  And I'll need to clean the house before The Queen Bee and Her Entourage arrive.  Eeep!

Need to bring the stress level down.  Time to visit Kane's.  No, not Candy Canes.  Kane's, an LGC that has a heated greenhouse where they sell houseplants all winter.  

Ahhhh.  Heat, humidity and lush plants.

True, they have a lot of Poinsettias this time of year (painted blue with sparkles, really?  Why not get a fake plant, it'll last longer).  But at this time of year I want to pick up a couple of Cyclamen.

I find Cyclamen have a long bloom time and they have pretty foliage so they'll last me all winter.

It's a good investment for me since I crave bright colors during the dull, gray, New England winters.

I'll pick up two of them.

Um.  I might have gone overboard a bit.

But the big excitement at Kane's was this Anthurium andreanum (a 4.8 on the PATSP scale of difficulty).  I often see them for sale but they are always expensive.  This one was $10 for an 8 inch pot.  For that price - MINE!

So I bought a few plants and reduced my stress level quite a bit.  Kane's in my favorite place to shop this time of the year.  Even if I don't buy anything.

Now I can go back to panicking about the end of the semester and the holiday season and...

PS.  Thanks to The Queen Bee for picking me up some volumetric flasks for cut flowers.  Don't they look cool?  Well, if you're a science geek they do!