houseplant blooms

A week or two ago my schefflera started blooming again.

I cut the stalk off, because it makes such a sticky mess. 

Haven't seen this in a few years, but my 'corn plant' (dracanea) is flowering again!

And the crown of thorns plant- one of the stems died, but the remaining two are growing new leaves plus it's budding!

how are some houseplants

Looking at the group I bought during covid times. Most of them are doing well- in fact, the tiny-leaved 'wandering dude boliviana' is doing fantastic!

It's grown so much. 

All the younger angelwing begonias are doing well, too. 

Except the one with glossy leaves (richmondensis) got very leggy and keeps leaning. I trimmed it and moved to a brighter spot. Put the cuttings in water just in case they root. 

The older begonia still has that second shoot coming up in the pot. It's taller, but no leaves yet. 

Next to it, the rubber plant doesn't look so great. 

And 'friendship' pilea is struggling, so I relocated it as well. 

And the pilea peperomioides faltered a while back- all the smaller leaves at crown were looking dark and wilting. I think I had overwatered it. I let it dry out for over a week, then watered sparingly again. 

Seems okay now- new leaves are growing again and they look fine. 

Not so keen on the coleus 'inky fingers' anymore. 

It just doesn't compare at all to my dark velvety one (dang, where is that plant label? I think it was called 'black witchy' or something) which is still so stunning

I kept it all season as a grand houseplant. 

Swiss cheese monstera has more new leaves. 

Very funny how the new ones grow out all tightly rolled up and then unfold. \

Crown of thorns seems to have finished blooming for now. The flowers finally turned all solid pink, and a few days after I took a photo, started to wither.

color progress

Crown of thorn flowers have gradually been turning pinker-

two days later

few days later- one is nearly solid color

patchy flowers

My crown of thorns bloomed. Tiny flowers that emerged creamy colored, and now have pale pink, in splotches. I wonder if their color will continue to darken or not.

new inside

Another violet has bloomed. 'Vintage lace.'

It has the pale variegated foliage. 

I didn't expect much of my crown of thorns plant, because a) not sure if I'm caring for it properly and b) it was so recently new cuttings without any roots at all. But look- it seems to be budding!

houseplant checkup

First the ones that are doing great- I'm very pleased with my plain spider plant. It's done so much better since I've been careful to water it only when needed- not on a weekly schedule like I used to, but hefting the pot. When it's lightweight, I give it a good long drink. About once every ten or twelve days.

I cut off its one baby to give to a friend, and now it's sprouting two runners that will flower!

The striped one I got from the swap, is starting to standing more upright

My crown of thorns dropped its flowers. To be expected. Some of the leaves have slightly paler patches, looking a bit variegated- I need to find out of this is normal, or sign of something wrong. It does have new leaves growing! that's a good sign.

Madagascar palm next to it is looking so much better, by the way. Full of foliage now! It had just needed more sun.

Actually, that ails a lot of my plants. I have to be strict with myself and stop acquiring new houseplants, there's no place left to put them, and many as is, don't quite get enough light (lots of my african violets are kinda leggy). My angelwing begonia case in point. It grows straight up with the gorgeous leaves held out perpendicular. Not at all like I see it in photos. I still love it anyways- but I know my conditions for it are not ideal. 

I'm guessing now it might be called 'torch' 

the younger one by that name has narrower leaves, but coloring and speckles look the same. Here from two angles:

The other two are doing better- my 'richmondensis' has lots of new, healthy-looking leaves, 

and the 'frosty' one has a few. I'm not as fond of it now, though. Plants that are too pale or yellowish in pattern tend to look sickly to me. (I feel the same way about albino fishes, btw).

Of the other newer plants, the ficus (rubber plant) is okay, it has new growth but pretty slow, and the 'friendship' pilea is looking nice.

but calathea is still struggling.

And I have a few newer ones, now, too, though I'm half regretting it. My husband was out on an errand and found somebody selling starter houseplants at a stand. He sent pictures on his phone to see if I wanted any. Some were plants I have been wanting so I said yes! and "pick me out some nice-looking ones". This is what he brought home: 

They are monstera adonsanii, pilea peperomioides, and the last is labeled "Wandering Dude Bolivian." I'm curious about that label- yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a tradescantia- wandering jew 'bolivian' but the seller found the original common name problematic so called it dude instead. Hm, my husband doesn't like to hear me call the plant wandering jew either, so I've been referring to mine as tradescantia zebrina now instead.

As for conditions- well, I wish I'd had better photos because I would not have paid five dollars apiece for these plants. Pilea looks fine but the wandering dude is leggy and sparse, and this has got to be the saddest monstera plant I've ever seen. They're all in too-heavy, waterlogged soil. 

I suspected when I saw the pics off my husband's phone, that this was the same person who was selling plants from his house. Same varieties, pot size/shape, soil type. Yep, I knew it from the labels when he brought them home. With the earlier plants I didn't mind- the price was $2 per and I was willing to take a chance on them (have lost one already and might have to toss the other calathea). In Feb seller said they were cheap because had been kept in "a bad environment" and he was clearing out stock. So I'm surprised the plants are still being sold in rather poor condition, at a higher price now!

sunny corner

by the deck window, is the spot for my semi-succulents now. Madagascar palm, unknown bright crassula (I've looked and can't quite name this variety yet), and the newest my crown of thorns.

Which looks unhappy. Since I planted the cuttings, some of the leaves are yellowing. I really hope it's just going through an adjustment period.

I discarded a few of the jade plant cuttings, and stuck the nicest branching ones in a pot. Might separate out later into several pots as they grow. I don't need more jades, but after a year they'll make nice specimens to trade for at the plant swap again!

planted and cut

I went ahead and planted my espresso geranium- in a part-shaded spot

near the deck stairs, next to the container of hyssop.

My tray of zebrina flowers has a few more sprouting- I was amazed when I saw this plant for sale at the nursery a few days ago- theirs are large plants in eight-inch pots with robust, thick leaves. Mine still so small!

I trimmed my large jade plant- pretty seriously. Have corks between a few branches to space them out better.

I removed almost all the branch ends, encouraging stoutness. Left a few leaves on so it doesn't struggle too much until new leaves grow-

Here's the pile of what I cut off- they always start to go purplish in spring, after the paler light of winter getting too much sudden sunlight. New tips are greener.

I saved some of the trimmings, to maybe start new plants.

And planted my crown of thorns! Dipped the ends first in a bit of rooting hormon powder, though I don't know if that's needed.