My tea plant has flowered. There are quite a few flowers for such a small plant. Each flower lasts only a bit more than a day before the plant ejects it and it falls off.
My betel pepper has also flowered. One of the distinguishing characteristics of betel pepper is the flower stalks grow upward. Also notice the shiny leaves. I have high hopes my black pepper (pictured in an earlier post) will also flower someday.
This is a PJM Rhododendron. It's not tropical, but I thought I'd add a photo because it's blooming when it's not supposed to be. According to the tag, these bloom in spring--it flowered then, too. This is at least the second year this shrub has bloomed twice.
Speaking of distinguishing characteristics, the first sickle "leaves" have appeared on my tallest koa. These are not true leaves; the leaf stem widens and the true leaf parts stop developing. The true leaf parts on this leaf started to develop, then quit partway.
Cacao (chocolate) trees have a curious habit. At almost exactly four feet tall, the main stem splits into five main branches. I have two cacao trees; one has split into two main trunks. This is the shorter trunk, just now reaching four feet from soil level.
This is the other trunk of the same tree which is about 3 inches taller.
This is the second tree. It is approximately 5-1/2 feet tall. Here is its branch point.
Here is the top view of the second tree's branch point.
This is the latest "flush" of leaves on my cinnamon tree. Since this photo was taken, the overnight temperature dropped below 60 degrees. Some of the veins on these leaves got damaged. It comes inside tonight along with the clove tree and the nutmeg tree.
This is the Surinam cherry I raised from seed. It is not closely related to the cinnamon, but it sure has the same red foliage.
These are bug catchers on my Nepenthes. When I bought this, I was told it was an alata. Now, I'm not so sure. These bug catchers are more orange than spotted purple and they have two hair trails down the front.
This is a Sarracenia pitcher plant. While it too has bug catchers, they form along the main part of the leaf, not at the tip. Nepenthes and Sarracenia belong to the same Order, Ericales.
Another Sarracenia pitcher plant. Anything that eats bugs is a friend of mine.
These are my banana offspring. One was previously pictured in the April 2009 post, still attached to mama. They've grown quite a bit since then.
These are palm seedlings. To the left are year-old fan palms. To the right are six-month-old Manilla palms. The center row has pygmy date palms, but I don't know how old they are.
My tea plant has flowered. There are quite a few flowers for such a small plant. Each flower lasts only a bit more than a day before the plant ejects it and it falls off.
My betel pepper has also flowered. One of the distinguishing characteristics of betel pepper is the flower stalks grow upward. Also notice the shiny leaves. I have high hopes my black pepper (pictured in an earlier post) will also flower someday.
This is a PJM Rhododendron. It's not tropical, but I thought I'd add a photo because it's blooming when it's not supposed to be. According to the tag, these bloom in spring--it flowered then, too. This is at least the second year this shrub has bloomed twice.
Speaking of distinguishing characteristics, the first sickle "leaves" have appeared on my tallest koa. These are not true leaves; the leaf stem widens and the true leaf parts stop developing. The true leaf parts on this leaf started to develop, then quit partway.
Cacao (chocolate) trees have a curious habit. At almost exactly four feet tall, the main stem splits into five main branches. I have two cacao trees; one has split into two main trunks. This is the shorter trunk, just now reaching four feet from soil level.
This is the other trunk of the same tree which is about 3 inches taller.
This is the second tree. It is approximately 5-1/2 feet tall. Here is its branch point.
Here is the top view of the second tree's branch point.
This is the latest "flush" of leaves on my cinnamon tree. Since this photo was taken, the overnight temperature dropped below 60 degrees. Some of the veins on these leaves got damaged. It comes inside tonight along with the clove tree and the nutmeg tree.
This is the Surinam cherry I raised from seed. It is not closely related to the cinnamon, but it sure has the same red foliage.
These are bug catchers on my Nepenthes. When I bought this, I was told it was an alata. Now, I'm not so sure. These bug catchers are more orange than spotted purple and they have two hair trails down the front. 
This is a Sarracenia pitcher plant. While it too has bug catchers, they form along the main part of the leaf, not at the tip. Nepenthes and Sarracenia belong to the same Order, Ericales.
Another Sarracenia pitcher plant. Anything that eats bugs is a friend of mine.
These are my banana offspring. One was previously pictured in the April 2009 post, still attached to mama. They've grown quite a bit since then.
These are palm seedlings. To the left are year-old fan palms. To the right are six-month-old Manilla palms. The center row has pygmy date palms, but I don't know how old they are.
I m Jonas and I live in Switzerland. I've also the passion of the spices plants. You can see them on my forum or on my shop web site.
ReplyDeleteClove is very difficult plant, not for growing,if the seeds are fresh and travelled in good conditions (I had 100% growing),but for "conserving" them or acclimating them.
You've very good looking plants!
My e-mail adress: pajoojo!!hotmail.com
(just change @ on the place of !!)
http://tropicaplante.over-blog.com/
http://tropicaplante.forumactif.net/forum.htm
Jonas,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links and compliments.
Unfortunately, I took Spanish instead of French in school, so I'm missing out on a lot of the text. You also have some very good looking plants.
Some of my most difficult to find plants are pictured on your website. I'm amazed we have so many plants in common: Clove, nutmeg, plumeria, vanilla, cinnamon, cacao, and Jamaican pimenta.
I grew curry plants and jasmine vines several years ago, but not for some time now. I have Acacia koa and Acacia farnesiana where you have Calliandra portoricensis, but these plants are similar. Your solandra flowers remind me of my hibiscus flowers.
I agree, growing clove is very difficult. It suffers leaf damage at temperatures as high as 59 degrees F or 15 degrees C. New leaves wilt in spots. If the wilt spots affect the main leaf vein, it kills the leaf. If both leaves at the growing tip fall off, the stem is likely to die back. If the main stem is affected, it is likely to die. My clove and nutmeg are sitting directly in front of a small heater. It's better if they dry out than get cold.
Sprouting clove is also problematic. I ordered 50 seeds. 2/3 of the seeds did not survive the three day shipment. None of these brown seeds grew. Because of mold problems, few of the green seeds grew. Of the four seeds to germinate, only one has survived to the sapling stage.
It's hard to say whether my clove sapling or my black pepper vine is my favorite plant. I am certainly proudest of raising my clove plant from seed. But I had wanted a black pepper plant since I was in college. I recently cut off a rooted section as a backup in case something bad happens to the main vine. My pepper suffers from spider mites all the time it is indoors.
I sure am glad somebody is reading this.... :^D
TNAndy