I believe this is a white spider lily; sorry I can't be more specific. I inherited this from a friend who was moving to Korea about 3 years ago. It sat terribly neglected in my front yard for about a year (in a garbage bag if I remember correctly-*cringes*-it was tucked away under a tree, nobody walking by could see it!) and finally found a home in its current pot on my sidewalk; this is the first time it's ever bloomed! Yay! I was afraid it was going to continue to get big and sprawly and never bloom, and I'm terribly happy to have been wrong.
Next up, I have my red amaryllis. I'm afraid the tag doesn't provide any more useful information than that. I broke down and bought this at the grocery store around December 22, and this is only the 2nd houseplant that I have purchased IN SEVEN YEARS. Seeing as how I live in Hawaii, you might be wondering, WHAT???? Fair enough. The thing is we have ants out here like crazy, and almost any plant you buy at a nursery is going to have ants in it, and I have been loathe to start a new ant colony in my house. I hemmed and hawed over this beauty, but in the end, it came from a grocery store, not a garden center, and the potting soil seemed to be pretty ant-free. And it was just so pretty! Up until December 31, it was just a flower bud atop a stem that was growing up, up, up like crazy. On January 1, I got my first glimpse of the blooms!
January 1, 2009
January 2, 2009
January 5, 2009-Notice how much growth there has been? See how the leaves are dark on the tip and lighter on the bottom? The darker parts are all that were above ground when I bought it, a mere two weeks earlier. That second stem was nothing more than a bud just barely peeking out of the dirt as well.
Janauary 10, 2009-Interesting note here-I had to untie the rafia so that I could attach the second stem to the support dowel. During all of this, the blooms at the top were getting shaken around a bit, and several droplets of red liquid came flying out from the dying bloom. I had a horrified moment when they landed on the white shirt I had soaking in the sink, but luckily they rinsed right out. I've never seen a flower bleed before!
January 13, 2009-For the record, there has been 2 feet of growth in just 3 weeks! This may be old news to some of you seasoned amaryllis growers, but this is blowing my mind! Also, sorry about the unflattering bathroom background, but that's where the plant is. What can I say?
January 15, 2009
Next up is my Purple Leafy Plant. I'm pretty sure that's it's official name, but I could be wrong. If anyone has any other suggestions, please feel free to let me know. I was fascinated by what appeared to be the growth mechanism on this plant-the little kidney-bean shaped lump on the stem-I've never seen anything quite like this before, and I wanted to see how it unfolded, literally. This one is a slow-mover, especially compared to my amaryllis.
November 21, 2008
December 28, 2008-It's been over a month, but finally! Something is happening! Sorry the image is blurry-I couldn't figure out how to get my auto-focus to focus where I wanted it. The kidney bean has split down the middle and each side is peeling back to reveal a dark mass of tiny leaves inside.
December 29, 2008
December 29, 2009-Close-up. You can see the stem starting to stand up and unfurl.
December 31, 2008-Fully emerged.
January 1, 2009-A bird's-eye view, and it kind of looks like a bird right now!
January 8, 2009-Completely emerged, all pretty and shiny and purple, ready to duplicate the whole process again with a brand new kidney bean already in place.
Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to see what's blooming in everyone else's gardens on this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens.
25 comments:
But that is a gorgeous amaryllis with that velvety red instead of the screaming orange red. You did luck out on that one and I love your first picture. A sturdy plant for sure.
I think there is nothing quite so exciting as watching a flower develop and unfurl. It always amazes me how much cell growth there can be overnight. I wonder why there are ants on the plants from the nursery. They usually are attracted to honeydew from aphids. Maybe a spray with some lightweight oil is the answer.
Layanee-Yes, I love the red! To be fair though, there were a lot of other ones that were in bloom when I got mine, so I knew what color I was getting. LOL-yes, that first one is definitely sturdy!
Lancashire rose-The ants aren't just on the plants; I could deal with that, like you said. I'm talking about nests of ants in the pots. Fun stuff.
Love seeing your amaryllis' progress--very cool you documented it. Plus it's such a beautiful red!
I've never seen anything remotely like your purple leafy thing--it's rather dramatic and fun.
I love watching the plants grow/emerge as you have shown.
Iris-Thank you!
Heirloomgardener-it's so easy to just take them for granted until one day you look and, BOOM!, there's a new flower, but when you stop and see what is going on it really is amazing. I'm really glad that I did this.
Hi...what a lovely series of photos...the kidney bean plant is a fantastic color! There it is with another bean ready to go! Marvelous and wonderful. Gail
Ha!-The Kidney Bean Plant-I might have to start calling it that. What do you suppose that would be in latin?
There is NOTHING blooming in my garden (I have a brown thumb) but I can appreciate wondrous blooms that other people have nurtured. I am suitably impressed.
Hi Dreamybee, what excitement you have on your play by play of the opening of the amaryllis, so glad your white shirt survived unscathed!, and the opening of the kidney bean. What a cool plant, looks kind of fernish, but I know nothing about tropicals. I am inspired by your photos in front of the mirror and will have to give that a try with the next orchid shot, thanks for the idea!
Frances at Fairegarden
Thanks for visiting my blog! I don't garden, but other than that, we may be soul sisters. Because I do have (and heart) a Kindle, I do covet (but don't have) the new Prius, I would leave my husband and children without hesitation for a one-nighter with Bono (not really, but yes, really) and I love celtic music (just got tickets for Celtic Woman in May in fact!). See? But gardening? Not so much. Everything I touch in the yard seems to come to a bad end.
I also enjoy watching a house plant slowly bloom and hope I have another amaryllis blooming by mid week.
Thanks for joining in for bloom day.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
I love your amaryllis. Mine's still just a little sprout. I'm hoping it will bloom for the February Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. We'll see!
Wow, that's really pretty!!!
Bernadette-I'm sorry to hear about your brown thumb, but I'm glad you are enjoying everyone else's blooms. If it makes you feel any better I have killed off my fair share of plants. Living in HI definitely makes me a better gardener though! LOL.
Frances-Yes, the mirror is a great way to capture the different angles on the plants, and if you stand off to the side a bit, the flash isn't a problem (and you don't have to prep yourself for the photo!).
Shana-Wow, we do have a lot in common! We can blame the gardening thing on locale. I'm sure it is much easier to kill things in Vancouver than it is in Hawaii!
Carol-Good luck on your amaryllis! I'm sure it won't disappoint, (no matter when it shows up!).
Linette-Thank you! If yours grows like mine did it should definitely be ready by then.
Ladytink-Not that I can take any real credit, but thank you!
My amaryllis is just about to bloom, so I've been watching it like a hawk! It's supposed to be Apple Blossom, but it looks suspiciously all red to me. We'll see when it blooms out! The orchid you admired on my website is called Balden's Kaleidoscope.
It's beautiful, whatever it is!
I love that hibiscus! I like seeing progression photos, too. Thanks for the comment on my blog. It's warmed up into the 30s and 40s.
Wow, you moved from Omaha to Hawaii? Do you love it there? Do you live near an ocean? That may not be an intelligent question, as I don't know the size of the islands, and I imagine no one is too far from a beach.
I love the progression pictures. I just started watering my amaryllis when I got home from vacation. The blooms will be a little late this year.
Thank you for the plant ID on my blog. Mahalo.
Thank you for posting pictures of blooming plants for those of us who live in frozen places!
I've been to various islands of Hawaii twice--once when I was 11 and once a couple of years ago--and I deeply envy you for living there.
Msrobin-I'm sure it will be beautiful, however it turns out!
Janet-Thank you.
Sue-I do love it here. We are just about a 10-minute walk from the ocean. O'ahu is a fairly small island, but everything is relative. We live about 30 miles from town (Honolulu) and everyone's reaction is always the same when they find that out: "Oh! So faaaar, yeah?" LOL. As you know, 30 miles on the mainland is nothing. Out here, you'd better pack a lunch, make sure you've got a good music selection, and check the battery charge on your phone before you head out!
Marie-Hi! Thank you, and you're welcome! It's so funny that I have to go around to other people's blogs to see pictures of Maui, but I've never been there myself, so thanks for sharing.
Jeanne-I'm glad you enjoy the pictures, and I do feel very lucky to live here. :)
Dreamybee, thanks for dropping by my blog. Until I got "Lizard Lips" (the plant, not me), I've never had an aloe bloom before. If you can find that kind, you could easily get it to bloom (I would think aloes would love Hawaii!).
I love the amaryllis. You lucked out big time!
That's cool to watch the bud evolution on your kidney bean plant!
Jean-"Lizard Lips" Hahahahaha! It's worth buying just for the name!
macGardens-I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks so!
Sorry to be so slow to return the visit, and thanks for yours!
Your amaryllis is wonderful! It's such fun to watch them grow so fast, isn't it? Mine are about 18 inches tall now and one bud is beginning to open.
Your purple leafy plant is really interesting, with the leaves popping out of the little kidney bean thing.
The lily must be blooming beautifully by now.
I'd love to be soaking up the warmth in Hawaii right now. We're having another snow/sleet storm today and school was closed.
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