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I have to admit, I’m not crazy about Star Wars, but I am a huge Star Trek fan! I have every episode of every series and every movie. I purchased them all on iTunes and while I prefer physical media, it does make it very convenient. But anyway, I still can’t ignore today – Star Wars Day!
May the Fourth Be With You! |
| I’m a huge African Violet fan. I mean, I even dedicated an entire menu item on this website detailing their history. Back in the early 2000’s I ran a mail order business and raised over five thousand African Violets in my home. So I’m pretty much an expert when it comes to their care. To the right you see three African Violets I purchased on eBay almost two months ago. On the left is Ness’ Orange Pekoe, on the upper right is Wrangler’s Dixie Celebration, and on the lower right is Ann. The lady who sold them to me was clueless about proper care, especially lighting. They were almost entirely green because they were starving for light. You can see the variegation absolutely burst from their centers now that they are getting the proper light. Soon they will be outstanding! |  |
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Speaking of African Violets, my historically significant “#32” has its second blossom opening today. This was one of the very first ten African Violets that differed from the original wild violet enough that they began what would one day be an avalanche of tens of thousands of varieties in color, variegation, size and growth habit. They were introduced in 1935 meaning that was 90 years ago and here we are in 2025 and it’s still being propagated and shared among enthusiasts. This one was well-known for having a very uniform and symmetrical spread to its leaves, with new leaves emerging from the center pointed upward and then laying flat as they matured. |
| A couple days ago I took a whole bunch of cuttings of my Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya). It will readily grow back from the stumps I left. The cuttings are in water – as I read they are very easy to root in water. I have white, pink and red. If they “take” and form roots, I’ll likely pot them up in my “propagation station” and prepare them for sale on eBay once they have developed and bushed out over the summer. |  |
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The second flower has opened on my Porcupine Tomato (Solanum pyracanthum) and it looks like tomorrow a third will open up just beneath them. I woke up at 5 AM and they were already full open, while when I went to bed at 9 PM the night before, they were still closed. So the “magic” must happen in the middle of the night. I’m really looking forward to these producing fruit and setting seed for me to prepare and sell on eBay. Seeds are great to sell because you can offer them any time, as opposed to live plants. |
| My Donkey Ear Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri) is a fun one to grow. It his really big, long and pointed leaves that tend to lie fairly close to the ground. On the very tip of each leaf it produces one, occasionally two or three, plantlets. On large plants, the plantlets themselves can be as big as a fist while still attached to the parent leaf. A large number of the Kalanchoes produce, or can produce, plantlets on their leaves. Some do it constantly while others need to be coaxed into it. For example, some will produce lots of plantlets on the leaf margins, but only when the leaf is removed from the mother plant and placed on damp sand. |  |
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I can’t remember exactly when, but I learned about “viviparous” (life from air) Kalanchoes a very long time ago. To me it was fascinating to see little plantlets just appearing along the edges of leaves. I could knock them off and onto soil in a pot and within just a few days those plantlets would be well on their way to becoming full sized plants themselves. It also makes it exceptionally easy for me to share them with other people too. Just give them several plantlets, scatter them on the ground, keep the ground moist – and you just couldn’t go wrong with them! I don’t ever recall someone failing to get the plantlets to grow. no matter how brown their thumb. |
| My prized possession – Nepenthes alata, the tropical pitcher plant. Though I must force myself to remain skeptical of the name for a time. I grew what I thought was an alata for three years only to discover it was actually a ventrata. The two look nearly identical until the plants are a year or two old and then the pitchers they produce have some distinct though still subtle differences. I can hardly wait for you to see the gorgeous pitchers this plant will produce. I used to feed the one I had bits of unsalted pork and turkey and occasionally fish food flakes. |  |
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I’ve come to the conclusion that two tiny Venus Flytraps growing near the base of my Sawtooth Flytrap are not offshoots of its root system. These are most definitely seedlings. Apparently the guy who sold me the Sawtooth had lots of other Flytraps and so it’s very likely that seeds ended up in this ones’ pot. The reason I’m sure these are seedlings is that if they were offshoots, they would very quickly produce large adult leaves. Only seedlings remain this tiny for a good year or two. But this is ok. Free bonus! I’m happy to see Flytrap seedlings. |
| My Dente (Maroon Sawtooth) Venus Flytrap is still fairly small, but certainly a whole heck of a lot larger than that itty bitty Sundew seedling in the lower left corner! I’ve no idea what species it is yet, as it appeared to come from the seller as a hitchhiker. Since the seller generally offers his plants for sale on eBay to new enthusiasts, it’s likely an easy to grow variety like the Cape Sundew or Spoonleaf Sundew. But only time will tell and the suspense while waiting is half the fun. Notice how incredibly tiny Sundew seedlings are though. Wow! |  |
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I have four different types of Callisia repens: upper left Variegated Bolivian Gold, lower left Pink Lady, upper right Tortuga and lower right Bolivian Gold. All of them are wonderful in hanging baskets and as ground covers (in warm climates). They grow very quickly and readily take root anywhere they touch the ground. Cuttings are just as easy – cut them off the parent plant and lay them on damp soil, or remove the lower leaves and stick them in damp soil. Or just stick them in a small cup of water. They’ll produce loads of roots in days. They do bloom, but it is infrequent and their flowers are very small and not particularly interesting. |
| Yup, I still have my Mango seedling. It’s seemingly quite content in its little metal bowl of water. I keep planning to toss it, but it is not taking up much space yet or growing beyond the first four leaves it produced. Mangos require a tropical environment and take several years before they start producing fruit, both of which is an issue in my Oklahoma apartment. I really only germinated it after seeing some really cool timelapse videos online of Mango seeds germinating. It is pretty cool. I also like how the cotyledons in the bowl have also turned green. |  |