The Variegated Thumb

I have already written about the MyFolia website, which is a wonderful plant networking community.  The single most enjoyable aspect of MyFolia was one that I initially underestimated – the photos of my plantings.

When I first started building my catalog on MyFolia, I found that most of the plants I have in my collection were not in the database of MyFolia.  Since the MyFolia database of plants is created by the users, I attribute the missing plants to the group of people who have used MyFolia so far.  I would gander that many of them are traditional “gardeners,” which (to me) means that they grow vegetables and flowers and things in their yards.  I consider myself more of a “plant enthusiast” and “plant collector.”  For me, the gardening side is a small fraction of my plant hobby.  Most of my plants reside in pots and most must live half the year indoors.  Another portion of my plants reside in my aquariums.  So far not a single one of my aquatic plants was already in the MyFolia database.

So from the get-go, I was having to add each one of my plants to the database, as well as to my list of plantings.  I give great credit to the developers of MyFolia, because this was an easy and quick task.  But as I was focused on adding the correct genus and species names for all of my 160+ plants, I neglected to invest any time in uploading pictures.  Besides, MyFolia requires you to upload pictures to a photo-sharing community (Flickr, PicasaWeb or a couple of other options).  Since I didn’t already have an account, I put that task on the back burner.

It was just a couple of days later before I decided I should probably open a Flickr account so that I could post some of my plant pictures to MyFolia.  Boy, am I glad I did.  My “Plantings” (what MyFolia calls your list of plants) is now a wonderful photo directory of the plant list that I also have listed here on The Variegated Thumb.  The MyFolia developers were pretty smart in using an existing photo sharing community, because they can just show a snapshot from Flickr, without having to store the pictures on their own servers.  The only downside is that to see the full picture, you must click the link and go to the Flickr website.

On LibraryThing (a website for book lovers – very similar to MyFolia), you can look at your “Library” (book collection) in list form or cover form.  I found that it was really fun to look at all the books I have read in cover form.  I thought this would also be a really cool feature for my plant collection, to see the little uploaded snapshots of my “plantings” (analogous to my “library” on LibraryThing).  I have written the developers to suggest this feature for MyFolia, so we’ll see what happens.

So, the cool thing is that I have been thinking about taking a picture of every plant in my collection and building a photo album of my plants, to accompany the My Plant List page on this blog.  But the problem with that method is updating the photo album would be a hassle.  Using MyFolia will be much easier to add a new plant and a new picture, so the work is done for me already.  Check out my plantings on MyFolia here.

My Plantings on MyFolia

Also, MyFolia has a Wish List, which is just like my “Plant Wants” page.  So I have started transferring my Plant Wants list to MyFolia, as well.

I purchased my first Dracaena (Dracaena marginata) a couple of years ago.  It was one of those small pots at Wal-Mart with 3 or 4 shoots in it.  I think I divided them up in as many other pots and let them grow with some other plants.

About a year later my mother-in-law was so kind as to give me her mature (about 4 foot tall) half-dead Dracaena deremensis ‘Warneckii.’  There wasn’t really anything wrong with it except that it had been sitting in a sunny window and not watered for a month or two.  After a little bit of care and some shadier conditions it popped out rather nicely and even grew two new shoots from the soil.  I was pretty excited about that, because I know that you can “fill out” a Dracaena by chopping it’s head off and letting multiple shoots grow from the top of your cut.  But I hadn’t done any unnecessary chopping and new plants were growing.  I decided to add my Dracaena marginatas from their various locales to my newly acquired, no longer half-dead Dracaena.  This pot was starting to look lush and full.

Dracaena deremensis ‘Warneckii’ shoots (foreground) and Dracaena marginata (left rear)

My Dracaena collection - posed in the front yard for lighting purposes.

It wasn’t long before I saw another color variety of the Dracaena deremensis ‘Warneckii’ – the lemon lime variety, which has yellow where the other has white.  Of course, I bought the pot of small starts and added them to the potted Dracaena forest, as well.

close-up of Dracaena deremensis ‘Warneckii’ leaf

close-up of Dracaena deremensis ‘Warneckii Lemon Lime’ leaf

And soon I found what looked like another color variation of my original Dracaena marginata.  Whereas the D. marginata has an overall dark green and red coloration, this variety was lighter, with some pink and white.  Now that I have researched the plant a little, I think it is actually Cordyline australis ‘Pink Stripe.’  This really surprises me, because it looks just like my Dracaena marginata, except for color.  What surprises me even more is that the genera Dracaena and Cordyline are not even in the same botanical family.  How can this be!?!  I hope the botanical gods can forgive me for tainting my “Dracaena Forest” with a Cordyline…  The good news is that Dracaena australis is a synonym for Cordyline australis, which basically means that the Cordyline which I mistook for a Dracaena is commonly mistaken as such.  Dracaena australis is not a valid botanical name, but at least others have seen the same likeness and note it’s odd botanical placement in the Cordyline genus.  Not all flora and fauna fall into the neat little categories that mankind tries to use for them.

[Update:  Mr Subjunctive assures me this new plant is also a Dracaena - not a Cordyline - just as I had suspected.  The plant is probably Dracaena marginata 'Bicolor.'  I shall have to change my plant listing.]

Dracaena marginata

Cordyline australis 'Pink Stripe', which looks like a Dracaena to me. Another Dracaena marginata variety - possibly D. marginata 'Bicolor'

Just a week ago I came upon another variety, Dracaena reflexa ‘Anita,’ which looks just like the two above, except that it is solid green.  The plant was 4 separate stalks about 3 feet tall in a large pot and selling for just $3.  Of course I bought it and plan to move the shortest of the 4 plants into my Dracaeana forest planting.

Dracaena reflexa 'Anita'

I would like to add maybe one more color variety to this somewhat crowded pot, but I haven’t found the right one yet.  I was thinking there was a dark red solid Dracaena available, but I haven’t found one since I took on this project.  It could be that it was a mislabeled Cordyline that I saw.  I’ll have to keep my eyes open.

A couple of years ago my (lucky) parents went on vacation to Hawaii.  They returned with two cane cuttings for me to try and start.  The first plant was a plumeria, which grew quite easily (after a slow start) from it’s cutting.  The other plant was a Ti plant (Cordyline), which did not grow and eventually rotted, I believe.  My mom brought back one of each for herself as well and had the same luck as I did.  Ever since, I have looked admiringly at Ti plants, wondering “what if…?”

My new Ti Plant - Cordyline sp.

Usually Lowe’s gets Ti Plants during the summer season and has them in big 8-12″ pots for $10-20 a piece.  Never wanting to spend that much money, I haven’t bought one before.  But just recently I ran across a 6″ pot at Lowe’s with three separate shoots of Ti plant for only $3.99.

Cordyline foliage coloring (pink, green and dark green/red)

I think this plant is probably a different species from the cane cutting brought back from Hawaii, since the stalk of this plant is much smaller.  But it could just be that this is a younger plant.

I haven’t been able to get a correct species ID on this plant yet.  The leaves are much more slender than the common Cordyline terminalis and Cordyline fruticosa.  Maybe all that will change with maturity, though.

Any ideas?

My father-in-law is an amateur bicyclist who has taken on a couple of tough cycling challenges.  During the fall of 2007, he decided to bike across the country, starting on an Atlantic beach in Virginia and finishing on a Pacific beach in Los Angeles, California 45ish days later.  He also biked part of the Tour de France, but this post is not about that trip.

While my father-in-law was biking across the country, my mother-in-law spent each day driving their RV to their next stop.  She would pave the way and setup camp for the night.  When my father-in-law arrived at the campsite, he would eat, crash (sleep) and then get up to do it all over again.  [Of course, on a cross-country cycling trip, there were a couple of non-sleeping crashes too.   At least one of those left a mark.]  At some point, he actually reached water again in California.

My wife, her brother, his girlfriend and I flew to California as a surprise, to see my father-in-law finish his cross-country expedition.  We greeted him at the Santa Monica pier when he arrived on his bike the final day.  We stayed a couple of extra days in LA at my wife’s uncle’s house so as to make a little trip of the outing.  Living in LA, he has all sorts of great things growing in his yard that simply cannot be grown year-round outdoors in Oklahoma.

There are a number of Bird of Paradise planted along his house and a beautiful olive tree in the front yard.  He also has orchids sitting out on his porch in the shade.  They apparently love the weather and are very low maintenance for him.  [I have never dared to put any of my orchids outside.]  Before leaving I noticed there were some young saplings coming up around his olive tree.  My mother-in-law and I dug up a couple of them and she brought them back home to Oklahoma in the RV.  They were each about 8 inches tall I would say.

The parent tree to my little olive. I took this picture on a different trip to LA, remembering that I needed a picture of the "daddy" tree. Unfortunately I was only there at night, so this lousy picture will have to do for my sapling's inspiration for now.

So now I have a celebrity olive tree.  Why a celebrity?  Well, because it’s from LA.  I feel like I should knock before entering the room where I keep it.  And I probably should water it a little more frequently.  In fact, for a celebrity, it should have a much fancier pot.  Okay, forget the whole celebrity thing – it’s just an olive tree.

After traveling to Italy during the summer of 2007, I have had great admiration for olive trees and their splendidly silver leaves.  I had been thinking that I would like to have a specimen of my own.  I knew I would have to keep mine in a pot, since it would freeze out here in the winter.  But I figured I could grow it the way that many people grow ficus trees as specimen trees in pots.  At some point it would reach about 6 foot in height and look really nice.  I never imagined I would dig up a little olive tree for free.

However, my promising little olive tree has not grown very quickly.  I think maybe olive trees are normally slow growers, but I’ll be well into my 40′s before my specimen reaches a respectable (non-embarrassing) height.  [By the way, I'm currently 26.]  For now I will just have to post his puny picture on the internet so that anyone in the world can see him and laugh at his puniness.  How’s that for motivation!?!

My puny little olive sapling. The short, wide stem to the left is the original plant. It promptly died and new shoots arrived from the roots.

One day (crossing my fingers) he will become large and strong like his father (the top pictured olive tree, not me) – and hopefully not be lopsided.

I have admired the genus Anthurium for quite a while.  I remember the first one I saw and thought that it must be a peace lily with a magenta bloom.  Little did I know, this wasn’t one of those painted plants like the glittery blue or purple Poinsettias you sometimes see around Christmas.  It didn’t take long before I started seeing Anthuriums everywhere.  I’ve found most plants to be that way.

There seems to always be several of these plants at Lowe’s, but they are usually priced near $10 and because of their persistent availability, I have kept them on my “to-purchase-one-day” list, rather than my “must-buy-today” list.  I think I officially became an Aroid collector in October, when my collection grew to more than 40 plants.  With Anthuriums being one of the Aroid genera, it would only be a matter of time before I would own one… or two… or three…

Recently I made a return at Lowe’s and received a giftcard with about $12 credit.  I promptly went to see what plants would be coming home with me.  Lowe’s had the usual 2″ houseplants from Angel Brand (which I really enjoy).  They also had some great orchids in bloom, but I haven’t had much luck with orchids lately.  And, as usual, they had 4 or 5 Anthuriums in bloom (for about $8).  I took a look at them and decided – today is the day!

My new Anthurium amnicola

My Anthurium is markes as Anthurium amnicola.  It has the common magenta colored inflorescence and shiny dark green leaves.

I have been reading Deni Brown’s book “Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family,” in which there was a good overview of the variation of vein patterns (venation) of Aroid leaves.  At one point, it was mentioned that in some particular genera, the veins do not reach from the primary vein (midrib) to the edge of the leaf.  Instead, there is a separate vein that runs parallel to the leaf edge that “catches” all of the veins from the midrib.  My new Anthurium demonstrates this unique venation. [Here is a really good guide for leaf characteristics.  And more information here.]

Anthurium amnicola venation

“Is this rare?” you ask.

No, I don’t think so.  In fact, there are some very common plants and trees that have this “collection” vein.

“Does it have a purpose?”

I don’t know.  Probably.  I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t have a purpose.

“Well, why did you mention it?”

I don’t know.  But it is an interesting subtlety of this plant that I observed and thought I would pass it along.

Now that I have one species of Anthurium, I have to get more.  It’s the official law of collectors.  One is not enough.  I already have my eyes set on another species, which I saw at the Oklahoma City Myriad Gardens.  [Check out all of these color varieties.]

Pale purple Anthurium at the OKC Myriad Gardens