The Variegated Thumb

In December I posted about my new Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ plant.  This plant has been growing very successfully for me (this time around) for nearly 3 months, which is longer than I kept the other one alive.  Now I know the trick: don’t water it – ever.  Well, that’s a little harsh.  Don’t water it unless you’re certain you haven’t watered it for a month.

I imagine that trick will get modified slightly when I take the plant outdoors this summer, but for now, that works pretty well.

Recently I discovered that not only can I grow this plant, I can grow this plant like no one else can!  What I mean by that is that my plant has some weird mutations.

Mutation #1:

Two stems of my Xanadu are fused together all the way from the base of the stem to the first lobe of the leaves.  [Xanadu leaves have 6-8 lobes on each side.]

Fused Xanadu leaves and stems

I just checked the photo I took of my Xanadu when I bought it and I can see the 2 fused leaves.  So they were there from the beginning and just slipped my notice until now.

Mutation #2:

The other odd mutation is a small “leaflet” that is rising from the midrib near the base of one of the leaves.  I don’t think this leaflet was there from the beginning.

tiny Xanadu leaflet

Neither of these mutations appears anywhere else on the plant.  What are the odds that both of these two mutations would occur on the same plant?  [Don't try to calculate that.]

Mystery solved

I sent pictures and explanations of my two “mutations” to the International Aroid Society mailing list and received a response from none other than Julius Boos.  Julius first described Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ as a new species back in the Aroideana #25 in 2002.  He said the odd features are common deformations seen in this species and he suspects they are caused by the method by which the plant is propagated and produced.  Millions of these plants are grown by tissue culture and treated with different chemicals.  In volume 31 of Aroideana Julius describes the various chemical treatments that are used on ‘Xanadu’, their purpose and their suspected side effects.  It turns out that it is not all that rare for either of these deformations to be seen on Xanadus.

Julius said that in time (maybe years) my plant might grow out of the deformations.  I guess he is assuming that I don’t care for them.  However, I find them fascinating and the oddity just adds to the appeal of the plant.  I don’t really mind if my plant never grows out of them.

For Valentine’s I got my wife a traditional gift – a bouquet of flowers – but not a traditional selection.  I’m sure my wife likes red roses, but I think she appreciates creativity and originality a little more.  [At least, I sure hope she does, because she ended up with me.]

Dutch Iris

The first bouquet of flowers I got my wife might be considered a hodge podge.  It was a combination that I put together at the grocery store: purple Dutch Iris with silver Eucalyptus branches.   Call it a hodge podge, call it an arrangement; I just know that I liked the combination.  Speaking of combinations, my wife sometimes compliments me on my “outfit.”  I always say, “My what?”  Then she says, “Oh yeah, I meant to say that I like your random smattering of clothes.”  That’s more like it.  Guys don’t have outfits.  But I think guys can make flower arrangements for their wives.

I’ve liked Dutch Iris flowers for a long time and they were a favorite of my grandmother.  I was unfamiliar with the Eucalyptus branches, but I liked the contrast when I held them up to my Dutch Iris blooms.  So I wrapped them in tissue and took them to my future wife.  That was nearly 9 years ago.  (We’ve been married for almost 4 years.)

This year, I was trying to figure out what to get my wife for Valentine’s Day and whether I should resort to the oh-so-common gift of flowers or not.  I remembered the first flowers I gave my wife and decided I should try to find them again.  I called a local grocery-store florist (actually the same one I originally used) and asked about the availability of these two items.  They told me to try a different branch and the florist was very helpful.  She specially ordered 8 stems of Dutch Iris and a half-bunch (5 stems) Eucalyptus branches for me.

Valentine's bouquet for my wife - Dutch Iris and Eucalyptus branches

She loved them!

Doesn’t that title just draw you in?  No?

Well, maybe that explains why everyone was rolling their eyes when I opened this Christmas present from my parents (which I had requested, by the way).  The Japanese book “Toki No Hana” is a 45 page monograph (book with one subject) with 480 photographs of plants from the genus Asarum.

Toki No Hana cover

Although I have only grown one species from this genus, I greatly admire the genus and I have plans to start a small collection.  In the United States, Asarums are grown most often as groundcovers in woodland shade gardens in the north.  There are a couple of species native to North America.  You might run across their mottled foliage in the woods of the northern states and in Canada.

In southeast Asia, it’s a completely different matter.  For thousands of years, the Japanese have cultivated different varieties for their variable foliage and subtle, but beautiful blooms.  The foliage can be anywhere from solid green to almost completely silver.  The blooms vary from yellow with red centers to solid purple.  They are treasured plants, grown in small pots where they can show off their blooms most easily.  You see, the inflorescence of Asarums is at the base of them stem, literally lying on the surface of the soil (or pebbles in the pictures below).  One of the most recognized blooms looks like a little panda bear, being white and a deep purple that looks black.

The book was compiled by the Japanese Asarum Preservation Society and is a collection of pictures of all of the different varieties that have been cultivated there.  It is fascinating to see the variation.  Some are stunning and others are… well, not so pretty.  After all of the pictures are several pages of notes on the identification and origin of the different species and cultivars presented in the pictures.  Of course, the notes are in Japanese:

Notes on Asarum species - did you get all that?

Thankfully, my parents purchased this book from a US source (Asiatica Nursery) that had grabbed a bunch of these books in Japan and translated the notes to English.

Ah, much better. Asarum notes translated from Japanese to English by Barry Yinger.

This Spring I will be checking the Atwoods store here in town where I have purchased Asarum splendens in the past.  I will probably get three or four plants to start with.  Since Asarums are actually a cool climate plant and will do very well in dimly lit, cool rooms, my plan is to start my collection in earnest this Fall by purchasing several more varieties from Asiatica Nursery, an online retailer that specializes in Asarums.  They usually have about 70 different varieties available.  I already have a short list of the plants I plan to purchase:

Asarum kiusianum var. tubulosum - solid white flowers, low clumping leaves

It will be great fun to watch my plants mature into specimens as beautiful as those pictured in Toki No Hana and to see my plants produce some of these amazing inflorescences.

Stay tuned for pictures of my plants as I collect them!

A couple of month ago I was bragging to my in-laws that I have had a total of 500 visitors from 50 different countries visit my blog.  My father-in-law asked if I had told my faithful readers that “every time I try to take a shower I get attacked by your grapefruit tree.”  I’m pretty sure there were some expletives in there, but I removed them to keep my G rating.  Also, I don’t think he knew it was a grapefruit tree…

My grapefruit tree

The grapefruit tree has some pretty mean thorns all up the trunk and down all of the branches.  They are mean when they’re green and meaner when they’re dead and brown.  My parents-in-law have been kind enough to overwinter my grapefruit tree at their house the last 2 years, since they have lots of room and I have very little room.  My tree has been very happy there, because they also have a lot of large windows to let light in their house.

The grapefruit tree was a gift from my granddad who grew it from the seed of a grapefruit he bought at the grocery store.  He gave it to me 2 years ago and it was already about 4 1/2 feet tall.  It tends to lose some of its leaves in the fall and winter but gets bushy again each summer.  He recently gave me another grapefruit tree he had grown (this one only about 5″ tall).  Neither of the plants have bloomed yet, but hopefully they will be able to pollinate one another some day.

Bonsai is one of those plant sub-hobbies that really interests me.  I enjoy the simple, pristine artwork that combines nature and creativity to create something that, in the end, looks like a miniaturized version of nature itself.  Bonsai is a lot like some of the other plant sub-hobbies that I enjoy.  Just as I enjoy setting up terrariums and aquariums, little worlds of life – bonsai mimics nature on a small scale.

I haven’t really had much experience with bonsai, but I do have a couple of empty bonsai dishes.  Those containers are reminders of gifts that didn’t work out.  Twice I have received small Gardenias that were formed like bonsais and I lost them both.  I decided I simply don’t have the right growing conditions for Gardenias. Having these great shallow pots, I decided to try starting a bonsai myself.  After reading through a really informative, short book (Bonsai: 101 Essential Tips by Harry Tomlinson) with lots of pictures for inspiration, I thought I would like to try a small cotoneaster.  I knew that the local Lowe’s store carried these during the growing year.  I bought the smallest cotoneaster I could find in the fall of 2006.  I think it was in October, maybe.  I cut back the limbs and roots as I had been instructed in the book I read and potted the cotoneaster in my bonsai container.  Unfortunately, I think the little plant had already gone dormant and it was really not a good time to be doing any pruning.  I didn’t ever see any life out of him.

I decided the next time I try a bonsai, it will be from a seedling or a very young plant that is healthy.  Either that, or I will purchase a bonsai that has already been started.

So, when my mother-in-law gave me a handful of Jade plant pieces that could be rooted, I knew that I had a good candidate.  I chose the smallest little piece and potted him very carefully  in one of my bonsai containers.

My little Jade bonsai start

I have seen some really nice Jade bonsai trees in books and on the internet.  I hope to gradually learn more about the art of bonsai as this Jade plant slowly grows to size.  I can shape and prune the plant carefully and hopefully end up with a strong, thick-trunked little Jade bonsai tree in the future.

Jade bonsai inspiration - from bonsai4me.com