You are browsing our members' comments

Thank you Jane, and Happy new year to you as well, hoping for no more tripps, but only good things :)

Happy New Year Klahanie.

Amazing to see flowers coming straight from the stem like that!

This is how my plants looked in late summer.

https://gardinonursery.com/product/medinilla-gregori-hambali-4-pot/

Andy,this might be the first winter that we never had a single low temperature in the 30's. That's wild for the eastbay. At least so far so good. Long range is for lows only in the 40's.

Happy New Year, Klahanie!

Happy New Year to you and your family Karen.

Amazing bird.

Interesting.

SBG, I hope that 2025 will be much happier than the last year.I am wishing you all the best and looking forward to see your garden blooming again in a few months.

🥂 🥳 Here's to a fabulous new gardening year!

Sounds like you have done some hard work in Toria’s garden over the holiday period. I hope you still have some energy left to tackle your own. I managed about 3 hours in mine on 29th, just tidying really. I did feel better for it when I went in to eat. Being in all day does not agree with me. Anyway Best Wishes for 2025 & I hope no more losses from your friends & family.

Linda, thank you for your nice comment, I am wishing you all the best in 2025.

Wishing you all the best in 2025 Bushbernie.

A great photo and a beautiful bird Klahanie. Happy New Year to you and your family. x

So sorry to hear about all the loss you and your family experienced last year. I can understand why you're not necessarily looking back on 2024 with fondness.

I'm with you on that one. It was a particularly hard year for some members of my family as well, and I'm pleased that's all behind us now.

You've obviously made a huge improvement in Toria's and Dan's garden already and I'm sure they will appreciate the results greatly.

Best of luck with that! If the cross is successful, the result would be amazing.

Sounds like Krull is a tough, independent cat.

Exactly! That's why I often mention the soil type here and the lack of rain water for so much of the year.

Krull is a little frustrating - he wants to be outside all night, even when it rains.
I have been trying to cross the Hippeastrum with a double. Double hippies don't always produce pollen, but I have one that did, so hopefully in a few years there will be a result.

Oh yes, it receives lots of water. It’s in the middle of my pineapple apple patch.

I wished I had moved it during summer. It would be a lot bigger by now.

Wow! That’s impressive! I really don’t think this tree will ever grow outside in the SF Bay Area. It really doesn’t like even frost-free chilly weather.

Happy New Year 🎆! Have a terrific 2025!

So beautiful! I love this tree! The fragrance is wonderful! I’ve posted several pics of this tree, but it’s not as common as Cassia leptophylla (Gold Medtallion tree).

Happy New Year Bush Bernie :)

Thanks! It is beautiful! I’ve been trying to find this plant again for years. I purchased it at a big box store. It used to be very common.

I don’t really know what the name is, I was convinced it was Ctnanthe Burle Marxii, but now I’m not so sure.

It really is amazing, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s all about soil and water and not climate.

Feverfew, I've got loads of sunshine I would love to share with you. At this time of the year, I actually feel delighted when the grey clouds roll in and the sky becomes overcast.

Love it! The colour at the back of the leaves is eye-catching.

Just popped in to see if there was anything to look at, before going to bed (I'm not staying up for the NY - it's too long and boring)
I see you've been busy Eileen, and it looks as if it's going to continue into 2025

Sorry you've lost so many friends, each year brings its joys and sadnesses. I always feel grateful for having had past family and friends (and pets) in my life, and hope I can appreciate and love the ones I've still got as much as I can.

Happy New Year ! :)

I still have a pair in a 10 or 15 gallon pot that I grew from seed. They are starting to look like something. I doubt I will ever plant them out. But, never say never I guess.

l love your foliage plants too. That Monstera is beautiful & enormous. We have a Golden Rain tree in our local park, flowers in late Spring, but I’m not sure whether it is the same species as yours. I’m pining for some sun. It’s cold, damp & windy here, so I haven’t been out today, going stir crazy in all day! Happy New Year anyway.

I think you’re very correct. Long dry seasons are not good for many tropical plants. Most genera in the Marantaceae family are from tropical rainforests. They need a lot of water when in the ground.

I had some beautiful Ctnanthe ‘Burle Marxii’ (which I never knew the correct name) growing under my Phoenix roebellenii (pygmy date palms) for years. It died during a long drought when we were under strict water restrictions.

Here’s a pic. Of course, the name is incorrect. 😂

https://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/194586-ctenanthe-oppenheimiana-cv-quadricolor-giant-bamburanta/all

Many Alocasia species look very similar. It can be very difficult to tell them apart. I still can’t distinguish the differences between Alocasia macrorrhizos and Alocasia odora. They look like the same plant to me. 😂

I did think about using this as a Christmas card but didn't have enough time to follow through. Maybe next year.

Yes, good spotting. That is a hawkmoth, but this species is commonly called the Bee Hawkmoth here.

The caterpillars of this Hawkmoth are causing a lot of damage out in the garden, as usual. At this time of the year, they love to feast on my Peace Lilies and Impatiens plants. They pretty much devour almost the whole plant.

Thank you Janey. Wishing you health and happiness in the new year.

Calatheas can be temperamental for me as well. Not entirely sure why both the Marantas and Calatheas behave so, but I suspect it's to do with the contrast between our very heavy, but short wet seasons and the long dry seasons that follow. Some plants handle it fairly well, while others do not.

It's fascinating to me how places can appear to be so similar in conditions and yet, plants don't necessarily behave in the same fashion. They'll thrive in one place but struggle a bit in the other.

That is pretty much the story of my particular corner of the dry tropics here.

Yes, I was thinking about the Giant Taro, sorry. I didn't pay enough attention to the title.

Yes they do take a long time to become established at my place. My garden sits on a hillside, on the foothills of this outlying rural suburb, where the soil is quite poor. It's decomposed granite with clay patches, and the long dry seasons don't help much either.

In other areas of north Queensland, eg. in the wet tropics areas, where the soil is much richer and the rain falls fairly regularly throughout the year, they don't take long to become established at all.

That would make a smashing Xmas card BB. I notice you have a Hummingbird Hawkmoth on one of your photos. If we are lucky we have the odd one up here in July, ours has a spotted tail..

I'm sorry I missed this BB, but I wish you happy holidays and all good wishes for 2025. That looks very inviting to sit there..

More patience than me Shirley! lol

...and to youxx

I do like them when they flower, but most of the year they look kind of awful. They grow much better in Central and Northern California. Maybe they like it cooler and more rain. I haven’t figured out why they don’t do that well here in summer. The climate of San Diego is very similar to the Canary Islands where this species is native.

Have a good New Year xxx

Yes Janey, we have snowdrops budding, and the small tree of our neighbour's is beginning to shoot.

Thanks Janey for your good wishes and yes, let's all hope for a good gardening year in 2025. We have snowdrops budding, catkins forming, and I think everything is going to be early this coming season.

That's exactly what I'm loving about the foliage plants, Hywel. They add a lot of interest.

Staying out of the sun between the hours of 10.00 am and 4.00 pm is one of the best ways to cope with the heat and humidity. Spending some of that time in air-con is also very helpful.

Wow! I’m so shocked to hear that in your beautiful, tropical climate! I never thought of Maranta leuconeura as a difficult plant to grow. It’s the easiest of the tropical species to grow outside in San Diego. Ctenanthe, Stromanthe genera (Maranta family) can grow easily outside here if given water, but most Calathea species die pretty fast in winter. Although, the San Diego Zoo has a good selection of Calathea growing outside in protected shade.

This Alocasia species typically stays pretty small, only 4 ft…but, the very common Alocasia macrorrhizos can grow into a monster plant to 15 ft (4.6 m).