Clerodendrum Ugandense

At the risk of repeating myself, this is one of my absolute favourites!

And to think that I almost passed this up in the garden centre because I thought that someone had stuck plastic butterflies on it!!

lol.....Gorgeous.....

And a prolific grower and bloomer too.

You like your macro shots don't you? Just as well you are good at them :-) Nice plant and lovely flower.

Thank you - this was just taken on the manual setting with the standard lens Fractal. This was a young flower with the filaments not fully formed (all my other photos have fully formed filaments). If any seeds come to anything would you like some? I have several pods forming, but they seem to reach a point and drop off.

I would love some, thank you. I'll await an update on any potential pods :-)

Cheers!

Hey Meanie, I would like some seeds as well!!! ;o)

If I can get some to ripen I'll share!

That's nice, thanks. This is my favourite of yours after the Egret Orchid.

As you may have gathered from the number of photos that I've posted of it, it's one of my favourites too!
Don't hold your breath on the seeds though, they keep dropping off!
If not, how about this......

http://www.growsonyou.com/garden/show_garden_item/24011-bluebell-creeper

Should go well in your climate!

Are you telling me you have seeds for the bluebell-creeper?
I'm probably going to order seeds for Clerodendrum Ugandense. I haven't seen this plant around anywhere.
I have two peonies sitting in London at the moment, (it was cheaper to have them sent to my cousins house and for her to send them to me)...
This spring should be full of surprises.

I will have seeds for the Sollya about May/June probably. The fruits have set, but they're slow to ripen.
Put Top Tropicals into google, they list C.ugandense seeds!

Tacca chantrieri, Black Bat Flower, Bat Lily
Check this flower out.

I looked on top Tropicals earlier.....no seeds at moment. But you gave me an idea, I can have my friend from the states send some to me ;o)))))

Beat you to the Tacca Alexandra - I have some seeds in the propagator already! They've been in three weeks now, but apparently take between one and nine months to germinate!

Yeap you did beat me to it. It looks great...what color did you get? The black?
Yes they take long to germinate, read that part. I have 16 peony seeds germinating. Let's see how many pop up.

Had to have the black one! The box said fifteen seeds - I counted forty three! Sown about half and will sow the rest after Christmas.

Forty three, bloody hell you are going to have a crop over there.

They have to germinate first. Then about three years to flower or there abouts!

Meanie:

Great photo! You would have been in 7th Heaven at the San Diego Zoo...I saw a row of a dozen Clerodendrum ugandense 12 foot/ 4 meters tall, blooming very heavily 2 days ago.

Sweet!!
Your challenge now is to get a photo of the Bat flower for Alex and myself!

Meanie, I was just reading a blog about our Tacca. A person living in the Philippines states....they grow in my garden like weeds!!!!!!!!!!!!! Green with envy over here.

I've found out that they'll take a light frost too - very useful over here!

Are you not keeping your forty three Tacca's in your conservatory? ;o)
That's strange considering they live in the tropics but good for you.
I'm keeping this one in my house!

Crikey, give us a chance! I'm still waiting for them to germinate!
Bit of a dilemma about care, as they like (must have?) good air circulation!

Meanie:

Bat flower is not an easy grow: It's ULTRA-TROPICAL!

I'm sure there might be some in private gardens...however, it's definitely not a common plant here. I'll see if there's one growing in the Botanical Building in Balboa Park - but even in there the morning low temps usually can go down below 55F/13C in early January (it's not heated, because it's a big lath house).

It's not an easy germinator either at anything up to nine months! It's worth a go though, just as a curiosity. The biggest problem that I foresee is ensuring that the air is not too still over the winter months.

Meanie:

I've seen this plant growing outside in Hawai'i. It is interesting, beautiful when in bloom.

You'll have to keep us updated with the progress of your seeds. From what I've read it does need good air circulation. A good little fan can remedy that.