WHATS LOOKING EXOTIC IN MAY 2014

Hi Joolz - I presume you mean the one behind the orange Streptosolen. I tend to put the descriptions below the picture - but many put it above.

Its a Fittonia - a small tender foliage plant. They come in a whole range of leaf colours, so I will try to remember to put a picture up tomorrow.

 

Sorry, im a gorpx

Thanks

 

Thats how ive felt all day,like a gorp and uncoordinated!,its prob just a lambrini demantia dayx

 

As promised - Fittonia verschaffeltti from S. American rainforests. These are small tender perennial foliage plants. They do flower, of course, but I suspect many people cut the flowers off as their charm is in the leaves. I bought one of each of the four varieties where I saw them on sale - but have no idea how many more varieties there are.

They seem to be a bit difficult to grow as they like very high humidity. I think they must love my garden room. When I go in in the morning my hygrometer reads 99% rh and the windows are dripping. The humidity obviously drops as the day warms up and the doors are opened. The RHS says they like to be above 15C all year - so I don't know how they will like overwintering at 10C.


Begonia rex. This was next to the Fittonia in the garden centre. This is another foliage plant, that's rather more common and easier to grow. I think it also comes in quite a few varieties.

 

Thanks PeteS,they are all lovely...off to google,i feel a trip to chatsworth garden centre coming on

 

Peter, hope you will not take offence at a correction but the bottom plant in your pic is Fittonia, a white variety, the others are Hypoestes phyllostachya, the Polka Dot plant whereas Fittonia is the Snakeskin plant. Hyopestes can be used as a garden (container plant) in Summer unlike he more delicate Fittonia.

 

That explains why i couldnt find a photo to match up

 

Many thanks for that Strongy. Both Fittonia and Hypoestes are new to me. I bought them a couple of months ago and thought that I was told that they were Fittonia. They were all together on the same bench. Perhaps I just picked up the Fittonia to ask and assumed that the others were the same.

Its always nice to get prompted into Googling a bit more - that way you learn. I see that they are pretty close relatives both in the same subtribe of the Acanthus family, and both seem to like high humidity.

 

I must confess that to my eyes chimeras and variegated plants just look unwell. There are a few exceptions or plants that I tolerate this characteristic in because the flowers are just so good, but on the whole not for me really. I do appreciate the challenge aspect of growing your selections well though - good luck.

Here's something that I was looking forward to, and if I'm being honest I'm a little disappointed with - Isoplexis isabelliana...................


The flowers are small (maybe because they're young plants in a relatively small pot?) and the colour is not great either (although the buds on a couple of plants look as if they have a bit more potential in that respect). We'll see what happens to the others and next year, but if they carry on like this they're on their bikes!

 

That's nice LongK. If its unusual, I don't think it has to be as showy as the common plants that people grow.

If we only wanted showy we would all be growing Petunias and Geraniums, which reminds me that I must pot my Petunias on today.

I must agree with you about variegated plants - for some reason they have never appealed to me. A while ago, Pete very kindly sent me some tubers of Canna Cleopatra, which is a bold chimera, and I love that.

I wouldn't normally buy coloured foliage plants, but I have this idea of creating a garden in my conservatory, and am still looking for ideas. I think the main backdrop for an exotic garden room has to be various types of green foliage with some colour to act as a foil. The colour can come from flowering plants or coloured foliage - they are still being evaluated.

 

I certainly don't dislike it, just expected a little more. One will be planted out in a week or two, and the others potted on.

I reckon that you're spot on there. With growing anything "exotic", as in something out of it's natural habitat, I think that it needs to be busy foliage wise.

 

Bone hardy but not seen often enough is Fritillaria camchatcensis................

 

Lovely LongK - totally new one to me.


How's this for exotic - Strophanthus preussii. Its a tropical climber. This is a picture from the internet, but I have just received seeds today - bought on e-bay.

I only know two things about this :-
1) There are not many people left growing this, and
2) The sap is poisonous and was used to coat the tips of poisoned arrows.

I can't help wondering if there isn't a connection.

 

A late one and I certainly recommend seeking it out Peter.

I keep looking at them and if I still had a conservatory then I would have.

I have two Thunbergia gregorii seeds that have germinated so far, so that's the heir and the spare sorted. If any more germinate do you want one @PeterS ?