Canna Lily - Canna x generalis - update

I originally wrote that my canna lilies weren't doing very well. But apparently I was wrong, since one of them has now grown a beautiful flower.

Miniature Pine Tree - Crassula tetragona - update

I posted before about how I wasn't sure this plant had taken root. Apparently it has, because it has two new leaves. It's hard to see the difference in the pictures but I'm posting them anyway.

Before:
After:

White Anne - Fittonia - update

It turns out this plant will let me know when it needs water. I walked into my room this morning and saw it looked like this:

I gave it water, and 20 minutes later it looked like this:


And a few hours later, it looks like this:

Jade plant - Crassula argentea - update

All of my Jade Plants have grown a little bit since just a week ago. Some pictures, with helpful demonstrative effects added:

Last week:
This week:

Last week:
This week:

Last week:


This week:

Yay!

Jade plant - Crassula argentea

Jade plants are native to South Africa. They need a reasonable amount of sunlight, and not too much water since they're succulents and adapted to a dry climate. They're evergreens.

I split these plants when I first got them, so now I have a number of separate plants.





All doing well so far!

Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta (vascular plants, as opposed to non-vascular plants like mosses, hornworts, and liverworts) (on a side note -- now I totally want to grow hornworts and examine their slime pores)
Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants, or angiosperms -- though there's some debate about how (and whether) to treat this as a division)
Class: Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons, i.e. plants whose seed has two embryonic leaves instead of one; again, there's some debate about how to define this class or whether it should exist at all)
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Saxifragales (I love that name) under the new classification systems; until recently, these plants were placed in the order Rosales (a great order that has given the world roses, peaches, cannabis, and hops) under the old classification systems
Family: Crassulaceae (apparently all plants in this family are succulents)
Genus: Crassula
Species: C. ovata
(I need to work on learning more about the APG II system to see whether I should be giving up on listing all that stuff above.)

Trailing Jade - Senecio jacobsenii

Trailing Jade and Jade Plant look like they're closely related (except for that part about how one's trailing and the other isn't), but they're actually in separate families. And from different parts of Africa. Jade Plants are native to South Africa but Trailing Jade is from farther north and east, in the area of Tanzania. They are also succulents, and so need sun and not too much water.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales (an order containing many plants that seem nothing like trailing jade - e.g. sunflowers and daisies)
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Senecio (even at this level there are both succulents and non-succulents, which I found surprising)
Species: S. jacobsenii

Small Red Carpet Stonecrop - Crassula radicans

The "Red Carpet" part of this plant's name comes from the red coloration on the leaves, which you can see from the photo is . . . not there. So either my plant had an incorrect marker on it, or the red is yet to emerge. I will be keeping an eye on this.
This is another succulent, so needs sun and not too much water.
This plant, like so many of my other succulents, is native to South Africa. Apparently South Africa is some sort of succulent factory.

Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Crassulaceae
Genus: Crassula
Species: C. radicans

Miniature Pine Tree - Crassula tetragona

I accidentally ended up with a small piece of a Miniature Pine Tree plant in the pot that one of my Jade Plants came in. Since -- through mechanisms I am still attempting to investigate -- succulents are typically capable of taking root when a leaf is planted, I thought I would plant the little piece of tree and see whether I could get it to grow. I can't tell whether it's actually taken root without pulling it up, which I'd rather not do, but since it's been a couple weeks and the leaves haven't started to crinkle or wither, I suspect it has rooted. Part of the purpose of this blog was to better track whether it's actually starting to grow (since succulents are usually slow-growing, so it's hard to tell from day to day).

This plant is native to South Africa.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Crassulaceae
Genus: Crassula
Species: C. tetragona

Variegated Elephant Plant - Portulacaria afra variegata

This succulent is a native of . . . wait, wait . . . that's right: South Africa!
Oh, thank you, South Africa, for giving the world ever so many succulent plants. I love them so.

As with all succulents: much light, little water.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Portulacaceae
Genus: Portulacaria
Species: Afra
Cultivar: Variegata

Springtime - Hybrid of Crassula perfoliata and Crassula falcata

This "Springtime" is a cultivar -- a hybrid of Crassula perfoliata and Crassula falcata. Crassula perfoliata is native to a region of Africa covering South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Crassula falcata is native to South Africa. They are both succulents, and as such this plant requires a good amount of sun and not too much water.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Crassulaceae
Genus: Crassula
Species: Hybrid of C. perfoliata and C. falcata

Autumn Fire - Sedum

I got these plants because they're supposed to have "winter interest" -- i.e., they look good dead. So now I'm just eagerly awaiting their demise.

The plan is that during the winter, when I have to put most of my outdoor flower pots in storage, I can at least have these to look at.

Sedum is a succulent, as evidenced by its thick, waxy leaves. I read that unlike most of my other succulents, though, it isn't native to Africa but rather to North America. However, now that I know it's in the same family (Crassulaceae) as my South African succulents, I'm a little suspicious. Was it carried over by an African swallow? Or by two swallows, carrying it together? I kind of doubt it. Something to research.

One thing I find interesting about this plant is that it's very hard to water it in such a way that the water falls anywhere near the plant's base, because the leaves cause the water to run off away from the middle of the plant. This makes me wonder whether its root system functions better when the roots receive smaller amounts of water spread over a wider area rather than a lot of water descending upon the center of the root system. I haven't been able to find an answer to this question yet, though.

The flowers on these were beige a couple weeks ago, and now they've just turned pink. Within a couple more weeks they should turn a brighter, darker shade of pink.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Crassulaceae
Subfamily: Sedoideae
Genus: Sedum
Species: ?? Can't find a scientific species name for this

White Anne - Fittonia

Fittonia are native to Peru. They're interesting because they don't do well with a lot of sunlight, which is a whole area that I need to research: if plants rely on photosynthesis, why do some of them do best with little to no sunlight?

Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Fittonia
Species: ?? Can't find a species name yet

Canna Lily - Canna x generalis

These are native to tropical and subtropical regions of North and South America. Their name is something of a misnomer since they're not actually lilies, but they are related to them.

These plants are a little unhappy, living at my place. When they're outdoors, it's not hot enough, and when they're indoors, they're getting a good amount of sun but still not as much as they probably need. I'm hopeful that they'll survive, but if worst comes to worst I'll kill them off and eat their rhizomes, which are apparently a great source of starch and are even grown for agricultural purposes! So it's a win-win situation (for me, not for my plants).

Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida (considered synonymous or nearly synonymous with monocotyledons - need to clarify what "nearly synonymous" means)
Order: Zingiberales (another great name)
Family: Cannaceae
Genus: Canna (the only genus in the Cannaceae family)
Species: C. x generalis

Basil - Ocimum basilicum

Basil is native to South Asia and South-East Asia. It is not, therefore, adapted to cold temperatures, and is already starting to look a little wilty and feeble out on my balcony. Earlier in the summer it looked healthier. I'm going to try to grow it indoors during the winter.

Basil is from the same family -- Lamiaceae -- as many other plants that we enjoy eating: mint, sage, rosemary, oregano, and thyme, among others.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Ocimum
Species: O. basilicum

Italian Parsley - Petroselinum neapolitanum

Parsley is native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.

Fortunately for this little guy, I don't like the taste of parsley so I'm not going to eat it. I thought I was alone in having somewhat negative feelings towards parsley, but my god, parsley turns out to have bothered and even terrified people throughout history. Plutarch wrote that the ancient Greeks were so terrified of parsley that the Corinthians won a battle by exploiting this fear: they sent a bunch of donkeys laden with parsley towards the Greeks, and the Greeks fled. According to an article I by a parsley historian (yes, a parsley historian), the Greeks had long associated parsley with death. This belief was then carried on through history, and during medieval times people apparently believed that before parsley seeds could germinate they had to travel to hell and back.

I knew there was something weird about it.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Petroselinum
Species: P. neopolitanum

Dill - Anethum graveolens

This is a very healthy, and very about-to-be-eaten-by-me, member of my plant collection. Originally dill was native to southwest and central Asia. However, dill has been transplanted far and wide, probably due to its deliciousness: apparently there is evidence of dill cultivation in Switzerland dating back to the Neolithic era.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Anethum
Species: A. graveolens (the only species in this genus!)

Sage - Salvia officinalis

This plant is growing very well and looking lovely. The only problem it's going to have in life is that it smells so good, I'm going to break down and eat it all any day now.

The word Salvia, in its Latin name, means "to heal," and evidently sage has been recommended throughout history for nearly every disease you can think of. My instinctive reaction was that this is probably because it smells so good, you feel like it has to be good for you, but then I plugged Salvia officinalis into Pubmed and learned that there's actually some evidence that it's a beneficial antioxidant and might have some impact on Alzheimer's.

Salvia officinalis is native to Europe and Asia Minor.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Salvia
Species: S. officinales

Rosemary - Rosmarinus officinalis

Rosemary is native to the Mediterranean region.

When I first saw the scientific name, "Rosmarinus" struck me as a fake Latin word invented to match the English word, "rosemary" (my suspicions re Latinesque words have been heightened ever since I got my diploma and discovered that it has a fake Latin word for "Connecticut" - "Connecticensus" (or something like that)). Oh, how wrong I was! At least according to thefreedictionary.com, which says that "rosemary" comes from a Middle English word "rosemarine," which was derived from the Latin words "ros marinus."


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Rosmarinus
Species: R. officinalis

Hosta - Undulata variegata

Hosta are native to China, Japan, and Korea. They are perennial plants and grow from rhizomes. Something else I need to learn more about.

These join my Canna Lily in the small monocotyledon minority among my plants. I may get an orchid to join them. Or maybe some wheat.

According to my favorite man at the farmer's market, Hostas need a period of winter-like temperatures in order to continue their growth cycle (yes, yes, something else I need to learn more about) but the Minnesota winters are too long and cold so the best approach is to move the plants indoors for the winter and then put them in the refrigerator for about 10 weeks at some point during the winter. If mine are still alive come January, I will put them in the fridge. Right now they're looking a little unhealthy - I think they're getting too much sun, and may need to be re-potted and brought indoors.



Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Agavaceae
Genus: Hosta
Species: H. Undulata
Cultivar: Variegata

Pothos - Epipremnum aureum

Pothos is native to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It's an aroid plant.

They begin to develop leaf burn if they get too much direct sunlight, and I think mine may be showing signs of this. I may have to re-pot it and bring it indoors.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Subfamily: Monosteroideae
Genus: Epipremnum
Species: E. aureum

Russian Sage - Perovskia atriplicifolia

Russian Sage is, oddly, not native to Russia but rather to Afghanistan. The name is not some weird hold-over from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, but rather simply comes from the fact that a Russian botanist happened to be the first one to name it, back in the 1800s.

Also, oddly, it's not sage. It happens to smell similar to sage, though, and hence the name.

This plant is not happy. It hasn't been since the day I got it. It turns out this is because it really wants to be an outdoor plant and not live in a pot. Which raises the question: what difference does it make whether plants live indoors or outdoors? If they're in a pot that's large enough that their roots can expand as needed and still be surrounded on all sides by dirt, and if they get sunlight (albeit through glass) for as many hours a day as they would outdoors, what difference does it make?
Since glass blocks UV rays, I looked into whether UV rays are needed for the photosynthetic process or otherwise. According to what I read, not only are they not necessary for photosynthesis, but at higher levels they actually impede photosynthesis (for reasons I'm not going to get into here).
Of course, unless I tote them around the apartment at different times of day, they don't really get sun for as many hours as they would if they were outside.
Also, the man at the farmer's market who I love so much said that the ground outside buffers extreme changes in moisture -- which some plants are not very well equipped to handle -- by offering a large amount of surrounding earth for water to soak into after rainfall. Whereas when I water a small pot of dirt, all the water just sits right there soaking into the roots of the plant.
I'm going to go with that explanation for now.
So I'm attempting a modified watering system in which I water the plant some from the top but some from the bottom, by putting water in its dish to be absorbed, and use less water at a time but more frequently.
The confounding factor is that this plant also probably needs more sun than it's getting inside (see above), but it's too cold lately to put it outside.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Perovskia
Species: P. atriplicifolia

China Doll - Radermachera

Radermachera is an evergreen tree native to subtropical mountainous regions of China and Taiwan. Some species can reach heights of up to 30 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of 1 meter, so that's totally what I'm shooting for. But I doubt mine is the right species.

So far it is looking very healthy, growing in the sunlight next to my patio door.

It has glossier leaves than any other plant I have and I am curious as to the function/effects of this, but that's a mystery for another day.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Bignoniaceae
Genus: Radermachera
Species: ?? Don't have species name yet

A few group photos

First, some group photos - a panoramic view:

I can do this thing - I know I can.

In the past I have had very little success in keeping plants alive. But now that I have so much sun, it seems to be working much better. Still, there is much that I don't know, and many challenges to be overcome. So I decided that in order to learn how to better care for my plants, I need a good way of tracking their progress as I try to look after them. I've been keeping track of a few things like how many leaves there are on one branch of my jade tree, as a sort of indicator of success, but I think I need something more systematic.

Of course, it's a difficult time of year because most of them are meant to die within the next few weeks regardless of what I do. Terrible.

But anyway, above I am posting Round 1 of the current state of my plants.