Terrestrial (non-aquatic) plants photos

[Fishfur]

Nicotiana Rustica
Ceremonial tobacco grown from seed from the Midewewan nation. I grew it over summer, collected seed for next year and gifting. Grew some in the Aerogarden to see and this is the first flower

Does it smell as nice as it looks?
My red Christmas cactus is almost at full glory - only a few buds left unopened.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Does it smell as nice as it looks?

No smell really. The leaves and stems smell grassy. The tobacco smell doesn't come until it's cured.

So it's basically just pretty.

 

[Fishfur]

No smell really. The leaves and stems smell grassy. The tobacco smell doesn't come until it's cured.

So it's basically just pretty.

The flowers on many nicotianas smell wonderful - I just wondered if this one did. I know the leaves have to dry before they have that tobacco odour, which is surprisingly pleasant so long as it remains unburned. I am terribly allergic to the entire nightshade family but nevertheless, Nicotianas are favourites of mine for their scent and tobacco smells great to me, until somebody lights it and then I’m in trouble.

 

[fishywoo]

My goodness this plant is a late bloomer and I've been waiting days for a blossom to open. Finally got one today! Woop!
(I don't think my plants would be doing good if it wasn't for aquarium water, lol).

 

[BPSabelhaus]

The flowers on many nicotianas smell wonderful - I just wondered if this one did. I know the leaves have to dry before they have that tobacco odour, which is surprisingly pleasant so long as it remains unburned. I am terribly allergic to the entire nightshade family but nevertheless, Nicotianas are favourites of mine for their scent and tobacco smells great to me, until somebody lights it and then I’m in trouble.

Well, they develop a sweet smell when dried. Sweet floral taste when smoked and almost no nicotine in the petals. So when I read a lot more and gain knowledge, I'll start trying teas with the petals only, then with the sepals and work my way up. I accept how powerful this magic is. I call it magic because I simply cannot explain away coincidence as mere coincidence. I know it's not magic and that there is a rational explanation for my experiences. Right now my understanding of it is largely lost to the ages. I would really like one day to sit down with shamans from different nations and just listen to their oral histories.

This started as a side project of my experimental archaeology growing pre-contact potatoes from coastal peoples, up river and inland. It's a perfectly reasonable hypothesis, with zero history to back it up lol. But, the potatoes were at the coast before the Spanish. Coastal peoples regularly traded inland. So why not trade a super food that grows like camas but produces considerably more, can be harvested heavily annually, stores better and is much easier to cook? So it makes sense that they could have made it here. Then under colonization when new varieties of larger, better shaped, better tasting, adapted, etc... arrived they again upgraded. It's all theoretically possible, so I decided to figure out how they would have been grown if that happened. Since tobacco was another common trade item, I entered a raffle to get some seeds (same deal with the potatoes. Raffle for the opportunity to purchase seed) and got selected.

 

[Fishfur]

Well, they develop a sweet smell when dried. Sweet floral taste when smoked and almost no nicotine in the petals. So when I read a lot more and gain knowledge, I'll start trying teas with the petals only, then with the sepals and work my way up. I accept how powerful this magic is. I call it magic because I simply cannot explain away coincidence as mere coincidence. I know it's not magic and that there is a rational explanation for my experiences. Right now my understanding of it is largely lost to the ages. I would really like one day to sit down with shamans from different nations and just listen to their oral histories.

This started as a side project of my experimental archaeology growing pre-contact potatoes from coastal peoples, up river and inland. It's a perfectly reasonable hypothesis, with zero history to back it up lol. But, the potatoes were at the coast before the Spanish. Coastal peoples regularly traded inland. So why not trade a super food that grows like camas but produces considerably more, can be harvested heavily annually, stores better and is much easier to cook? So it makes sense that they could have made it here. Then under colonization when new varieties of larger, better shaped, better tasting, adapted, etc... arrived they again upgraded. It's all theoretically possible, so I decided to figure out how they would have been grown if that happened. Since tobacco was another common trade item, I entered a raffle to get some seeds (same deal with the potatoes. Raffle for the opportunity to purchase seed) and got selected.

It sounds like a very cool experiment. It would be very interesting to see what results you get.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

It sounds like a very cool experiment. It would be very interesting to see what results you get.

Well, I guess I need to take new pics lol

Old phone pics aren't the right extension, I'll fix that.
But, I treated it as proper archaeology best I could. Removed the soil, left the potatoes in situ for stratigraphy photographs, measured the harvest from set blocks etc... Still have about half the harvest in the ground. Just dig up a plot as needed. Then I sort them traditionally into seed, eating and gifting piles. The gifting piles are the largest and most perfect potatoes. Again, as per tradition I give those to others like neighbors, friends, local food bank etc...

I started with using the coastal peoples method of mounding with seaweed. After a single trip to the beach I realized how stupid that was. Seaweed for inland peoples is a commodity as it contains iodine and salts. You're not going to dump expensive imports on your garden. So that stopped after a single mounding and I sat on a rock and thought. My butt got soaked and I realized my answer was all around me. Moss and ferns. I used all the moss on my property and then some. Not nearly enough lol So this year I used my North roof which needs moss scraping annually. Now I have a pile of moss ready. Ferns I strip the brown fronds when I remove them and mix it in. Now I have an airy and moist mounding material that I can fertilize with fermented nettles and fish waste (leftovers and aquarium filtration) So that's next year's plan for the potatoes. The tobacco seeds I harvested are being spread everywhere and shared with friends. I'll also do a tobacco only plot and attempt crossbreeding these potatoes. Considering doing a three sisters plot to explore how corn got to China over a thousand years ago lol

 

[Fishfur]

Well, I guess I need to take new pics lol

Old phone pics aren't the right extension, I'll fix that.
But, I treated it as proper archaeology best I could. Removed the soil, left the potatoes in situ for stratigraphy photographs, measured the harvest from set blocks etc... Still have about half the harvest in the ground. Just dig up a plot as needed. Then I sort them traditionally into seed, eating and gifting piles. The gifting piles are the largest and most perfect potatoes. Again, as per tradition I give those to others like neighbors, friends, local food bank etc...

I started with using the coastal peoples method of mounding with seaweed. After a single trip to the beach I realized how stupid that was. Seaweed for inland peoples is a commodity as it contains iodine and salts. You're not going to dump expensive imports on your garden. So that stopped after a single mounding and I sat on a rock and thought. My butt got soaked and I realized my answer was all around me. Moss and ferns. I used all the moss on my property and then some. Not nearly enough lol So this year I used my North roof which needs moss scraping annually. Now I have a pile of moss ready. Ferns I strip the brown fronds when I remove them and mix it in. Now I have an airy and moist mounding material that I can fertilize with fermented nettles and fish waste (leftovers and aquarium filtration) So that's next year's plan for the potatoes. The tobacco seeds I harvested are being spread everywhere and shared with friends. I'll also do a tobacco only plot and attempt crossbreeding these potatoes. Considering doing a three sisters plot to explore how corn got to China over a thousand years ago lol

I like the way you think! It is amazing how widespread some plants became very early on.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

I love when the leaves are this color. They tend to fall quickly when they reach this point, though.

 

[fishywoo]

Update on my Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana.





(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

Now if I can only get all of my aquatic plants to be this happy!

 

[BPSabelhaus]

It sounds like a very cool experiment. It would be very interesting to see what results you get.

Another harvest. Didn't record stratigraphy on this one due to rain, but it's been very similar so far. Potatoes grow in the mounded material well, not so well in the dirt lol. This was the second best located plot in terms of sun, water and ability to access to weed etc ... And it shows in the size and shapes of the tubers. A lot longer, more straight and fewer "splits" The small personal food source (traditional stuff) are well sized and shaped (pine cones) The long and straight ones are traditionally used for gift giving while the "defective" potatoes are saved for seed. Defects are just a lot of knobs, weird shapes that hold dirt etc... Fine for seed lol

 

[Rose of Sharon]

First iris this year. They didn't bloom last year due to the severe drought. So glad to see it blooming.

 

[Fishfur]

First iris this year. They didn't bloom last year due to the severe drought. So glad to see it blooming.

Does it smell as good as it looks?

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Does it smell as good as it looks?

Unfortunately, there is no sweet smell. I fear that a lot of our outside plants are not going to do well this spring because of last summer... I am really concerned about the grass. It doesn't seem to be coming back yet.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Azaleas and petunias... now all we need are some hummingbirds to take advantage of the nectar

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Spider plant cutting I got from a friend and a monarda (bee balm) in a pot

 

[GouramiGirl100]

My boyfriend bought me one of my dream plants
It’s a philodendron 69686 (unnamed as of yet)

 

[Fishfur]

Thank you! Good to know! I love the leaf shape

I love the big vining aroids myself but I just don’t have enough room for all the species I’d like to grow. The leaves on this one are pretty cool.

They all need to gain a fair bit of vertical height to grow big leaves - I dream of a two storey tall conservatory .

 

[Rose of Sharon]

This is red buckeye growing wild
And this tree is the neighborhood woodpecker time share. When one pair leaves another one shows up.

The tree is riddled with holes and looks like it will fall soon...

 

[Fishfur]

This is red buckeye growing wild
And this tree is the neighborhood woodpecker time share. When one pair leaves another one shows up.

The tree is riddled with holes and looks like it will fall soon...

I’d never heard of Red Buckeye - very showy flowers! It might grow here if it was planted - given the changes in climate - it has been found in the most southwestern part of Ontario, so I have learned with a quick search.

I always wonder why woodpeckers don’t get terrible headaches.

 

[fishywoo]

So all the flowers from autumn on my Kalanchoe Blossfeldian died, but that didn't stop it from flowering again! And there's new buds too. I thought it was only supposed to flower in autumn? It clearly didn't get the memo.

Same goes for my spider plant. It flowered all winter and even still.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Virginia Spiderwort...another wildflower that's blooming now

 

[Fishfur]

Virginia Spiderwort...another wildflower that's blooming now

Fun to see the larger flowers on them that look like the tiny versions that show up on their relatives like Tradescantias.

Picked up one of those relatives today, Nanouk, a lot of them were showing brilliant hot pink flowers. Despite being tiny flowers they are eye catching thanks to the intense colouring. Mine has buds just starting.

Also picked up a Maranta I haven’t seen before - M.leuconara Silver Band. Understated but very handsome.

Also a pretty little Peperomia caperata with interesting variegation - I’m sure it has a name but I’ll have to look for it. Also a small Monstera adansonii . Should look great once it grows some.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

A couple of friends went to Texas to see part of the Bluebonnet Trail. It was a beautiful day, the flowers were really blooming, and they got some pics that were really nice.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

A couple of red and white lilies and some common honeysuckle

 

[bgarthe]

Too bad these don’t bloom longer. This is quite the array of flowers.

 

[Lucy]

Those are so beautiful!

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Does anyone know the name of this plant?

 

[Fishfur]

I think it might be Sedum mexicanum. Not positive of the species but pretty sure it is a sedum.

I had to go by a nursery the other day - so nice a day I couldn’t possibly have just driven by.

Now I have this nice little collection of pretty aroids - most of them relatively uncommon though I think no longer extremely rare as they used to be.

The very colourful one is a hybrid called Ring of Fire. It’s a cross between P.tortum ( usually pretty expensive these days and not easy to find) as male parent & P.wendlandii ( also a quite expensive & uncommonly seen species) as mother.

It is supposed to have been created by one Keith Henderson and originally called Henderson’s Pride. Not sure how it came to be known as Ring of Fire but that is how it’s usually known now.

When ROF is a happy camper, it can show as many as 5 different colours in different shades all at one time, shading from light yellows (near cream sometimes) through oranges and orangey pink to assorted shades of green including a light celadon or minty shade. Those leaves will get larger of course - hopefully not so much that it outgrows its welcome .

The very dark green one is P. Mottled Dragon. It’s a hybrid of P.bipinnatafida from Thailand. The leaves get much larger and more like those on bipinnatafida but not as large, or so I hope .

The very pale green divided leaf belongs to Amidrium Silver. Its leaves are fenestrated right from the start.

The bunch of small leaves belong to a philodendron that is supposed to be P.sodoroi but might not be. Seems there are several species all very similar that it might be. It’s certain to get much bigger leaves with time too.

Last, the holey leaves in the middle belong to Monstersa adansonii. At least they won’t become too enormous anytime soon.

These guys won’t be altogether in a 12” basket for long but for now they are small and I need to tuck them into the shaded spots for the next couple of weeks to harden them off so they can spend the summer outside. Depending on how they grow, I’ll repot as needed.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Pic of the one four o'clock plant that actually lived through this past spring and summer. I love these old fashioned flowers that bring back childhood memories of my mom and grandmother!

 

[Fishfur]

Pic of the one four o'clock plant that actually lived through this past spring and summer. I love these old fashioned flowers that bring back childhood memories of my mom and grandmother!

They are pretty - and they smell good too.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

American Beautyberry shrub... native to southeastern US.

 

[SparkyJones]

My dragonfruit plant. It's not much to look at. Been growing it for a year plus now from a cutting I figured I try, its about 4" (the first bottom section by the soil) I found it under a riding mower the commercial guy that mows my work. He also does a farm.

At some point it's going to flower and fruit, but as it stands now it's a boring cactus that I need to keep growing segments and then cut them down and replant them so I can get a bunch of them in a cluster for more fruits.
Probably going to be a few years either way before I get flowers or fruit.

It's doing well though, although it did nothing at all for the first year except I suppose grow a root system. The newest top section has been growing since Monday.

 

[Fishfur]

A cute little relative of our Java ferns - one of a number of plants I got at the Expo last Saturday.

Microsorum reptans from Peru.

Thrixspermum hystrix - a miniature orchid that like humidity & won’t mind my temperatures.

Another tiny orchid - Dendrobium leonis.

A bunch of TC Crypt nurii. Some for me, some to sell once they get to a reasonable size.

A temporary holding box for a bunch of assorted cuttings & whatnot and the latest boxful of TC plants to be grown out. Even smaller clay pits this time, only 1.2” across but they’ll serve.

More Monte Carlo, H.Cuba, another C.nurii cupful and a small Buce, - Kedagang.

Most of them I intend to grow in terrariums eventually but the emergent ones can of course be either terrarium or aquarium specimens.

Last is a truly tiny little Macrgravia - dubbed White Line, from Iquitos. The longest leaves on it are maybe .5” and just over 1/8” wide. Super slow grower I’m told but can just imagine a little stone wall covered in this one day.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

My dragonfruit plant. It's not much to look at. Been growing it for a year plus now from a cutting I figured I try, its about 4" (the first bottom section by the soil) I found it under a riding mower the commercial guy that mows my work. He also does a farm.

At some point it's going to flower and fruit, but as it stands now it's a boring cactus that I need to keep growing segments and then cut them down and replant them so I can get a bunch of them in a cluster for more fruits.
Probably going to be a few years either way before I get flowers or fruit.

It's doing well though, although it did nothing at all for the first year except I suppose grow a root system. The newest top section has been growing since Monday.

From a cutting I assume? Very cool.
These are mine from seed. Couple years old.

My cedar is growing moss

 

[Lucifer]

Here are my two Ikea cabinets repurposed as living walls. Good way to have lots of plants in a relatively confined area indoors.

 

[Fishfur]

Here are my two Ikea cabinets repurposed as living walls. Good way to have lots of plants in a relatively confined area indoors.

Looks very cool but it also looks like some rust is creeping along the frames. Might want to clean the rust off & use a thin film of oil or wax so it won’t come back.

One more of my show scores - Philodendron mamei.

Similar leaf shaped to everyday heart leaf P.scandens but with much bigger leaves and pretty stripes and so on. Doesn’t grow too-too enormous and apparently likes to crawl as opposed to climbing, but it can be persuaded to climb.

It will have to climb, there’s no crawling room around here. Very thick stem with leaves very close together but on petioles a foot long. I hope it’ll make a nice show once it gets a little taller.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Apparently growing bok choy in the snail tank lol Scraps usually don't last, but this one seems to have some vigor.

 

[Fishfur]

View attachment 909712
Apparently growing bok choy in the snail tank lol Scraps usually don't last, but this one seems to have some vigor.

It wants to LIVE!

I often try rooting the cut ends from celery & lettuces and cabbages for fun. Can sometimes get a surprising yield but doesn’t always work.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Neglect it lol
The best place for starting scraps is a neglected compost bin lol I found a 12 in or so avocado tree in mine after the winter lol

 

[Fishfur]

Neglect it lol
The best place for starting scraps is a neglected compost bin lol I found a 12 in or so avocado tree in mine after the winter lol

You have no idea how much I’d like to have a real compost heap .

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I'd love one too, as would Loki lol Even compacted clay heavy soil filled with rocks doesn't stop him from following his nose lol
Fortunately the rolly bin has been Loki resistant so far. I empty it into the garden after potato harvest so it can finish off in there with the other waste for next season. Figure food waste counts as midden material for early AG

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Shhhhh don't tell New Zealand. It's not a golden kiwi lol
Grown from the seed of a golden kiwi, but pretty sure those are all clones and clones usually don't produce identical genetic offspring. It might have traits of green and gold, might be green might be completely infertile. I just like to grow stuff.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Some wildflowers and grasses growing near us in an undeveloped area. Even though we have drought conditions right now, it doesn't seem to be bothering this area of flora.

 

[Fishfur]

View attachment 910079

Shhhhh don't tell New Zealand. It's not a golden kiwi lol
Grown from the seed of a golden kiwi, but pretty sure those are all clones and clones usually don't produce identical genetic offspring. It might have traits of green and gold, might be green might be completely infertile. I just like to grow stuff.

Nice!

Ever see the little grape kiwis, A.arguta? Delicious & hardy to much colder temperatures - native to Russia among other countries.

On the rare occasions I can find some, its tough to resist eating a big handful as if they were grapes but overindulgence gets me a very sore mouth - way worse than raw pineapple! .

I want to try growing silvervine next summer - (A.polygama). The fruit is said to taste like mild chilies but I’d grow it for my feline furkids, not me. Much more potent for cats than catnip.

 

[Fishfur]

I’ll have to bring it inside soon but my Euphorbia tirucalli Firesticks has quadrupled in size over the summer and the sun exposure has ensured it shows where its cultivar name came from - it’s a glorious deep vermilion orange.

Often called a pencil cactus but it isn’t any kind of cactus. It can get to small tree heights and become massively heavy but I can’t let it get too big to move.

At some point I will have to prune it rather ruthlessly but for now it can grow as it pleases. It’s sad to see the bright colour slowly fade over a winter indoors but it’ll blaze brightly soon after it goes outside again next summer.

 

[Fishfur]

Some of the plants I’m hoping to grow rooting in tanks, currently growing out in the terrarium that I intend to be a vampire crabitat if I ever finish the backdrop stone wall I’m constructing for it.

The glass box might as well serve a useful purpose until the wall is finished, right?

The ficus will probably be staying in this terrarium once it’s ready to plant.



Front & centre is P.standeleyana Aurea. To the left, P.micans & to the right, Ficus salicifolia and barely visible is a little Peperomia to its right that was struggling. It’s recovering.

The big pointed variegated leaves belong to Syngonium Albo and behind them, the narrower mostly creamy white leaves belong to P.standeleyana Albo.

There are others in there but they’re hidden, too small to see under the bigger plants.

The deli cup has some fuzzy moss growing - a sort of freebie that came with another plant rooted in sphagnum with the fuzzy moss hitchhiking a ride.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Bee balm flower...these are just starting to bloom...monarda didyma...raspberry wine

It's not quite open all the way yet. They smell great! The leaves smell like herbs.

 

[kallililly1973]

Never realized till a couple days ago that a cintronella plant actually flowers!!

 

[Fishfur]

Never realized till a couple days ago that a cintronella plant actually flowers!!

That’s what is popularly known as a scented geranium - one of my faves but I have no room for them.

But technically it’s Pelargonium graveolens Citronella.

Real citronella oil comes from citronella grass - Cymbopogon nardus or C.winterianus.

Scented leaf pelargoniums all have flowers which are either white or pink, but they are usually grown for the scented leaves.

There’s also P.capitatum (rose), P.crispum (lemon) P. denticulatum (pine), P. fragrans (apple), P. grossularoides (coconut), P. odoratissimum (apple) and there are a great many hybrids among them all.

I would love to have the room for a long hedge of these plants - a lot of them get close to 3’ given the chance, some even taller. There are also dwarf varieties that only get to a foot.