The latest dirt from my garden: October 2010

Tuesday

The Thailand Parrot Flower

Stumbled upon during research:
Impatiens psittacina Hook.f.
The Thailand Parrot Flower
Dork Nok Khaew
Flower Bird Parrot

These delicate parrot flowers simply hang there. Whichever angle you look at them from you’d still see pink parrots. They’re a rare phenomenon.

A balsam, Impatiens psittacina is a very rare impatiens species first discovered in 1899 by British officer A.H. Hildebrand in Shan States of upper Burma and identified to the botanical world in 1901 by botanist E.D. Hooker.

This plant raises only in a small part of north Thailand (near Chiang Mai), Burma, and one territory of eastern India. The species can be found in several botanical reference books including Plants of India.
Hooker originally stumbled upon the plant in India and brought back the seed to the Royal Botanic Garden Kew in London. Those seeds did not reproduce after the first year.

The parrot flower is one of nature's most beautiful creations. A rare plant and a protected species. The Thai government has elected to ban the export of seeds or plants because they are extremely rare. Punishment is severe for those who break this law.

Note: I have been seeing some questionable sellers from China offering these seeds. I am not sure what type if seeds they are selling (probably carrots), but they are definitely not Parrot Flower seeds!!
It angers me that fraud china sellers are duping people into buying rainbow roses, black rose and some other non existing junk. Don't get duped! Do your research!

Friday

Bejuco De Santiago Aristolochia

We have a new "Baby". I just bought a Duchman's Pipe, a Aristolochia trilobata to be exact.
The Aristolochia trilobata has both beautiful glossy leaves and incredibly weird flowers. According to the gardener, like a Strophanthus, it has long streamers from the flowers that can get over a foot long. Its Nepenthes like blooms distinguish it from other Aristolochias such as elegans, gigantea, brasiliensis and ringens.
Temporarily situated in my office window I am exited to see this one bloom, which should be next year :)

Wednesday

Tropical Dogwood Virgin Tree

Who would have thought, a Tropical Dogwood. Look these massive beautiful blooms.

Mussaenda is a rounded evergreen tropical shrub or sub-shrub that will grow to 10’ tall in tropical areas, but more likely will reach 2-5’ tall in containers. Clusters of small, tubular flowers with five large spreading lobes bloom in summer, however it is the large and colorful, ovate, leaf-like sepals (to 3” long) that provide the real ornamental display. Some individual flowers in each cluster will develop a single enlarged sepal. Elliptic to ovate, bright green leaves (to 6” long). Hybrids sold in commerce typically feature flowers in red and/or yellow with showy sepals of white, bright red or pink.

Winter hardy to USDA Zones 9-11. Can be grown in containers that must be overwintered indoors. Use a well-draining potting mix and keep soils consistently moist. Grow in full sun to part shade. Best color in full sun, but plants also appreciate some mid-day filtered sun in hot climates. Bring containers indoors in fall when night temperatures start dropping into the 50s. Overwinter in a greenhouse or a warm sun room. Cuttings may be taken in late summer for overwintering.

This plant is propagated by rooting soft or hardwood cuttings.

Germination of Mussaenda seeds: The soaked seeds are to be planted in plastic cups containing an equal mixture of sand and coir dust. After spraying water, the cups should be sealed with polypropylene plastic and stored for a month at 57 degrees F for stratification or cold treatment. At their four-leaf stage, seedlings are ready for transplanting.

If anyone you know sells it or shares it or swaps it, let me know!

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The latest dirt from my garden

Tuesday

The Thailand Parrot Flower

Friday

Bejuco De Santiago Aristolochia

Wednesday

Tropical Dogwood Virgin Tree

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