WHY I DO THIS BLOG ON RARE PLANTS

This blog is a labor of love. Because of my love for unusual, tropical plants and the ways to make them prosper, I searched high and low for information and data on the more obscure denizens of the plant Kingdom my information database grew and I realized that Much of the Data on Obscure Species was Unavailable or written in a cold scientific manner. In Addition, many things in garden books will not tell you of the potentially bad aspects of plant species because they were compiled by people who did not actually grow the plants themselves.Finally,as a gardener of unusual plants, I and others searched relentlessly for species, pictures, seeds, and descriptions of plants that are Unusual and easy to maintain yet many of which are never seen outside of a botanical garden.
I talked to people and found that many of my friends and associates wanted cuttings (and had as much success with them as I did) It occurred to me that there are a great deal of people out there that relish unusual and odd plants but the mainstream Plant distributors only carry "Safe" plants, Yet the dealers who deal in unusual make a killing in the plant business. How are People supposed to know about these Floral finds unless they are exposed to them.

According to the report “State of the worlds plants”by researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the United Kingdom, there are about 391,000 species of vascular plants currently known to science. Of these, about 369,000 species (or 94 percent) are flowering plants.


By scanning through several plant databases, including the the Plant List, the International Plant Names Index and the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, the team found that 391,000 vascular plants are currently known to science. Moreover, about 2,000 new plant species are discovered or described every year. Many of these newly described are already on The endangered list

#plantaddict #rareplant

#plantgeek


THE ODD AND ALIEN Aristolochia


Aristolochia is an evergreen vine with unusual flowers and heart shaped leaves. It is a lifecycle plant for zebra swallowtails….one of the few butterfly plants that wont be eaten back to twigs…like most butterfly plants.
Blooming Time: Flowers are produced throughout the growing season. Flowers look almost like an alien pod or like strange pipes with elegantly curved stems.
Culture: Aristolochia \ like to grow in a light and airy place, but not in direct sunlight. Keep summer temperature from 68-78 degrees and winter temperature above 50 degrees. Water regularly during the growth period, once or twice a week. Water no more than once a week during winter. Fertilize with a balanced fertilizer every third watering throughout the growing season.They grow best in rich, well-drained soil. Young plants need to be repotted every other year, older plants every 3-5 years. Propagation: Aristolochia is best propagated by cuttings, but it can be grown from seeds. Take cuttings in fall when flowering is nearly completed. Softwood cuttings should be 4 to 5 inches long. Treat with rooting hormones and place them in a fast draining propagating mix. Put them in a warm place, preferably with bottom heat. Softwood cuttings must be kept moist. Start seeds by soaking in water for 48 hours and surface sow them. Seeds need light to germinate.

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