Huernia keniensis in bloom

A few weeks ago my family went on vacation for a week.  While we were away Oklahoma experienced our hottest week so far this year.  Upon our return my plants were very thirsty.  In my hurried watering of the backyard plants I noticed one of my new Stapeliads had flowered while we were gone.

Huernia keniensis

This is one of the plants I purchased at the cacti and succulent show last month.  I took some photos, but the flower was on its final day, so it's pretty sad looking.  Typically Stapeliads will produce multiple flowers, sequentially.  Maybe I'll get another one soon.

Lycoris in bloom

Years ago a friend and fellow plant blogger gave me some Naked Lady/Resurrection Lily (Lycoris squamigera) bulbs.  I planted some in a pot and some others in the ground.  They grew well for me for years and for the first couple of years I expected to see some blooms, but they never came.

I'd nearly forgotten there were some planted in the ground until I walked around the side of the house last week and saw this:

Lycoris squamigera

I don't know what spurred the flowering this year.  It's been pretty hot and dry lately and I wouldn't have thought July would be the time of year for these to bloom.  After a bit of googling I learned that August to September is the typical bloom season, so I guess late July is not far from the norm.  I look forward to seeing these bloom each year now.  Hopefully this was the first of many.

Time to repot

Sometimes it's hard to know when to repot a plant. Other times it's not.

Anthrium llewelynii has outgrown the pot

When I got Anthurium llewelynii I planted it in a mesh pot in all sphagnum. I'm not sure what possessed me to do so, as most of my Anthurium are growing in a chunky potting mix. Then I suspended that mesh pot in a ceramic pot, which is where it has stayed for the last few years. When I water I have to check and make sure there isn't much standing water in the ceramic pot since it doesn't have any drainage holes. The plant has loved this setup and put out a lot of roots. Recently I was doing some repotting and decided to check on this one.

A large root mass growing outside the mesh pot

Wow! That's a lot of roots outside of the pot. I had to study it for a little bit and determine what to do.

So far so good

I really liked the pot, especially since the plant has done so well in it, but I decided the best thing to do for the plant was to cut the pot away to free the roots and keep them intact. It was a tedious procedure.

The trickiest part

I remember from an orchid repotting seminar that every broken root is an opportunity for introducing bacteria and rot. I tried to minimize breakage. The roots were thick, fleshy, fuzzy and brittle but I managed to remove the pot in pieces and only broke a few roots.

Finally free

Once it was all free I had to pick a suitable sized pot, both in width and depth. I have a habit of picking oversized pots, but with this many roots I felt justified going big.

Repotted Anthurium llewelynii

I also decided to go with a richer potting mix. Hopefully my Anthurium llewelynii likes its new home.

Anthurium inventory

I am following up my Encyclia inventory post with an inventory of another genus that comprises a decent portion of my plant collection.  This time it is an aroid genus, Anthurium, which happens to be the largest genus in the Aracaea (Aroid) family.  By "largest genus" I mean the genus with the most species.  I have had several Anthurium flower for me recently, so I have some nice photos to share.

Anth. llewelynii

Anth. bonplandii v. guayanum

Anth. acaule

While I love Aroids, and especially Anthurium, they don't all thrive under my care.  If I go a week (sometimes two) without venturing out to the greenhouse to water my plants - many of them take notice.  My Encyclia and some of my other plants don't mind these dry periods.  My Anthurium collection is not as big as it once was, primarily because there have been more periods of neglect in recent years and only the strong have survived. My collection of Anthurium currently includes 13 species and one hybrid.

Anth. holmnielsenii

Anth. paraguayense

Here is my complete inventory of Anthurium plants:

• Anth. acaule *
• Anth. bonplandii v. guayanum *
• Anth. fornicifolium *
• Anth. gracile *
• Anth. holmnielsenii *
• Anth. hookeri *
• Anth. lezamai
• Anth. llewelynii *
• Anth. lucidum (or something else...)
• Anth. paraguayense *
• Anth. plowmanii
• Anth. scandens *
• Anth. scandens *
• Anth. verapazense *
• Anth. Marie
• Anth. Marie
• Anth. (unidentified seedling)

* indicates plants which have flowered for me

Anthurium lucidum?

You'll notice that I'm not so sure my plant which is labeled Anthurium lucidum is actually that species.  I looked at the photographs on Tropicos and they look very different from my plant, so I'm not really sure what I have.

Anth. fornicifolium

Anthurium Marie is a hybrid that Steve Nock developed and named after his wife.  I have had the pleasure of meeting both Steve and Marie at the IAS shows in Miami.  Steve and Marie own Ree Gardens and have been longtime members and supporters of the society.  They always have some really nice plants for sale at the shows.  The parentage of this hybrid has not been made public, as far as I am aware.  The plant has been widely tissue cultured and many of the plants develop inflorescences with two spadices and other oddities.

Anth. gracile

In addition, I have one unidentified seedling.  It is still pretty small and may be some time before it is large enough to flower and help me determine what it is.