Update on Silver Buttonwood cuttings

I wrote about my cuttings of Silver Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus var. sericeus) in my Florida acquisitions post a couple of weeks ago.  It has now been about 7 weeks since I prepared my cuttings and put them into the sealed container of vermiculite.  I have uncapped the top a couple of times to check and see how they were doing, removing any dead leaves from the stems, but otherwise leaving them alone.  The good news is that only a couple of leaves have fallen off the cuttings and they seem to be pretty happy.  The cuttings that I put directly in water began to rot within a couple of days and they quickly lost all of their leaves.  So I was feeling pretty good about my sealed container of cuttings.

Silver Buttonwood cutting with one root starting

Last night I decided it was time to pluck one of the cuttings and see if there was any root growth started.  I was expecting either a bunch of tiny, fibrous roots or nothing.  This is based solely on my past experiences with rooting semi-hardwood cuttings.  What I found, instead, was one thick little root starting.  Not fibrous by any stretch of the imagination.

First root emerging from a Silver Buttonwood cutting

I'm really happy to see this root emerging and now I have an idea about the rate of growth.  7 weeks = 1/2 cm.  Pretty slow.  However, it's possible that the root really just started to emerge recently and will grow much quicker now that it has started.  It's also possible that these cuttings want something different - substrate, light, temperature, water.  Who knows.  I'm glad I'm getting some results.

I carefully replaced the cutting in the container and left the others alone.  I will give them another month or so, before checking again.  Hopefully at that time, they will be ready to transplant to individual pots and start life as little saplings.

Florida plants revealed

On our trip to Florida I was introduced to a number of plants that I formerly had not seen before.  Some of these made an impression on me and I thought I would talk about those plants a bit.

Lignum Vitae (Guaiacum sanctum)

The common name for this tree sounds more like a Latin genus and species.  Mainly that is because it is Latin.  The words translate to "wood of life."  The wood of this tree is very strong and has had many uses over the years, including structural and medicinal.  I found these trees growing in a couple of planted settings at specific gardens, including Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens and the West Martello tower gardens in Key West (post coming soon).

Lignum Vitae (Guaiacum sanctum) with red seeds showing.

Apparently the tree has very nice royal blue flowers, but we were there after the trees had bloomed and they all had little yellow fruits with red seed pods bursting out of them.  At first I thought the fruits were flowers - yellow with red centers - until I got a closer look.  It wasn't until I came home and looked up photos that I learned the flowers are actually a blue-purple.

Silver Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus var.sericeus)

Two of the plants on my short three plant list fall in the silver-blue foliage category.  What can I say?  I'm a sucker for this color foliage.  We hadn't been in Miami for an hour before we pulled over and admired this tree.  I did my normal hands-on inspection and found the leaves to be fuzzy and soft like the Lamb's Ear plant (Stachys).  Christie really liked the texture of these leaves.  Buttonwoods were growing everywhere in south Florida, in several different habits.  Sometimes they were small trees, ranging from 10 to 15 feet tall.  Other times, they were grown as little bushes, either natural or trimmed to shape.  Other times they were growing in a pruned hedge.

My lone, lousy picture of a Silver Buttonwood was taken at a nursery which had small shrubs for sale. I can't imagine how I didn't get a better picture on the trip... They were EVERYWHERE!

On our last day of the vacation we were driving from Key West up to Miami.  We stopped on the side of the road and took cuttings of some Buttonwoods and I am really hoping they root for me.  If so, I will try to keep one or two happy in a pot, while transplanting the others in Galveston.  However, I am a little worried that it is not quite hardy enough to handle the Galveston winters.  Maybe I should keep them all in pots at home!

Since I didn't get a very good picture, you should look here and here to see what a mature tree looks like in all it's glory.

Bismarckia

Bismarckia is a monotypic genus that is found all over south Florida, the sole species being Bismarckia nobilis.  Since I love silver-blue foliage, this is my favorite palm.  At one point we drove past a tree farm that was just Bismarckia nobilis planted at regular intervals as far as the eye could see.  It was pretty amazing.

Field of Bismarckia palms in south Miami

Young Bismarckia palm in a parking lot in Everglades City

I am going to try to find one of these palms to plant at the Galveston house.  I wonder what the best size is for starting a palm tree on a budget?  Maybe something like the one pictured above.