What plants do you grow besides orchids?

[Leo Schordje]

What do I grow besides orchids? Many many things.
Hoya - 14+ species, only 1 is carnosa, say yes to H. macgillivrayii
a couple bromeliads & a few cactus, mostly Trichocerus
one Ginger - Bosenbergia longiflora - Finger root ginger
Passiflora citrina (the new-ish dwarf species from Honduras)
a couple tropical bonsai, like Fuschia, Ficus, & Nashia, Osmanthus & Bursera.

outdoors
7 species of winter hardy bamboo, all good to -15 F
about 35 or so "Sticks in Pots" that I tell people are bonsai, most people tell me they are "Sticks in Pots", or if they feel really honest, "Kindling".

That's all too many plants to water.

 

[The Mutant]

Well, beside orchids I grow...mold and algae. Unintentionally. :wink:

Nah, seriously speaking, I grow nothing beside orchids since it takes all my energy to take care of the ones I have.

 

[baodai]

Clivia
BD

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I forgot to say I have a beautiful and huge pineapple plant that I grew from a pineapple top. It is very tall, a little over 1 foot tall, and has a big leafspan, over 1 foot, and has TONS of roots and lots of leaves. It needs to be repotted, there are roots "pouring" out the bottom. I started it this spring or summer from a little top and now it is big. I think it needs to double in size before it blooms and has fruit. The plant has to be 2-4 years old to produce fruit. It has been so fun watching it grow. It was extemely easy to start and grow. These are the instructions that I followed, the pictures are also helpful: http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Pineapple/pineapple.htm

 

[quietaustralian]

In Australia I have a collection of 80+ "heritage" fruit and nut trees, a nice collection of Lithops, a few Aroids: mainly Arisaema, a few Bromeliads and about 30 species in the Bambuseae family.

I like Australian natives and grow 116 species of Eremophilas ( I remember when there were only 116 described), quite a few Grevilleas, both species and hybrids and a variety of other natives.

In Vietnam, mainly orchids, a few Aroids and a variety of sundry plants.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Too much stuff. My most recent fetish are cycads. I have around 20 species now, mostly seedlings and subadults. Other than that, tree ferns, epiphytes of all kinds including ferns and Huperzias, various woodland perennials, Sarracenias, deciduous azaleas, common and unusual flowering bulbs, and on down the road. I am plant crazy, simple and plain.

 

[emydura]

I like Australian natives and grow 116 species of Eremophilas ( I remember when there were only 116 described),

WOW Mick. I didn't realise you had a love of Eremophila's like me. They are the easist plants to graft (onto Myoporum insulare). Perfect for the beginner. I have grafted heaps of them. Although I'm sure in Adelaide you can grow them on their own roots. Canberra is just a bit too cold for them. The long frosty winters take their toll. So I no longer grow many of them.

You will have to take some photos for me of your plants. You must have some property to grow that many. The grey leaf species are just devine.

To see a big specimen plant in full flower is just mind blowing. Especially in the bush.

 

[biothanasis]

I have started focusing on other plant groups recenlty, as I got in a bigger house 2 years ago.
I have succulents (mainly Asclepiads), Hoya (I got quite a number of recently rooted cuttings), South African bulbous species (e.g. Lachenalia, Moraea etc), several ornamental bulbs that I recently bought (Sprekelia, Fritillaria, Camasia, Dicentra, Colocasia, Poiphys, Eucharis, Calochortus etc etc) as they seem easy to grow. Also some Hymerocallis and Hosta.
Additionally I started getting some Arisaema species bulbils/bulbs to make a collection. Hard to find (at affordable prices) some species though (which are really wonderful to my eyes...)
Gesneriads were a small passion last year so I got a bunch of them too
So did with some Pelargonium species...
Last spring I sowed some Adeniums and now I have some seedlings...!
I initially had and have some Canna too.
Some of them need to get inside in winter, so it is kind of troubling, but enjoyable at the same time pushing me to find creative solutions

I am a plant hoarder (trying to be tidy though), but I try to find plants that are appealing, grow & multiply easily and can survive local conditions!

 

[Stone]

About 60 species of Tillandsia, a couple hundred cacti, a couple hundred bonsai (mostly unfinished) clivias, cycads, succulents, Agaves, In the garden..All kinds of trees like pines, cedars, oaks and perrenials etc. all grown from seed. I'm trying for a Mediteranian theme.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Hey Stone, what cycads do you have going? I've got a crazy range from Central America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

 

[quietaustralian]

WOW Mick. I didn't realise you had a love of Eremophila's like me. They are the easist plants to graft (onto Myoporum insulare). Perfect for the beginner. I have grafted heaps of them. Although I'm sure in Adelaide you can grow them on their own roots. Canberra is just a bit too cold for them. The long frosty winters take their toll. So I no longer grow many of them.

You will have to take some photos for me of your plants. You must have some property to grow that many. The grey leaf species are just devine.

To see a big specimen plant in full flower is just mind blowing. Especially in the bush.

I haven't bothered to do much grafting other than some species that I have found difficult to strike from cuttings and a few standards I made using a prostrate form of E maculata. I think some really interesting standards could be made using some of the other prostrate Eremophilas. Some species from sandy regions may have benefited from grafting onto a suitable rootstock but they seem to do ok.

I had quite a representative collection of the Genera at one point, almost all the known Eremophilas but since Dr Bob Chinnock's work I now only have half the known species. Do you have Bob's book, Eremophila and Allied Genera - R J Chinnock?

I have 50ha but would like some more space. I too like the grey foliage species, Eremophila nivea being one of my favourites.

Regards, Mick

 

[nikv]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also grow roses and daylilies. Here is a link to another ST thread where I showcase some of my daylilies:

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16672&highlight=daylilies

Best Regards,
Nik

 

[Stone]

Hey Stone, what cycads do you have going? I've got a crazy range from Central America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

I've forgotten the species names but I have 2 Encepholartos, Cycas revoluta, Lepidozamia peroffskiana, E ferox, Cycas spiralis. The biggest I purchased 20 years ago as a one leaf seedling is now about 4 meters across in the garden. I wasn't going to leave it when I moved so I dug it out. That was a job!, it took me 2 days to remove it but it settled in really quickly in its new home. Definately staying where it is now! You can't go anywhere near it but its beautiful!
Mike. Do you grow yours in the ground?

 

[emydura]

I haven't bothered to do much grafting other than some species that I have found difficult to strike from cuttings and a few standards I made using a prostrate form of E maculata. I think some really interesting standards could be made using some of the other prostrate Eremophilas. Some species from sandy regions may have benefited from grafting onto a suitable rootstock but they seem to do ok.

I had quite a representative collection of the Genera at one point, almost all the known Eremophilas but since Dr Bob Chinnock's work I now only have half the known species. Do you have Bob's book, Eremophila and Allied Genera - R J Chinnock?

I have 50ha but would like some more space. I too like the grey foliage species, Eremophila nivea being one of my favourites.

Regards, Mick

No Mick I don't have his book. I have heard about it though. There are more and more species being discovered all the time. It is hard to keep up with it. The grey leaf species are just stunning including nivea which doesn't like a lot of rain as it always gets knocked back.. E. warnesii is another recently discovered grey leaf species that is just stunning.

I did some Banksia grafting last weekend. I think this one is a miniature form of prionotes grafted onto integrifolia. As you can see it is delicate work. Hopefully a few of these will take. If I lived in SA like you I wouldn't have to bother.

 

[quietaustralian]

Hi David,
On the subject of grafting. I bought some Eucalyptus cladocalyx 'Vintage Red', stunning foliage. These are grafted as I believe they don't grow true from seed and they are quite expensive.

I've been searching for some info on grafting Eucalyps but haven't found anything. I have tried a couple of different grafts but the scion always fades. Might need to try a bottle graft.
Do you know anything about grafting Eucalyptus?

Regards, Mick

PS Colin Jennings of the Australian Orchid Council is the coordinator of the Eremophila study group. I was a member 20+ years ago.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Do you grow yours in the ground?

Hey Mike, no I have all of mine in pots. Most couldn't handle the winters here. Of course Cycas revoluta can, and maybe a couple other Cycas, but not much else.

 

[emydura]

Hi David,
On the subject of grafting. I bought some Eucalyptus cladocalyx 'Vintage Red', stunning foliage. These are grafted as I believe they don't grow true from seed and they are quite expensive.

I've been searching for some info on grafting Eucalyps but haven't found anything. I have tried a couple of different grafts but the scion always fades. Might need to try a bottle graft.
Do you know anything about grafting Eucalyptus?

Regards, Mick

PS Colin Jennings of the Australian Orchid Council is the coordinator of the Eremophila study group. I was a member 20+ years ago.

I have never done grafting of Eucalypts so i don't know a lot about it. I think I saw an article on the internet about so I will see if I can dig it up.

I didn't realise Colin Jennings was into eremophila's as well. I was a member of the Eremophila study group for a little while. I remember being posted a whole lot of cuttings of various Eremophila species many of which I had never even heard of.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

I have lots of aquatic / semi-aquatic plants since all my fish tanks are planted. This includes several species of aquatic moss and aroids such as anubias and cryptocoryne. I also grow Marselia quadrifolia in emersed form -- it's a neat fern that looks like four leaf clover when it's allowed to grow out of the water. I grow most of my plants for fun and general interest, but the aquatics are more geared towards supporting my fish and selling to support my hobbies.

My next biggest interest after orchids are bromeliads. While I have a number of genera in my collection, the majority are cryptanthus and tillandsias. I gravitate towards these groups because they stay small (for the most part, there are exceptions) and because they have interesting, colorful foliage and/or flowers.

Finally, I have the "assortment", a number of ferns, a couple of cycads, a small collection of aloes, some cacti and other succulents, philodendrons ... boy, I sure do need to downsize. Over the years, though, I've grown or had an interest in almost all tropical plants.

 

[Rick]

Here's a couple pics of my little bromeliad collection.

The flower spike on the hybrid tilandsia is new.

The others are species, but I don't know what they are. The little on at the top is actually collected from Costa Rica, so won't be able to figure that one out anyway until it blooms.

Before K lite, I'd kill every bromeliad given to me. Now they grow and flower pretty easy. The foliage is pretty cool, but a lot of bromeliad flowers are hidden, tiny and very short lived. They mostly seem to be some combination of red and blue.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I've been thinking about getting a bromeliad or two. I do have a fairly large pineapple plant in a courser soil mix. What are your bromeliads potted in?