Thursday, August 20, 2009

My Favorite Bloomer

Indoors, that is.  I’m not sure why it is so special.  It could be because I raised it from a pup but more likely it’s because it’s blooms are so weird.  You know I like weird.

rope plant 1 more rope plant 001 This is my baby. I don’t know what it is called other than a rope plant.  A start was given to me by a friend in Tulsa at least 5 or 6 years ago.  I’ve babied it along and it’s now got vines over two feet long.  This is not the first time it’s bloomed, just the first time since we’ve been here so I grabbed some photos because it’s interesting.

Rope plant buds 002 The budlets pop out of an odd looking little nub thingy about the size of a pencil eraser.

Rope plant buds 003 Then they start spraying outward like the fireworks on 4th of July.

favorite bloomer indoors 7.15.09 003 Then they start getting puffed up and richer in color

favorite bloomer indoors 7.15.09 005 and they pop open to these gorgeous little flowers.

favorite bloomer indoors 7.15.09 006 Their petals are thick like succulent plants and it is the oddest little flower but I just love it and wanted to share it with you all.

It’s been storming here today so I don’t know when I will get this posted, but I’m ready with a new post when it clears up.

I hope you all are having a good day.

17 comments:

hetty said...

It's a Hoya. We sometimes call them wax plant. I have several of these also and simply love the flowers! They give off a wonderful aroma during the evening.

Unknown said...

Never seen one of these but it is really unusual. I will have to see if I can find one around... I love house plants!

Roslyn said...

I used to have one of these when we lived in TX it grew & grew & grew & twined around the entire room!
How are your limbs holding up, the bony knees!

Tina said...

Hey--its my favorite plant too! I have one that I started from a single leave and stem from one my grandmother gave to my mother and I took from her plant. The reason I love it is because it is the single most indestructible plant on the planet. I have left the thing unwatered for weeks at a time. It may drop a few leaves but it survives. When I was a child my mother had hers hanging in the southern window of the kids bathroom and it used to bloom all of the time (liked the heat and humidity maybe?). I trim mine and it makes a nice full mound of a plant next to my kitchen sink.

Tina

Sharon Rose said...

Well dear Lord!
I have a favorite pair of bloomers too! But do you see me posting them for all to see on the blog?

Ha ha! Just feeling a little mischievious!

Love that wax plant dear!

Aleta said...

How cool is that! I've never seen fine plant have flowers like that before. I love how you took pictures during each stage. Thanks so much for sharing!

Margaret Hall said...

Nope, I have not had one, but I like it, and congratz on good picture taking!!....When we nurture a plant it is SPECIAL...Good fun...

darsden said...

You would have to have 2 laptop screens for me to post my bloomers...LMAO.. yes I was playing off Pastor Sharon...LOL

That is a super cool plant and I don't have one of those and I want one!!

Wrap me up a cutting in a wet paper towel wrapped in tinfoil and send me that booger... :-))

Robynn's Ravings said...

Okay, I know you like weird. You like ME doncha? The Wild Man is standing behind me looking at this post and said, "OH MY GOSH!! That looks like some SPACE plant!! COOL!!" I love that it blooms indoors. Weird! And such pretty flowers.

I'm envious of your storms, Sass. Kaylee, Jenny's sister, wrote about them on facebook - she's about 15 miles from you? You guys are sharing the same weather! :)

Reddirt Woman said...

Hetty I knew, just knew you would come through for me. A Hoya. I'll have to go give it a sniff. I'll let you know if it has an aroma.

When you go to the nursery Rhonda ask for a Hoya. Hetty knows her plants. I've also got a varigated one and a curly leafed plain and varigated that another friend gave me but they haven't bloomed yet.

Roslyn the knee is coming along. The knot will take probably 2-3 months to go away according to the doctor. I'm just trying to avoid bumping it again or falling on it. The plant that my friend planted a cutting for me was twice the size of mine. I'm thinking if I want it to grow more I need to put it in a bigger pot. That one is only a 4 inch one.

Tina you are right. It could be a plant of steel. It has taken some abuse like moving. I have mine in my bathroom now in an east facing window so I think it likes it.

PS here I was being nice for a change... but if I'd had two of them blooming you would bet I would have said something about bloomers... Wait until my next post... I've got a fun one going on in my head.

Aleta I have such fun with stuff like showing this plant and flowers. I'm no Pioneer Woman that cooks and takes a bunch of photos of each step so I figured I try it with my Hoya (Thanks Hetty!)

Margaret I know you are right and this one took a while before it bloomed. But I liked it before i even knew it bloomed.

Dar, I'll give it a go but I'll wait until Monday to send it so it won't take a chance on languishing in the post office over the weekend. I'll let you know when it's in the mail.

Robynn we had a great one this morning. The thunder was just rolling. A good steady rain with a little lightning, but the good deep thunder that keeps you in the bed cuddled up with the pupsters.

Terry said...

Howdy
Wow
I have never seen this plant before this is really awesome .
I would love to find out more about it and try growing one .
Thank you for sharing this beautiful plant and all the great photos too !!!!!!!!
Hugs
Happy Trails

hetty said...

Hoya bloom on little brown 'nubby' things, called peduncles, along the vine. They will bloom over and over on this same peduncle, so don't break these off. If you want a blooming plant right away from a cutting, make sure the piece of plant you choose has one of those flowering 'nubs'. Also, they like to be potbound and really don't do well after transplanting into a larger pot. If you must transplant it, only go to a one-size larger pot. My aunt used to grow these in 4-inch pots because she felt that was the best size and her vines grew like crazy, covering her living room walls and bookcases!

Staci said...

What a cool plant! Of course, you have the green thumb....

Brenda S Okie in Colorado said...

What a great plant. I haven't seen this before. And...I choose RW over PW any day!

Twisted Fencepost said...

It is pretty! I've never seen or heard of it before.
Thanks for sharing it with us!

Reddirt Woman said...

Terry, I don't know if you read the comments or not but Roslyn said she had one when she lived in Texas so they ought to be available at a nursery for you. I just love it. The leaves are thicker than other plants and that adds to the depths of the different leaf colors. I'll have to take photos of the other three that I have just to show you all some variety.

Hetty thanks for the pot size info. I figured that they must like to be root bound because it was several years before mine ever bloomed. I don't do anything as far as trimming it but I'll watch out for the little peduncles. I only thought about going to one size bigger pot, but I'll leave it since the vines will grow longer. I'd like to have vines going all over my bathroom wall.

Brenda, I love you girl... I hope you get down this way soon. Do you want to try a cutting? I told Dar that I'd send her one. Getting lots of good info from Hetty on this little plant. I will say again that it took several years before it produced any bloomlets.

Staci it's all a learning experience. I started plenty of sacrificial lambs before I ever felt I had any success and that is with both the outdoor and indoor plants.

Becky if I had a home with better light I'd have boocooos more indoor plants to mess with in cooler months. I'd have to have a mess of grow lights to have as many as I'd like and out here in the boonies the Sheriff would be making house calls to see if I was growing 'illegal' plants from the blue glow of plant lights.

Tipper said...

So pretty-I've never seen anything like it.