# Spectacular Turquoise plants...



## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

I just posted these to my blue plant thread but as many may not wanna wade through that, they might miss out on some radness so I'm making this post 

I don't know if it would be possible to grow any of these in the viv but I had to share them for their sheer awesomeness...

Ixia viridiflora









Lachenalia viridiflora









Of the 2 Lachenalia viridiflora stays smaller and from what I've read is possibly easier to grow. Both may survive a viv if planted in a high/well drained spot where you can control the amount of water they get. Meaning less water in summer if bulbs go dormant in the viv. Also they probably need good airflow in humid conditions. So a fan may be called for.

I got some lachenalia seeds and I am attempting them as houseplants. If they germinate I'll try transplanting one to a suitable spot in on of my vivs. I'll be getting the Ixia soon also to try.

Now on to some more stunning plants with similar colors....

Puya berteroniana "Blue Puya"









Puya alpestris "Sapphire Tower"









I'm not sure the 2 pictured are actually different species...as appearantly the difference is mainly in size and hue of the flower color....so they could have been misidentified. Way to big for most vivs....maybe not a large green house though.

Last but not least....

Strongylodon macrobotrys "Jade vine"










The Plant growing at the base is Ecbolium viride, also a nice color.

If I every do a really large vert I may try to train and prune some Jade vine to fit 

Here is another pic of ecbolium viride...









This may be viv suitable as it stays fairly small (one source said 18x18 inches) and is a tropical. I think it is worth a shot 
It may also be called Crossandra infundibuliformis 'Shamrock', which I believe is another species but many of the pics look identical, so I'm not sure if it is misidentified or just similar.

If anyone knows of similarly colored plants, especially viv suitable ones please post names and pics


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## chuckpowell (May 12, 2004)

The first two are bulbs from South Africa and grow in a Mediteranian climate - hot, dry summers, cool, wet winters, temperatures between freezing and 100°F, or a little more. I grow them both and a lot of other South African bulbs - their beautiful, but not suitable for a terrarium. 

Best,

Chuck


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

chuckpowell said:


> The first two are bulbs from South Africa and grow in a Mediteranian climate - hot, dry summers, cool, wet winters, temperatures between freezing and 100°F, or a little more. I grow them both and a lot of other South African bulbs - their beautiful, but not suitable for a terrarium.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Chuck


Ya I'm going to try to take some special precautions if they germinate, like a special soil mix in that area of the viv, good airflow, and putting them where I can keep them dry for part of the year but I'm not really holding out much hope....but If I don't try no chance to get lucky  

I do however want to at least grow them successfully as a house plant so if you can offer any advice or personal experiences growing them and how to deal with their needs throughout the year growing them inside that would be much appreciated 

Also if you or anyone else knows of any sources of live plants instead of just seeds/bulbs which is all I've found so far that would be fantastic


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## chuckpowell (May 12, 2004)

First off I'd suggest joining the Pacific Bulb Society - Pacific Bulb Society | Home Page. They have boxes on their email list where members can pick up all sorts of stuff cheap. You could also check out - The Bulb Maven, South African Bulbs, and Telos Rare Bulbs, South African Bulbs, California Native Bulbs, South American Bulbs, Mediterranean Bulbs. There are lots of other sites when you start googling. 

Best,

Chuck


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

chuckpowell said:


> First off I'd suggest joining the Pacific Bulb Society - Pacific Bulb Society | Home Page. They have boxes on their email list where members can pick up all sorts of stuff cheap. You could also check out - The Bulb Maven, South African Bulbs, and Telos Rare Bulbs, South African Bulbs, California Native Bulbs, South American Bulbs, Mediterranean Bulbs. There are lots of other sites when you start googling.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Chuck


I'm familiar with pacific bulb but haven't joined yet...the others are new to me, I'll look into them all further thanks


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## SunyFreebird (May 29, 2013)

Hi! I stumbled onto this site while researching Sapphire Tower plant, and now I am a member -- yea!! Just read you post, and I have to ask... what is a viv? Don't laugh. I've been into plants all my life, but don't know this.

The photos are beautiful. I just received a packet of 12 Sapphire Tower seed that I ordered and read on the pack that they can take several months to germinate. Have you germinated any seed? If not how & where did you get your plant. These are beautiful and I want one!

Thanks,
Suny


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

I saw a jade vine at the NYBG. Unreal colors man. I think it's a plant too big for a viv though lol


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

SunyFreebird said:


> Hi! I stumbled onto this site while researching Sapphire Tower plant, and now I am a member -- yea!! Just read you post, and I have to ask... what is a viv? Don't laugh. I've been into plants all my life, but don't know this.
> 
> The photos are beautiful. I just received a packet of 12 Sapphire Tower seed that I ordered and read on the pack that they can take several months to germinate. Have you germinated any seed? If not how & where did you get your plant. These are beautiful and I want one!
> 
> ...


A vivarium is like a terrarium....just a box with a drainage layer, then soil, then plants and we keep our frogs in there....a small living ecosystem that needs little care other then some pruning and misting...you don't completely clean them out like other reptiles/amphibian cages. 

I believe I had some start, but then fail on me...I had some lachs start and fail too and the 2 live plants I was able to find were shipped pretty wet during a cold part of the year and the bulbs rotted....

Ecbolium viride is the only plant on the page that has done well for me. I hope to start offering some as part of plant packages or something soon. I don't like fussing with shipping for 1 or 2 plants that aren't worth more then 10-15 bucks total...so I'm waiting till I have more to selll all at once.



hypostatic said:


> I saw a jade vine at the NYBG. Unreal colors man. I think it's a plant too big for a viv though lol


Ya probably so...these pics were mostly just for fun and anyone who wanted to experiment. I may try the jade vine in the dryad viv though since it will be pretty huge.


Ecbolium viride works well in a viv, but I've only seen it flower once but I keep cutting the tops off to start new plants...and the lights burned up the flower pretty good before I noticed it so I'm not sure how turquoise mine looked. But it still makes a great growing foliage plant that doesn't spread to far and is pretty tolerant of wet feet.


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## Styx (Oct 25, 2008)

Wow, those are incredible.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Puya alpestris is currently blooming at the San Diego botanical gardens


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## dendrothusiast (Sep 16, 2010)

I've always wanted a jade vine but not sure how they'd do out in the california climate. I'm sure there's many other plants that can be added to the list.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

dendrothusiast said:


> I've always wanted a jade vine but not sure how they'd do out in the california climate. I'm sure there's many other plants that can be added to the list.


If you find any feel free to add em to the list...a Turquoise flower is rare.

Ecbolium viride is the only one I've found that is really good at being viv suitable ....it does quite well actually, and even tolerates pretty wet feet. 

I've been taking divisions off my few and spreading them around vivs and hoping to soon start up a crop of rooted cuttings to sell as part of plant packages maybe down the road...but I generally don't like to bother with shipping something unless I have enough of it/money for it to make it worth my time  (I'm lazy)

As for the Jade vine, I've been thinking of trying one in the Dryad viv, but I need to read up on them...I know they get crazy big.


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