(This is one of my favorites...)
Last August, Annah and I ventured up to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to see what kind of flowers and plants were growing up there. This was before our bonsai and houseplant obsession really began, and we had a wonderful time. I'm not sure why we did not post about this in the early days of this blog. My recent addiction to the Gardening website Blotanical, and all the wonderful blogs I found there, has made me realize how our blog was lacking beautiful photos from outside, since all we had were pictures of our somewhat boring indoor plants. So, below are some photos from our visit to the Arboretum last August. Unfortunately, we did not take not of the names of each of these plants so you will just have to admire the beauty of the plants and let us know if you can identify any of them. There will be two to three posts due to the amount of photos we have. Enjoy!









The next post should be up in the next couple of days!

Photo Credits: All me

(Our new and lovely Ficus elastica in a very bright red pot)
This past weekend Annah and I traveled up to the Twin Cities once again and stopped by Linder's Garden Center where we purchased a few more plants. We purchased a new and very vibrant Ficus elastica ("Rubber plant").

(Philodendron 'Moonlight' )
We bought this Philodendron 'Moonlight', although I'm not positive of this ID since the tag only said "Philodendron Hybrid", so if any of your readers can help us verify or correctly identify this plant, we would be very thankful. Edit: Numerous people have confirmed that it is indeed a 'Moonlight'. Thanks!

(Our Sansevieria zeylanica.)
We also purchased a new Sansevieria, which according to the helpful folks at the Sansevieria forum at Gardenweb, and this link, this plant appears to be a Sansevieria zeylanica and it is a very delightful plant.

We were also able to purchase some sprouting seeds, including alfalfa, chickpeas, adzuki, and mung beans. We enjoy these sprouting seeds because they only take a few days to grow and they provide a tasty and nutritious addition to any type of food we are eating! The first batch of seeds that we sprouted were left to grow maybe a day or two longer than they should have, as you can see in the picture below, but the new seeds should turn out better and taste even greater!

(Our new sprouting seeds that we purchased at Linder's Garden Center.)
(On the top are Mung Beans and on the bottom is a "Zesty Mix" of Alfalfa, Broccoli, and other seeds.)
(About a month ago we grew our first batch of Broccoli Sprouts and Mung Beans which both grew a day or two too long.)

Photo Credits: Annah and Jordan

(My parent's Syngonium podophyllum)
I was first exposed to a Syngonium podophyllum in December of 2001 when my parents received one as a gift from a mourning family member after my grandmother died. The plant had been doing just fine with weekly watering and it had enjoyed the spot where it was growing above our entertainment center. My parents nor I never knew what type of plant it was until I started getting interested, and addicted to, houseplants last fall. After doing some research, I found out the identity of the plant and proper growing conditions. We noticed that it had been getting a little leggy and that it wasn't looking as healthy as it could be, so I placed a wooden stick in the dirt and tied the stems to the stick. The plant has been doing a lot better since we did that and it now is a fuller, healthier looking plant that resides next to the thirty-year-old pothos.
(My Syngonium podophyllum)
I purchased my own from Walmart (not the best store in the world for plants...) in December and the plant has been doing well and will hopefully continue doing so.

Annah and I have seen several other neat looking Syngoniums with pink, white, and burgundy colored varieties, but we have yet to add any more to our collection. If our plant addiction continues, we will likely add a few more Syngoniums to our collection.

Care: We have been watering the plant once per week, it gets indirect, curtain-filtered and reflected sunlight, and the temperature of the rooms are usually around 70 degrees for my parent's Syngonium or in the upper 70s or lower 80s for my Syngonium.

If you haven't noticed, in previous posts I have linked to other blogs for more in-depth care instructions, including Plantsarethestrangestpeople (PATSP), and DamnPlants because their posts on these plants are far better than anything Annah and I could write. Therefore, if you want to read an extensive post on Syngonium podophyllums you should read Mr. Subjunctive's post at his website Plantsarethestrangestpeople.

Photo Credits: All me

(The thirty-year-old Epipremnum aureum that my parents have in the living room.)
As I was growing up, we always had a pothos (Epipremnum aureum)growing in our living room and I always wanted to get pothos as well as any similar plants. Since my plant obsession began, I have purchased 2 Philodendron scandens spp. oxycardium "Heartleaf Philodendron", 1 Philodendron scandens spp. micans "Velvet Leaf Philodendron", 2 Epipremnum aureum "Golden Pothos", 1 "Marble Queen", and one Scindapsus pictus "Satin Pothos". Most of my philodendrons and pothos are currently growing in my room and are pictured below:
(My largest Philodendron scandens ssp. oxycardium that I have growing on the top of a bookshelf)
(From front to back: Philodendron scandens ssp. micans and Philodendron scandens ssp. oxycardium)
(Scindapsus pictus "Satin Pothos")
(Epipremnum aureum "Golden Pothos")
(An Epipremnum aureum that I started from cuttings and still needs some work...)
(My small Epipremnum aureum 'Marble Queen' that we purchased a few months ago...)
My other pothos is currently growing in my office at work and it is still growing very nicely at work (see this post and subsequent update post). As you can see from the picture below, my work pothos seems like it has grown the most since I notice when there is new growth on it since it is directly behind my computer monitor and three of the vines are growing on top of the monitor. This plant has come a long way from being the pot-bound plant that I bought at Lowe's last fall.
(My Epipremnum aureum at work that seems to be happy.)Care: Caring for pothos and the philodendrons are easy and each can tolerate neglect as well as no direct sunlight. All of my plants are kept at around 70-76 degrees and I water each plant once per week. These plants provide any room with a very nice shade of green and they are one of my favorite plants to grow. The plants will tend to get yellowing leaves if they are watered too much, and some of mine get brown spots on them, but I'm not exactly sure what is causing this at the moment.

A few weeks ago, when Annah and I were on a mini vacation, we decided to stop at the Home Depot up in Duluth, Minnesota to see what kind of selection they had. Whoever runs the gardening "section" should learn how to organize the plants into one place. The store in Rochester is neatly organized and has a decent selection of plants. The one in Duluth had several different areas throughout the store for their plants, and if we hadn't had to walk to the cashier we wouldn't have seen half of their plant selection. The reason why I'm mentioning the Duluth Home Depot is because that is where we found a Phildendron scandens 'Brasil' which is pictured below.
(Philodendron scandens 'Brasil')This Philodendron gets the name "Brasil" for resembling the Brazilian flag with the yellow surrounded by the green, and even though the plant we purchased has a few imperfections, there is new growth and soon these imperfections will not even be noticeable.

I am still looking around for a Neon Pothos, but have been unable to find one as of yet. Once I do I will post a picture on the blog.

If you are looking for some nice green plants that do not require a lot of attention and can survive in low light and less watering than some other plants might allow, then you should purchase some pothos and some philodendrons to brighten up your house or to fulfill your needs if you're addicted to plants. Additionally, if you're looking for more information about pothos and philodendrons you can look at this post from Damn Plants or PATSP's post on these wonderful plants.

Photo Credits: All me

(Maranta Leuconeura flower)
My Maranta leuconeura, which was purchased at Linder's Garden Center in January, has been growing vigorously and has been an enjoyable plant to watch. I knew that I wanted this plant after reading this post at Plantsarethestrangestpeople where it was stated that this plant was a somewhat difficult plant to grow. It is currently blooming and has very delicate and intricate pink and purple flowers. Each blossom does not really seem to stay around for long, but the plant itself keeps sending up flowers, so I must be doing something right and hopefully the plant is not putting too much stress on itself to produce the flowers. Through some research, I found that these plants "may 'die' back for a period after blooming. Keep up regular care of plant and it will start to grow again" ¹, so I will have to continue taking care of the plant. (Maranta Leuconeura plant with a view of the leaf and flower)
The plant gets a few hours of window-filtered sunlight, as well as about eight to ten hours of incandescent light from the ceiling light fixtures. I try to maintain the humidity somewhere around 40-50 percent for the plants that I have clustered on top of an old entertainment center. Keeping them together like this seems to help keep the humidity up a little higher than it would have been if the plants were separate. I do enjoy how the leaves of the plant curl up to conserve humidity, and often when I look at the plant the leaves are in a different position from the last time I looked.

Remember my post about the impending Adenium Obesum blossoms? Well, unfortunately the plant was attacked by some vicious spider mites that went right to the easiest part of the plant for them to eat, the flower blossoms.
(Dead Adenium Obesum blossom)
Since I had to hold the plant at a certain angle to see the web, I noticed it too late to be able to salvage the flower buds. It has been sprayed with Safer's Insecticidal Soap and there is currently no trace of the spider mites, but I will have to continue monitoring it closely to make sure they do not return. The plant itself appears to have survived the spraying too, although it lost one leaf in the process. I guess I will have to wait for a while to see if the plant will bloom again. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Work, a short vacation, and getting ready for spring have reduced the amount of time we have had to write posts in this blog, but hopefully we will be able to post more frequently now that we will have more time to take pictures of the flowers as well as to research.

Sources:

¹From http://www.webgardenguide.com/Maranta_leuconeura_3068_569_2.html

Photo Credits: All me

This is one of my favorite plants. I purchased this lovely plant at Bachman's Floral, Home & Garden Store in Minneapolis. With recommendations from Jordan, I purchased this plant with 5 new stems that will grow up! When we got home, we re-potted the ZZ plant and it seems happy in it's new pot!

Lately, my apartment temperature has been up and down (from 55 degrees to 75 degrees) during the day. My ZZ plant hasn't seemed to mind but my other plants are not too happy. I think I may have to check my plants into Jordan's plant hotel. At least until the weather warms up or until my apartment's temperature is steady.

I get excited each time I see a ZZ plant in stores. I exclaim to Jordan, "There's another ZZ plant!" Secretly, I always think, my ZZ plants looks better !! Go out and buy a ZZ plant, you'll be happy you did!