Bonsai Kamakize

Bonsai trees are beautiful additions to any plantlover's collection. You can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on trees and shape them to look like nearly any sort of landscape. I'm going to show you how you can take these wonderful baby trees to new heights. I call this look, Kamikaze Bonsai!

To achieve this look, you start with a very expensive specimen that has been around for 20 or so years, carefully cultured, pruned and watered. Here are a few examples of what you might look for.

To achieve a proper look suitable for this blog, you have to do one simple thing. Leave for vacation without leaving care instructions for these pernicious plants. A lack of nutrients and water can be compensated with additional Florida sunshine when left outdoors on a balcony, or in some other high sunshine environment.

The final versions that will last for years and years to come.

The one on the left still has a small amount of green remaining, so our hard work is not yet complete. The following example is the Marvel Endgame of horticulture. It is the penultimate of what you can achieve by diligently following my guidance.

Have you managed to achieve this look on your own plants? If so, please comment below and send in some pics. 

Mystery Plant #2 - Truffles and Chopsticks?

Mystery Plant #2 - Truffles and Chopsticks?

The name pretty much sums up how this plant looks. I'm always amazed at how the leaves remain held together so well in an indoor environment. Outdoors, the leaves would reach this state and simply blow away with the wind, but for an indoor plant, you can preserve this look for months or maybe even years.

Do you think my guess on the name is less than accurate? Please post your thoughts below on what plant you think this might be and I will update the post to reflect the accurate information.

Care and Watering

Sunlight. This plant prefers sunlight. We had this on the floor in a breakfast nook with lots of sunlight and the amount of leaves indicates that the sunlight was just right.

Watering. This step is really optional. You only want to water it at the very beginning, if you do at all.

Mystery Plant #3 - Magic Leaf Wand?

Mystery Plant #3 - Magic Leaf Wand?

This plant is exactly what I like. It is a no-frills twig with a single green leaf at the top. It is as-if Harry Potter botched a spell and his want burped out a single leaf in response. Botanicalus Terminatus!!

Care and Watering

Sunlight. It is really unclear to me if the entire twig needs sunlight, if the dirt should get the sunlight or just the single leaf at the top. I think that if I remember photosynthesis from elementary school biology, it should only really need the light at the leaf. Everything else has to be overkill.

Watering. Here we have one of those fancy water globes. Evidently, you only ever need to fill the globe one time and it's good pretty much forever. I'm pretty sure that's how that works.

Mystery Plant #1

Mystery Plant #1

Little is known about this particular plant, although I suspect it may have held flowers at one point. In it's mature state, the plant has a spider-like feel to it that really accentuates an attractive pot. 

Care and Watering

Sunlight. I'm not sure what this one calls for since it doesn't have one of those handy inserts in the pot. Being placed in a breakfast nook area on a bench for other plants seems to have worked out well for it. It receives sunlight in the mornings, filtered through min-blinds and other dead plants.

Watering. To get the same sort of results in your plants, I highly recommend watering it after you see the plant is nearly dead. It appears that it is a good idea to overcompensate at this stage if you want to achieve a similar look.

Feeding. The remains of bugs eaten by nesting spiders in this pot should be sufficient for good results.

If you would like to guess the plant, please do so in the comments below. I always like to know what sort of plants I am surrounded by.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen

There are 23 species in this genus of perennial flowering plants. While native to Europe and the Mediterranean, you can also kill these plants quite successfully in Kentucky. They are known for their upswept petals and variably pattern leaves that will eventually fall onto your kitchen floor to be upswept again, into the trash. 

Care and Watering

Watering. I think this particular flowering plant likes to receive water at some point in its short life.

Sunlight. I'm fairly certain that pocket lighting above a kitchen sink counts well enough to be considered "bright light". After all, we are able to use it successfully to clean dishes when needed.

Feeding. While this plant calls for feeding every 2 weeks, I think that's a little greedy for a plant that already has an entire pot of dirt to itself.

A Pair of Potted Lithodora

Lithodora

Lithodora is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae, native to southwestern Europe, southern Greece, Turkey and Algeria. They are low-growing, evergreen shrubs and subshrubs, producing 5-lobed blue or white flowers. Wikipedia
Scientific name: Lithodora
Rank: Genus

As you can tell from the photo, they produce a brown or blackish weeping effect, much like the greasy and decaying locks of a drowned woman resurrected from the grave from one of those horror movies. Having a pair of these will allow you to book-end something truly remarkable. They have been shown to keep visitors away when featured prominently at an entrance to your home.

Care and Watering Guide

Sunlight: Full Sun. Leave this plant on a table on your deck or something like that.

Water: Water when the top inch of soil is dry. This is really optional if you want good results.

Fertilizer: Feed once per season with a continuous release plant food. I'm pretty sure these come preloaded with all that stuff in there. You shouldn't need to add anything new to achieve similar results.

Purple Passion

Purple Passion

Gynura Aurantiaca

1. Gynura aurantiaca
2. Gynura aurantiaca, called Purple Passion or Velvet plant is a species of plants in the chrysanthemum family It is native to Southeast Asia but grown in many other places as a house plant. Wikipedia
4. Scientific name: Gynura aurantiaca
5. Rank: Species
6. This plant has an interesting style. It both rises up and falls down at the same time. The leaves are like fine velvet drapery and the beautiful color evokes a sense of passion in everyone who views it.