#greenthumb

The color in Philodendron bipennifolium is absolutely gorgeous. This teal green highly reflexive is so charming, thanks nature winter is over down here in Brazil and we can have full growth again. Just waiting for the rains, even if la niña promisses lower rainfall this end of year.

The caladium bicolor under it just popped there and serves well to compare the color of the leaves. I’ll repot it as soon as the rains start around here. Also I’m feeling like filling this pot soil with more organic matter and do some magnesium fertilization.

Succulents are doing nice this end of winter here in Brazil. I don’t feel much like expanding my collection right now, but the colors they make… Surely I’ll be repotting them in the future to bigger bowls, love to see them spreading all over.

A typical M. cristata leaf and this one that came out weird. Could that be mosaic virus? I’ll wait to see how this will develop, maybe just some bad leaf pigment formation.

Just a reminder I still love succulents

Fire rose blooms, during south hemisphere winter XOXO

Begonia soli-mutata is my baby, seriously look at those colors, the texture and everything else about this plant. Super common okay but damn. It can be used as a bedding plant for a truly gorgeous composition. Grows all year round if you don’t get snow over it but it’s quite an adaptative grower. Seems to do well in subtropical climate so must have above average hardness.

Sparkling shine begonia flowers

Dry winter, brazilian Savannah on the loose…

There will be some months before any rain catches up those hills again.

Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum young leaves, native around here. It is said that indigenous people used to eat the fruits just like monstera deliciosa. But may take a while to see that one flowering. Specially because it turns to be a huge, massive plant when adult and I’m not sure I can afford that kind of space, but we’ll manage.

Mine still young but as one can see the “trunk” like structure is arealdy forming, a very specific characteristic of the genus. No other philodendron can produce a structure like this, only those species of thaumatophyllum that developed and divided from other philodendron in an early evolution stage.

Now I’ll be waiting for it to develop more leaves and become larger. Later those plants start to look like huge snakes with the winding trunk of theirs as they lose the older leaves and just keep the crown ones like a palmtree of sorts.

Philodendron mayoi was my first foliage, the plant that started it all around a year ago (with foliage at least). It’s from central Brazil, growing on the tropical savannah’s tree shade and near course of water. Those pinnated leaves are way rounder than similar species like P. radiatum, P. elegans and others. But the best part of it is that I didn’t buy it or was gifted. It just popped on the yard from seed and I managed to take a cutting.

Now I should get some tutor for it ASAP because surely I want to see it develop more leaves and perhaps reach something around 2 meters high, what you guys think? It stays outside in my pergola area receiving a filtered bright light specially at noon.

Philodendron acutatum is a common yet beautiful foliage from brazilian rainforests. Usually found in the Atlantic Forest, but also the Amazon. Has a red border and leaves can grow in many sagitated shapes. It’s a hemiepiphyte herb that once it climbs can produce several aerial roots which were traditionally used by local indigenous people as source of several crafts like baskets and others.

This leaf is quite small yet, but an adult plant can reach something around 20 inches or more. The leaves are sparse right now as this one was clustered with other four ones and I moved it to climb a wood pallet that is in the background there. Watering the pallet will increase the chances of the roots adhering over it.

I’ll bring more posts about individual tropical plant species and talk about them. What do you guys think about it?

Philodendron beauty

Philodendron “Burle Marx” is truly weird… Not the best climber out there and nobody saw it’s inflorescence as it seems. So it’s not known if it is a hybrid or a true species. I juts made this cutting and left it to climb a wall, let’s see how far it can go, and if in good humidity I can make it climb.

Just got back from the dead, hello again!

Got my app down because had to reset my phone and I’ve been procrastinating this come back for a while. But now here I am, ready to share a lot of the findings, my yard and stuff.

Beautiful mutation of Goeppertia roseopicta, known as “Dottie” outside Brazil, but we call this cultivar “Ruby” around here.

Those are Atlantic forest’s pictures, remanescent area of a highly degraded biome, the most of Brazil. But it was once a huge tropical forest with more than one thousand kilometers square and being sister to the Amazon it holds a lot of species related to the South American plant families. Bromeliads, aroids, orchids and many others.

I feel blessed to have access to parts like this where I can see the native flora and fauna that ia lasting. The forest gives us such an energy, it’s really awesome to be there and cross those paths. This region specifically is very rocky but it’s worth to explore as I was able to find many rare ferns and fruits between those places.

Can’t wait to show you guys more about my findings. You can always follow me on instagram @sadrosebudboy

Just for a change here are my calatheas (now it’s officially Goeppertia btw), some of them at least. They are growing like crazy! And they do love some water. Some are so clumped together that I can’t afford that much space to spread them. But I love their shapes and colors.

The best part is to note how they move their leaves during the day and night cycles. Most get the leaves up in the afternoon and stays up until the next day morning, then it gets down. That’s why they are called praying plants right? It’s really charming the way they change, makes the room look so much more alive.

Also they are great plants for indoor spaces as they don’t enjoy sunlight very much. Most of mine got a little damaged due transportation or adaptation to my space, but almost all of them are growing like crazy and it’s not even the growing season.

Early morning and I am just spraying some water over my babies. Winter where I live is super dry, and as they take the sun all day long it can be too harsh. Gladly they are roundy and colorful.