Sunday, June 21, 2015

Got a "life list" Plant Last Week: Albuca spiralis (in the middle)

The sprial albucas are just so darn appealing. it's those crazy contorted leaves. This one is listed as A, spiralis var. "Frizzle Sizzle'. Like fingernails on a chalkboard. I haven't looked up the cultivar but my guess is this is just a marketing tag. There doesn't seem to be anything unusual about it. Oh well., Capitalism and all. sic.

 I've seen them posted dozens of times on Facebook over the past few years. Prior to that I remember only a handful of pictures over 50 years of being a succulent plant geek and lover of the flora of Southern Africa. Anyway, I was at Merrifield's last weekend with Karen buying plants for some of her jobs when there it was. I've heard Lloyd and Candy Traven were growing it at Peace Tree Farm in Pennsylvania; that may be where my plant came from. They grow some cool plants. They're wholesale but their website can connect you with retailers near you.

We grow two other Albucas in Florida; A. shawii, and I forget the other one. We never seem to be there to see flowering. Some trips we see dried foliage! I'll keep this one as an indoor/outdoor plant. It's flowering now but the spiraling winter foliage is its major asset.

(The dahlia is "Sights of Summer'.)

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