Sunday, May 27, 2007
Kalanchoe & Star

I was tinkering with using the Kalanchoe as a nice backdrop to get some shots of the green tipped Sun Star blossoms. In the end I was happiest with the shots that had them both in the mix. I really like the Kalanchoe in this shot because one of the flowers in the upper right has five petals. There are hundreds of blossoms and only two of them have five petals. The rest all have four.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Creative Kalanchoe

I have always had a soft spot for these plants. They have amazing thick leathery leaves and when they bloom they are absolutely covered in flowers.

Recently there have been a more creative variety available. I found a "double" variety last year, and the coloring on this one is absolutely unique!

They make great subjects for creative photography lighting experiments too.

Sunday, November 19, 2006
Double Kalanchoe

The nursery where we saw the Banana Plant the other day had lots of other interesting things. It was the first place I think I have ever seen a double Kalanchoe! We have several Kalanchoes and I really love they way they get covered in blooms, as soon as I saw this guy I grabbed him, I knew he was coming home with me.

He now has a nice spot where he gets a shaft of light in the afternoon through the glass door. That is when this shot was taken.

After watching a few flowers open it is interesting to see that the blooms change color with age. (there are actually quite a few other flowers that do this too.) They start out darker, almost red and fade to a beautiful orange that looks similar to our Sun Star Only a few of the flowers are variegated like this one. I would estimate there are about 300 flowers on the plant and it is only in a four inch pot.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Kalanchoe Close-Up

Another photo I grew myself.

These plants are extremely beautiful and easy to grow. When the apartment we used to live in trimmed all of the palm trees they displaced all of the ummm... "residents" that live in the dry fronds. For a while we had a bit of a rat problem (outside, thankfully.) The main casualty of this was one of my oldest Kalanchoes. In about a day it was chewed level with the ground. I assumed it was done for. But, a few months later, a small plant popped up in the pot of my large Ficus tree that had been under the Kalanchoe. Apparently a small chewed up piece of the plant feel into the Ficus' pot and took root!

Kalanchoe, members of the succulent family, are native to Madagascar but their name is derived from a Chinese word.