Shopping for houseplants has never been on my "to-do" list. Instead, I usually acquire plants from friends, acquaintances or employers. They come to me as gifts, adopted strays or clandestinely pirated plant parts. Any store-bought plants were small and needy-looking; I'm so proud when they begin to grow vigorously under my care (and I feel less guilt if they die).
A small bromeliad hot-glued into a seashell was given to me by a complete stranger at a professional meeting last summer in Orlando, Fla. I stood at the elevator doors with a group of bubbling women, each of them holding at least one bromeliad they had "crafted" at a recreational workshop. I cooed over the pitiful little plants, envious of these women's past two hours, versus the two I had just spent learning about program delivery and cost recovery. Graciously, one of the women gave me one of hers. I packed it into my suitcase, brought it back to arid Utah, set it into a custard cup on the plant shelf and wondered how long it would live. Every week or so, I pour distilled water onto it and leave a little water in the bowl for additional humidity.
Surprisingly, it is still alive.
One of my plants is on a starvation diet, relying on two or three variegated leaves to support an albino sport. The chlorophyll-less new leaves are a blind alley, and I continue to wonder whether I should pinch back this aberrant branch, hopefully prompting new growth of more productive leaves.
Horticulture teacher Lloyd Seigendorf allowed me to take a Cleodendron thompsoniae from his teaching greenhouse a couple of years ago. At the time, it was flowering, but the plant was very small. Since then, I have repotted it once, and the vines have grown at least 10 feet. Because I have neglected to repot it, the leaves have dropped off a couple of times, but new leaves grow when I start watering the plant again. Despite this intermittent neglect, it has produced some beautiful blooms, an impressive treat during these gray winter days.
My Christmas cactus, Schlumbergera sp., has grown straggly and demands trimming or repotting, or both. But its no-fail flowering every winter assures it permanent shelf space. It's no wonder rainforest cacti are so popular among houseplant growers; they thrive with little attention. If you don't already own one, stop by my office for a free start, and enjoy the company of another pet plant among your own houseplant collection.
Houseplants ease my impatience as winter plods along. While outdoor perennials sleep, these tender, tolerant plant "pets" keep on growing. No wonder my respect and affection for them grows, too.
Beetle clarification: Last week's article on the deadly combination of drought and beetles on spruce trees blamed the wrong pest for damage in high-elevation forests. Dendroctonus rufipennis is the beetle primarily responsible for taking advantage of the drought-stricken spruce in the forests, leading to the deaths of the trees.
Spruce Ips also is native to Utah forests, but this beetle rarely kills a vulnerable tree in the higher elevations.
But this beetle is a problem for spruce in many urban environments at low elevations. Keeping such trees healthy is the best control against the pest.
For more information on the forest problem: http://www. na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/ sprucebeetle/sprucebeetle. htm and http://extension.usu.edu/forestry/Management/MA Protection.htm.
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Maggie Wolf is an assistant professor for Utah State University Extension in Salt Lake County. Her area of expertise is horticulture. Contact her by e-mail - maggiew@ext.usu.edu - or by phone at 801-468-3171.
