Comments on: Poinsettias

By: Lani

Lani — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 22:14:19 +0000

I also saw poinsettias in Market! Market! I actually took pictures of it. Christmas na christmas na talaga.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 21:24:35 +0000

Skunkeye, Snow?! Oddly, I am envious. I love snow in small doses. They do have amaryllis here from dutch bulbs but the paperwhites seem to flounder in the heat (I tried growing them from bulbs I brought in my luggage one year)….

By: Skunkeye

Skunkeye — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 20:51:09 +0000

Well I got a clarification from my mother about Baguio poinsettias…
as I remeber, they did grow all over the Residence grounds but she claims the native varieties were “stalky” (ala the geraniums I’ve been growing for the last couple of years and bring in each winter to a sunny room just because I feel too guilty to let them die)- an dreally didn’t serve much ornamental quality.
I had this idyllic vision of all our poinsettias being grown on our land in Baguio and brought down to Manila (there were tons of em!) – but, alas, I suspect what we had were imports as you said.
Its funny because the pricing for them is highly variable in cosmopolitan DC – city flower shops and supermarkets will chards upwards to twenty bucks for the plants – but if you go out to the suburbs to Home Depot or Lowes, you can find 4-5 plants for less than ten bucks.
I do know, however, from experience, that these varieties don’t last more than three weeks and do succumb to that affore-commented white rot.
Maybe do a post on “paperwhites” or narcissi, forcing the bulbs that is, no? I have a huge, fragrant jungle going on right now indoors in my house and I seem to remember a pletheroa of them in HK which makes me think they might be of particular regional interest in Manila. My amarilyii are just staring to take root and grow – I’m looking forward to the blooms. this is the first time I’m working with non-pre-grown bulbs.
I’ve also got daffodil bulbs that have been paper-bagged in fridge for some ten weeks now – I hope my forcing experiement works out…
Haha, it is snowing here right now!

By: noel

noel — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 03:37:46 +0000

It’s summer here in Wellington. They have red flowering tree – pohutukawa which blooms with red flowers and has become the NZ’s Christmas tree. Google the word pohutukawa and you can read more.

https://www.opotiki.com/data/pohutuka.htm

By: Mila

Mila — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 03:33:46 +0000

I was talking to the lady who had a large set of poinsettias at Salcedo market last Saturday and she told me to do a quick spray of water with a little bit of soap to clean the stems and the undersides of the leaves, kills/prevents aphid infestation and hopefully will prevent the mold my poinsettias seem to get (maybe I have a white thumb?).

By: schatzli

schatzli — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 13:36:49 +0000

am no expert on this part but.. I saw yellow poinsettia yesterday at the greek market. The other has pinkish middle with speck of red like freckles. I didnt bring a cam though. Ah this cross breeding of plants

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 22:50:44 +0000

Skunkeye, yes they still grow in Baguio and Tagaytay in a few gardens. But I would guess that they are about 80-90% less common than at their peak in the 1960’s and 1970’s…

By: Skunkeye

Skunkeye — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 21:34:26 +0000

Don’t they still grow in Bagiuo? I seem to remember at the Residence there… a few years ago.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 02:18:02 +0000

Chris, funny you should mention the cattleya, my mom used to grow them as well. A stunning large bloom is the ultimate achivement for an amateur or professional gardener alike. Cuttng it and giving it to the church on Christmas eve is a wonderful gesture… so extravagant, so personal, so genuine… the best stuff is always that which is closest to home… Oh, the holidays are shaping up just dandy this year!

By: Mik

Mik — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 00:05:00 +0000

Thanks for the link! :) Our dogs are incessant chewers, hence the worry.