Wild horses couldn’t pull me away from the crowd that was growing at the plant stall. What was the fuss all about?
“Birds,” I heard. “Green birds.” If the first remark sounded odd, the second sounded even more bizarre.
I squeezed my way through the crowd and saw it. It was mostly stems, as well as a few leaves and bracts. Nothing great, I thought. Nothing that warranted that much attention anyway.
And then I saw them. Tiny green birds between the bracts. And they did look like birds too, except that these didn’t have feathers and would never take flight.
The prices were a setback though. So we gave ourselves a cooling off period of a few weeks but the interest grew stronger instead.
Finally, we succumbed to the temptation and bought two small seedlings.
Then I saw a bigger plant which was flowering. And it was going for a song. What a bargain, I thought. That opened the floodgates.
We bought another two plants within the week. And then I sowed some pedilanthus seeds.
At the last count, we have about 9 seedlings and 3 mature plants. 😀
But, why the craze?
The proprietor at a garden centre waxed lyrical about it. She went into a lengthy explanation about the significance of its name, the eggs the bird laid, etc.
However, most of it was lost on me. What I did gather was that the plant brings luck, hence the princely prices it commands. But I don’t subscribe to all that hullabaloo.
It’s obvious that the person who is happier and who is better off financially after the sale of a pedilanthus is the proprietor himself. He’d probably be laughing all the way to the bank.
I suppose people buy the pedilanthus for all sorts of reasons. For me, it’s all boils down to the tiny green birds.
But did I stop with the pedilanthus bracteatus? Oh, no. I wanted the Pedilanthus tithymaloides and its pink birds too. I was almost cooing when my aunt gave me a couple of cuttings.
Imagine what will happen if the two plants cross-pollinated. Imagine the coloration of the birds. Will these be mutilcolored like lorikeets? There I go again, off on another flight of fancy …
Care and propagation: well-drained soil, semi to full sun, water moderately; propagate using seeds or cuttings
I got one for the same reason! I am sure you will grow to love the plant more and more. Those little birds are so charming (not the luck it brings ha ha ha…)!
hi shamrock
Glad that you wrote about this in your blog.
Can show moi the seed pods and the seeds and seedlings that you planted too?
I also grow the Pedilanthes in my CG. That’s the one that doesn’t flower at all. So very curious what the seed pods and seeds look like. tia
hi cawanmushi, you can see a seed pod at the top left of the photo just under the words ‘Care and propagation’. i’ve just included a pix of the seedings in the post but i haven’t take any photos of the seeds.
hi shamrock
yes, I see the seed pod now … it’s round 🙂
Tks. for the pics.
hello, my plant has some seed pods how do i propogate from them do I just cut the pods and put them in soil? or do i need to wait for them to dry out or? i’m sorry this is the 1st time i’m doing this so I”ma t a loss i do appreciate your advise.
hi happyshirt. wait for the seed to mature and drop off before planting it.
Thanks a bunch!
Sorry to dig up an old thread. Just wanted to know if the proper way to encourage flowering is by cutting away a bit of the stem at the end and remove a bit of the stem leaves? this is for the Pedilanthus tithymaloides plat im referring to. Thanks.
Nice plant