So, some of you will remember a while back when I complained about how I have these plants that I grew from seed that someone gave to me that I cannot identify. They have never bloomed but they have gotten bigger and bigger each year. They handle some cold but not hard freezes so I protect them in my hoophouse during the winter. Each year they send up what look like buds only to fool me with new leaf growth and no flowers. I have grown them for almost 8 years. I grew three different plants from seed from this persons garden, one turned out to be a small flowered white brugmansia that I have shared at the swaps; one turned out to be some sort of waxy bush that eventually died after many years, the last of the three is my mystery plant.

The seeds were collected from a relative of a friend that grows a lot of flowers in her garden in the hills above Bogota, Colombia, South America. The garden included plants that were not necessarily native to South America. The connections between friends and gardeners have been lost over time so there is no way to contact the original gardener. I thought that they might be Iochroma or maybe Cestrum, something fragrant and bushy for a cool weather tropical garden.

So guess where I am on vacation this week? Not Bogota but nearby Medellin Colombia. Today we toured the large botanic garden and I actually FOUND MY PLANT. But it wasn't in bloom and there was no sign telling me what it is. And since it is a national holiday there was no staff on hand to ask.

If I can't find out what it is after all of this - I will just have to post photos on Name That Plant or maybe on the Tropical Plant Forums.