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wanna_run_faster

Flowering Kalanchoe - How long do they last?

wanna_run_faster
15 years ago

I was looking for a pop more color while I wait for the dwarf crown of thorn beds to fill out and stuck in a few flowering kalanchoe. I have been admiring them all week but before I go back and get more I was wondering if anyone can tell me how long they should last in Zone 10? They are in mostly full sun and will have supplemental water as needed. Will they make it through the summer? I've had some wax begonias going for over a year now. Think I could manage the same feat with the kalanchoe?

TIA,

WRF :)

Comments (12)

  • thonotorose
    15 years ago

    I have good luck with them. Hot, dry and sandy....

    There has been some damage from the heavy rains, but they shook it off. Mine have bloomed twice a year and they last a long time. A very good choice for dependable bright color.

    I hope they come back... The freezes did a number on them all.

  • wanna_run_faster
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks Cindee and Thorntorose! Guess I'm heading out now to pick up 15 or 20 more! Thats exactly what I wanted to know! I really didn't want to waste a hundred bucks on something that was going to wilt by the time the summer heat picked up! Do they "spread"? How far apart should I plant them if I was to have a mass of color in a bed? :)

  • thonotorose
    15 years ago

    They don't really spread, more like form a clump, but you can stick branches or even the stem end of leaves into the ground and they will root easily.

    They tend to get leggy so you'll want to keep pinching. Mine responded very well to foliar feed with 1/2 strength miracle gro.

    BTW,,, It is Tho-no-toe-sass-ah. We are above and to the right of the lake. The lake is the largest in Hillsborough County and possibly dug by a chunk of the meteor that plowed out the Gulf of Mexico. It means a good place to find flint rock. Geography lesson over. :-)

    Lol... Veronica

    Here is a link that might be useful: Thonotosassa, FL

  • bodiggly
    15 years ago

    I have the red variety and it will bloom until about April. I dead-head them then and they will bloom again, just not as heavy.

  • wanna_run_faster
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Sorry about that Veronica :) I think I was "associating" the something I know about roses (the thorns) lol Do you grow roses in Thonotosassa? :)

  • thonotorose
    15 years ago

    Yes I do! Lol.

    I think I am near to 80 varieties of Old Garden Roses. Everything is budding out and I am expecting a spectacular spring flush. The camera battery is charged!

  • natives_and_veggies
    15 years ago

    I have some down here, from cuttings from a friend, and they're pretty much perennial as far as I can tell. But the first year I planted the cuttings, they didn't bloom at all. Not sure if that was my own neglect or if it takes them a year from cuttings, but my very common red ones are very pretty right now. If you're willing to wait, they sprout from cuttings easily.

    Susannah

  • tropicalfreak
    15 years ago

    When I worked for a Interior/exterior-scaping company in Orlando we used kalanoche. The blooms lasted about a month. This was evident both inside and outside.

    Tropicalfreak

  • imatallun
    15 years ago

    I picked literally thousands of Kalanchoe starts out of my backyard in SE Florida, but the yard had been sorely neglected for several years.

    It took me five years to even want to see Kalanchoe in my yard again. It's potted and pretty and I love it, a red bloomer. Cindea, your pink is beautiful.

    I fell all out of love for Kalanchoe for a long time. Snort: I still have issues with it.

  • cindeea
    15 years ago

    Tropicalfreak SWEETIE CLiff!!! Hiya love! That lil rose bloomer (glad ya like it Tall) has been blooming Non-Stop since Christmas. Even bloomed through the colds and frosts. I found that sucker at Publix of all places. I hate to say I was gonna take it to Ricky, but I fell in love with it and took him another Bromeliad, instead. It makes new babies easily. It looks like teeny rosebuds! I sure wish I could find more of this guy. It's evergreen and always blooming, I want to put more all over the place.

  • rainy230
    15 years ago

    Well I havent killed mine yet!! I've had them for about 4 years or so. The dogs keeps knocking the poor things out of the ground , I stick them back in and there fine !! That's my kind of plant !!