It has been HOT inNew Jersey for the past two months. The Sansevieria had suffered over the winter due to a new job and less time available to make sure they were all watered - some were quite dry for months before I caught the situation and watered regularly again. Everything survived, and has come back quite nicely since going outside this spring (I was late in getting things out ofthe house this year, too - just a bad year for me).

I have noticed that the plants that seemed to suffer the most due to lack of watering on my part have all rebounded and have grown better than ever before, some even pushing multiple growths unexpectedly. Some of my larger plants will only send a new growth out every few years,and then only one or two. My S. cylindrica cylindrica is a prime example. It is almost 4.5 feet tall, but it only has sent out one growth every other year for the past 5 years. Until this year, that is. This winter, the plant was so dry the leaves were shriveled and limp. It took over a month to get the leaves to be properly hydrated when I put the plant outside. It was a sad looking plant, and it should have flowered this spring, and sent new growth out next year (that's what I was expecting, at least). Instead, it has sent up a flower stalk and FOUR strong growths. They are still pretty small, but they are thick and healthy. I expect that the plant will have 4 flowering growths next year, and that they should all be about 5' tall. Now, that's the kind of reaction to abuse that I like!

All of the other plants that were extra dry this past winter have been growing MUCH stronger than in the past. Is this something that can happen every year? Is it something I'd try again on purpose? I'm not sure if I'll abuse any of my hard to replace plants, but I plan on doing some experimentation with some S. parva this year or next year. It could be interesting...

I have noticed that two of my S. cylindrica pautula that were wintered over in a greenhouse have started sending out MANY new growths after flowering this spring. The plants are set a bit high in their pots, so I can see rhizomes snaking out from the crowns of the plants. These plants were coddled over the winter, and did fantastic - they convinced me to bring in some of my variegated sansevieria species to try them. I'll have to keep a close eye on them, as they are valuable plants, and they look nice. Don't want them to walk away on me.

I've been disposing of a lot of my plants this year - I am quickly running out of room, and I have to be more selective on what I can overwinter in my limited space. Considering how much space I have available in the greenhouse at work, I'll bring in some extra plants there and donate them to the school. I have to be careful, since I have some large tropicals in my garden that need to overwinter there, and my esxtensive Hippeastrum collection is currently residing in one corner. I don't want to take over too much space, as it interferes with other teacher's plans.

All of my Sansevieria have gotten MUCH taller this year - my S. trifasciata 'Silver Queen' is almost 5' tall now, the S. masoniana is a full 4' tall, the S. hallii is 3', S. sulcatta is 5', S. singularis is 2' I'm doing well, and am pleased with the plants. I did get a couple of scars on some plants this winter and spring, but they are still growing nicely. They may not win a beauty contest, but all of my plants are well on their way to full maturity.

Joe 'another report to follow' DeRosa