S. 'Fernwood' in Italy, from a cutting received in March 2006.

Melissa

Melissa, thank you so much for responding, I would think others would have something in flower this time of the year. Italy is an ideal location for growing Sansevieria. Would you be willing to post a picture? Norma

Have nothing in flower at this time, but would appreciate a list of what Norma has flowering in the far west. Yale

Yes, Norma...what do you have flowering?

My S. parva just finished flowering, and sp. Lavranos and Bleck has a stalk about to bloom.

Norma,

Doubtless parts of Italy are ideal for Sansevierias, but Piacenza isn't one of them. We have long, dark, chilly winters (usually) and a lot of humidity in the fall (usually), so that I have to pull my plants indoors around October just like everybody else, and keep them there until April or May. We have had a very warm and dry fall this year, and perhaps the Sansevierias sense it somehow and, for whatever reason, several have kept on growing.

I know I'll have to learn how to take digital photos and post them one day, and when I do, I'll put out some pictures of my plants. I like the forums a lot, and am glad that people do post photos. The information I get on the Sansevieria forum--and the company in my interest!--are very welcome.

Melissa

Hey Norma-
In NJ, well, I have not yet had my plants long enough for them to become flowering size. Hopefully someday....

It is ashame Joe Derosa does not still post here. He lives not far from my place of work, and had a nice selection of flowering-size Sans of various species. I think he contributed a lot to this forum in the past. Maybe someone else from the east will post.

I've got no Sans. in bloom but have been wondering what happened to Joe deR, haven't seen him here in a while. Yes, he contributed a great deal here & I privately guessed that he quit here because it was so inactive; sorry to see him go.

Mellissa, it sounds if your weather is about the same as mine. Hot in the summer, and very cool in the winter, not going below 30F. I put the heat on in my greenhouse in the winter. I have some very nice ones now.
Lets try and keep this forum active by asking a lot of questions, and responding. We all need to give input.
Rogers Weld of Ferwood Nursery is a dear friend of mine. We exchange plants, and I buy plants from him. I have worked with this species since 1968 that is the oldest record I have of collecting them. Come Spring I hope be able to share a few starts of these plants. In the mean time I want to give you as much information as I can. Not all of you are beginners, so it will be beginners informatioin at first. I don't mind sharing I just want to know who I'm sharing with. I belong to another list and we are all family, close family. If it wasn't for them, I think I would have fallen apart after my husbands death, I send them whatever they want within reason. This is an advanced group, and share all new informatioon, and tricks, and care instructions, and experiments. Many are far better gowers than I am, I grow mine hard and they look like African plants. But then I am able to ID them. I can't ID young new leaves, they look too much alike. I did not proof this this. Norma

I do agree with keeping the forum alive. I spend most of my time on the rose forums, and they're very lively and a pleasure to participate in. One of the pleasures of Sanserierias, I'm noticing, is that they give a plant lover something to enjoy when there's nothing happening in the garden, in fact when you don't even want to set foot outside. We're down to eight hours of light from sunrise to sunset, though it's still sunny and relatively warm here, and I have a few blooms still on a couple of my Tea roses: all most untypical for this time of year. We're on about the same latitude as central Oregon, just below the 45th Parallel, and are in Zone 8, I think, with winter temperatures rarely descending below 20F (the lowest temperature I've seen in four years on our property was around 10F, and that was in a cold spot), and generally staying in the 30F-60F range in the cold months. We do have abundant winter chill, and temperate climate plants like apples and tulips grow fine here.

As I mentioned before, I'm just beginning to explore Sansevierias, having gotten my first one a couple of years ago, and most of my varieties within the last year. Norma, I appreciate your suggestions in another thread about varieties with a lot of white in them needing less water in winter. In fact, not seeing any signs of activity in my Hahnii plants and in 'Bantel's Sensation', I've been avoiding watering them, while continuing to water the two Parva forms, the two older tall Trifasciats, and a couple of others that have young growth or flower stalks. So your observation seems to be in line with what I'm seeing in my plants. By the way, I don't think my 'Fernwood's flowers are going to open.

I will certainly contribute to the forum with the greatest good will, but I don't know how much I'll have to say given my present very limited state of knowledge. I certainly would love to be able to swap plants, once mine get going, but I'm on the wrong continent for that. On the other hand, I'm able to buy from Alan Butler, and that's a considerable compensation. I'm open to suggestions for topics for the forum.

Melissa

Melissa, I looked today, and found my S. 'Fernwood' just staring up it's flower stem. I thought you may like to know. Good morning, Norma

Thanks, Norma.

Question: does a flowering plant need more light? My cuttings received in October are being coddled with what I am guessing is the best spot in the house: the south-facing kitchen window, close to the cooking stove. I know Sansevierias aren't supposed to like direct sunlight, but I suspect that eight hours' worth with the sun low all day is a different story from the blazing light of summer. Anyway, my 'Fernwood' with the flowers that appear to be aborting is in my back room, fairly warm, fairly light but with no direct sun. Meanwhile, S. parva 'Gilt Edge' in the kitchen window is also sending up a flower stalk (this plant was a cutting two months ago), and I'm waiting in suspense to see the outcome.

Hope you get some lovely flowers from your 'Fernwood'.

Norma, happy holidays, and the same to all the Sansevierites who read this! Whatever day you celebrate, I hope you'll do it happily and in peace and charity.

Melissa

I celebrate all of the Holidays, they are fun, and keeps my spirits up. Melissa just wanted you to know that my S. cylindrica v. cylindria is in full flower, if I knew how to post a picture here I would do so. Norma

S. parva is now is flower as well as S. 'Ferwood' Fernwood Nursery and any others that are a hybrid of S. parva.
On my table in the house is S. cylindrica v. cylindrica and S. 'Koko' from Hawaii. I'll keep watching to see what is coming up, they don't all flower at the same time. Norma

Melissa, my San. Robusta is just barely starting to come into flower for the first time. The plant must be 10 yrs. old at this time, in a small pot I think only 1 gal.
Norma

Hi,
I haven't been on the forum for a long time and thought I'd see what is new.

Right now my old S. Mason and Rauh is blooming again.
This is the third time in the past year. I didn't know it would bloom so often.
It is zero degrees outside and just 55 in the room where it hangs (space heater in action!)

Also, I gave a piece to an acquaintance over a year ago and mentioned that they do not appreciate direct sunshine.
He promptly sat it in a south facing window where it gets sun all day and it is doing just great and has several new branches. He's already had to repot the piece and it has also bloomed for him.

Now if I can remember how to post a photo, I'll do that.

Ellie

Norma, congratulations on your S. robusta! My S. parva 'Gilt Edge' is still sitting in its south-facing window and its flower stalk is still developing. I think I need grow lights for the winter.

Ellie, I love your story. It pays to be skeptical about received wisdom!

We are having a very un-wintery winter here. I hope it comes before it's time for spring to arrive. And it's terribly dry: pleasant now, but summer's going to be nasty if we don't get some precipitation.

Melissa

Hi Melissa San. 'Koko' had to be removed from the house. The sweet smell was just too much for me. It lasted quiet a long time. Norma [

Okay now San. cv. 'Frosty Spears' is showing a flower stalk. It looks like S. suffruticosa in growth habit. Norma

Melissa, I just found San. 'Stella' in flower today, ugly skinny little stalk of skimpy flowers. The leaves are narrow and well channeled to the tips. It looks like a S. cylindrica cv patula hybrid with possible S. sulcata. Could be a dept. of Agrig. hybrid. I think it's an ugly plant, has been growing tall because it has been in the shade. Norma

Well Nan, as long as you have asked I have San. sp. Rauh 888 UCBG 60-6l4-1 Kenya. This offset was from a field collected plant many years ago. It grows like a San. caulescens which is a very old species, that can be used for a hanging basket display. I can't wait to see the flowers on this plant. I think I have one more for tonight. Went out to look again and found San. pearsonii, this plants leaves grow straight up, very thick round leaves. Norma

Hi, everyone!

My S. 'Fernwood' came into flower a few days ago. Most of the flowers did abort, but a few survived and opened. Cool...I'd never seen a Sansevieria flower before. The buds on S. parva 'Gilt Edge' are still developing, it seems. Nothing else among the Sans, but outside we have Sarcococcas (fragrant), Daphne odora (fragrant and beautiful), a few violets and the earliest miniature irises, so there's more floral excitement than usual for this time of year. The daphne flowered a month earlier than in 2006. In general the weather is a lot more like April than like Feb. 1st. We are having an enchanted winter, and I don't think the fairy who cast the spell is a benevolent one.

Norma, you must be having an awful lot of fun with your plants. I hope one day to be somewhat knowledgeable about Sansevierias. Right now I'm pretty happy if they just stay alive. Your collection sounds beautiful.

One question. My S. parva and S. parva 'Gilt Edge' both have a couple of bottom leaves that are yellowing and dying. The first I got as a cutting last spring, and the 'Gilt Edge' as a cutting in the fall. Both have grown willingly, and the 'Gilt Edge' is the one with the flower stalk. Because they both have new growth, and 'Gilt Edge' is also in a south-facing window in sun, I've kept on watering them moderately. Aside from the yellowing leaves I mention above, the plants both look healthy. So, is it rot from overwatering? Or just a normal death of old leaves? Thanks.

Enjoy your Sansevierias, everyone! I'm already planning my spring order.

Melissa

Melissa, I'm so glad that you reported that your cutting of S. parva flowered before it was mature. Did you notice any mauve color to the flowrs? I found out that there is more than one clone of S. parva, there is only one clone of me. No brothers or sisters. A article about San. came out in the Los Angeles Times today, Goodness! it was a whole page article. Good credits went to the Huntington Gardens, all the pictures were done on their premises.
Norma

Norma,

To recapitulate, my two cultivars with flower stalks are S. 'Fernwood', rec'd as cutting spring 2006 and with flower stalk this winter, most flowers aborted, few that did open. Plant was outdoors this summer, in a fairly warm and luminous room this winter. Then S. parva 'Gilt Edge', rec'd as cutting Oct. 2006, with well developed flower stalk now but flowers not opened up yet, so I can't say what color they'll be; I'll let you know when it happens. 'Gilt Edge' is in a sunny window in the kitchen, so a warm bright spot. My S. parva and S. parva long-leaf form have both grown like gangbusters but haven't bloomed yet or formed flower stalks. How long does it take a cutting to reach maturity? I was also interested that 'Gilt Edge' bloomed so soon after its arrival.

The Brookside Nursery (Alan Butler) here in Italy has several forms of S. parva listed in its online catalog, several of them including multiple clones. Unfortunately my S. parva from them didn't give the catalog number, only the species name, so I don't know which one I have. I asked Alan Butler to send me the catalog number with future cultivars, so I'll know more exactly what I've got. It's a wonderful catalog, with pictures of many cultivars, and Alan Butler is good to deal with, so I'm fortunate to have them here in Italy.

Melissa

Melissa, don't let it completely dry out, give it some warm water, then wait until April 1 and water it again. Don't let the flowers dry out. Keep it warm no lower than 55F
When I was in England it was Feb 28, and snow greeted me on the ground. For me that was wonderful. When I left, the plane was coming in from Minn. to pick us up, it was delayed a day, it just couldn't leave because of the snow banks at that airport. So British Air put us up for 24 hours in Brighton, which I think is a very nice place to stay. Love the Antique shops. I also love the summer palace there. Norma

Woodnative, I have two San. tri. 'Bantels Sensation' coming into flower at this time. I've had these clones for about 28 yrs. This is not the orginal plant, the Huntington Garden has that one. It is just an offset from my mother plant. It's not going to look like much because it is a sport of S. trifasciata which I have never been able to get to flower for me. This event I'm proud of. Norma