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mark4321_gw

Anyone have Deppea splendens in bloom?

mark4321_gw
11 years ago

Hi,

Deppea splendens is in full bloom in the San Francisco Bay Area and I'm curious where else in the country people have been growing and blooming this plant. Have people succeeded with it in greenhouses? Outdoors in the summer and indoors in winter? Outdoors all year in Florida?

Deppea splendens is a cloudforest plant from the mountains in Mexico. I understand it doesn't necessarily need to be grown under cool conditions, and can bloom in places such as the Huntington Gardens (Near Pasadena, CA) which gets warm summer days but cools off at night (roughly 90/60 in summer). However, I've been told by a couple people that they had not been able to grow it in the heat of California's Central Valley (for example near Sacramento).

This species is becoming more available in California, and I wanted to give a couple of the places I've seen it for sale recently.

I've bought the plant a couple of places. A few years ago I got a 5 gallon plant for about $40 from Sloat Nursery in SF. The plant was from the wholesaler San Marcos Growers. It lives at my mom's place and is starting to bloom, with a ton of buds. Last year it bloomed from about September to March, and it appears ready for a repeat. On Monday it looked like this:

I counted 16 flower/bud spikes (or whatever the correct term) on the whole plant.

This summer I picked up a plant in a 4 inch pot for about $10 at The Dry Garden Nursery in Oakland. This is it on Thursday:

I was recently at the Dry Garden and they were still selling these (also from San Marcos Growers, I think):

They also had plants in 1 gallon pots (for $15, I think. The Trevesias as well):

Annie's Annuals also sells beautiful plants in 4 inch pots (and of course they do mail order):

And I saw some at Strybing Arboretum a week ago, $20 in 1 gallon pots:

Other than it's requirement for essentially frost-free conditions and fairly cool nights, it's not a particularly difficult plant. They can be temperamental and suddenly drop lots of leaves. However, they seem to be reliable bloomers if kept fairly happy. They are reasonably easy from cuttings, and rooted cuttings can bloom at pretty much any size.

There are other Deppea species and I also have Deppea obtusiflora (from UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley), relatively new and hopefully to bloom next Spring. It has small flowers and small glossy leaves. It's completely unlike D. splendens.

Comments (5)

  • garyfla_gw
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi
    Can't help with the Deppea, as I try to avoid anything that remotely requires cool lol Was curious about the "Trevesia " in pic 4? Is this "Snowflake tree"?
    Any mature ones in your area?? Have always wanted to attempt those but have beeen unable to locate any in florida. Beautiful flower btw!! Thanks gary

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Gary,

    It is indeed the 'Snowflake Tree'. I believe it's also from San Marcos Growers--see link at bottom. If you know anyone in CA near one of the nurseries they sell at, you might be able to have them special order it. Of course, in a 1 gallon, it would be a pain to ship.

    The Dry Garden is technically in Oakland, but only block from the border with Berkeley, if you know anyone there. So I think many people assume it's actually in Berkeley

    It looks like right now (their October list) San Marcos Growers only officially offers the plant in a 3/5 gallon size. The list of nurseries that sell their plants includes some outside of CA--in the Pacific Northwest and Texas. They do have an amazing list of plants.

    Retail sources of SMG plants:

    http://www.smgrowers.com/purchase/locator.asp

    Current list (updated monthly):

    http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/primelist.asp

    I'm not sure if I've seen mature growing here--certainly not recently. It strikes me as one that might be easier in Southern California.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Trevesia palmata at San Marcos Growers

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Another type of "snowflake" tree is Cussonia. They are South African trees and many (most/all?) are caudiciforms. Right now I have a Cussonia transvaalensis, which I got at Annie's Annuals for $5.50 (their prices are higher online).

    Here's the Cussonia transvaalensis in July (probably around when I got it):

    And now:


    (time to repot...)

    These plants often have a lot of reddish coloration. Probably this is in part seasonal, or maybe the fact that I don't have full sun is a factor. Maybe it will change soon. I checked some old photos of a plant I had a few years ago, and it looks lie the color changed in November or December. Here's that previous plant, I believe in December. It's dug up, so the caudex is also visible.

    The Dry Garden is a good source of Cussonias, but Annie's has an amazing variety (in theory 7 species), although their availability varies. The Annie's plants are probably smaller (all in 4 inch pots) and cheaper. The Dry Garden plants are also reasonably priced.

    They are South African trees, and I don't know if they do as well in Florida as they do in California.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cussonias at Annie's Annuals

  • garyfla_gw
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi
    Thanks for the tips will check them out.
    There's probably a reason why I haven't found them in florida but i have to learn everything the hard way !! Thanks again gary

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I saw the one gallon Trevesia palmatas from San Marcos Growers at a nursery nearby, on this side of the Bay. They were $1 less, at $13.98. So I got one. I don't have space for another tree, or even bush, but I'm going to see if I can squeeze this in a shady corner.

    I'll start another thread on Trevesia, because I know nothing about this plant. It would be hidden in this thread.