Plants from Logee's
Whenever I entertain, I always fill my home with beautiful houseplants.
Houseplants bring life to any room. I love all kinds of container plants, and over the years I have amassed quite a collection of specimens. Recently, Byron Martin, and his business partner, Laurelynn Martin, of Logee’s Plants for Home and Garden, gave me several beautiful and rare tropical houseplants. Located in Danielson, Connecticut, Logee’s offers more than 1500 plant cultivars - most of which are all propagated right in its greenhouses. I have been going to Logee's for many years, and Byron has been a guest on both my television and radio shows. Here are some photos of the newest additions to my expansive collection.
Enjoy.
-
- Last week, I hosted a dinner party in honor of my friend and plantsman, Dan Hinkley. Among my guests – Byron Martin, owner of Logee’s, one of my favorite sources for tropical plants. He brought me several beautiful specimens.
-
- All the plants are so gorgeous – mostly begonias, a citrus plant, and a couple other rare specimens.
-
- A few of the smaller specimens needed potting, so Ryan places each one next to a pot to ensure it is the right size. Don’t repot into too big a container – best to go up only one size.
-
- Here is another plant that needs potting into a slightly larger container.
-
- I like to use terra cotta and clay pots because they allow proper aeration and moisture to penetrate through the sides and to the plant.
-
- A clay shard is placed over the hole to help with drainage.
-
- We always save shards from broken pots – it’s a great way to repurpose those pieces.
-
- For growing begonias indoors, use a soil-less mix – one that is mostly peat-moss based with additional perlite and/or vermiculite to improve aeration around the roots.
-
- Ryan gently removes the begonia from the plastic pot and loosens the roots with his hands.
-
- And carefully places it into the new pot – planting it slightly deeper than it was before.
-
- More potting mix is added around the plant and patted down, so there is good contact between the plant and the soil.
-
- This stunning plant is Begonia ‘Passing Storm’ – a rhizomatous heirloom variety with pink to silver colored foliage.
-
- Look at the leaves – they are almost tear shaped. It is so pretty. It prefers slightly moist soil and partial sun.
-
- Here, Ryan is potting up a beautiful Strongylodon macrobotrys, commonly known as jade vine, emerald vine or turquoise jade vine. It is a species of leguminous perennial woody vine, a native of the tropical forests of the Philippines, with stems that can reach up to 60-feet in length.
-
- Once the plant is in the new pot, Ryan packs the soil down around the plant to remove air pockets which could fill with water. This plant typically grows beside streams in damp forests. It is prized in tropical and subtropical gardens for its showy foliage and unusual colored flowers.
-
- The plant will have turquoise claw-shaped flowers that are carried in pendant trusses of about 75 or more.
-
- This is Begonia ‘Shooting Star’ – an outstanding new Logee’s hybrid with tightly spiraled leaves that are deeply pointed. Chartreuse mottled leaves with chocolate-burgundy edges make this begonia a fancy specimen.
-
- A standard rhizomatous begonia, ‘Shooting Star’ has an upright structure with thick heavy stems and tight internodes to show off its big colorful leaves. White flowers appear above the foliage in the wintertime and, like many begonias, ‘Shooting Star’ is tolerant to heat and home conditions.
-
- This is Begonia ‘Desert Dream’ – a Logee’s exclusive hybrid that has amazing multi-colored leaves depending on light level and season. Begonia ‘Desert Dream’ has sunburnt orange leaves complemented by its deeply curled Aztec clay-colored, earth tone leaves.
-
- The pronounced chartreuse veining gives ‘Desert Dream’ a splash of color that makes this begonia stand out among others. It will look fantastic in my collection.
-
- Begonia ‘Lime Royal’ is a winter blooming begonia with pink flowers that rise above the chartreuse-green foliage. This Logee’s hybrid was developed by Byron himself – so pretty.
-
- ‘Lime Royal’ has magnificent lime leaves with colorful red splashes. It is ideal for a partially sunlit windowsill.
-
- And this one is Citrus Australasia, Australian Red Lime. It also needs a bigger pot.
-
- This rare Australian Red Lime, previously called Red Finger Lime, produces burgundy-red, two-inch long fruits that have tiny juice vesicles inside. Australian Red Lime’s unusual color and compact growth habit makes it a wonderful potted plant.
-
- The leaves are small and the flowers are sweetly scented which is highly unusual and not a typical citrus aroma.
-
- This is Brighamia insignis, commonly known as Ōlulu or Alula in Hawaiian, or colloquially as the vulcan palm, Hawaiian palm, or cabbage on a stick. It is a critically endangered species in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae. The Hawaiian Palm has a reversed growing season, that is, it grows in the winter and rests in the summer.
-
- Ryan loosens the root ball by hand and places it into the pot.
-
- The care of the Hawaiian palm is very simple, but the growth habit is like a palm tree – new leaves form in the crown and the older, lowermost leaves turn yellow and wither.
-
- Ryan also potted up a few viable leaves that fell off other plants and were saved for future rooting. Begonia leaves root easily – just push its stem into potting soil, and keep it moist. After a few weeks, or more, new leaves emerge. When the roots are fully established, it’s ready to pot.
-
- This is such a wonderful collection of tropical plants.
-
- I can’t wait to see them thrive with all my other specimens on this long sliding table in my main greenhouse. Thank you, Byron and Laurelynn – they’re all so beautiful.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
