Weldenia/Commelinaceae

Lee Poulsen wpoulsen@pacbell.net
Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:46:49 PST
On Feb 10, 2006, at 4:27 PM, Mary Sue Ittner wrote:
> That was a beautiful picture
> from Bill Dijk of Weldenia candida. At this stage in my addicition I
> appreciate seeing pictures of things I shouldn't try to grow since  
> they
> need such different conditions than I can easily give them so I  
> shouldn't
> even think of wanting them.

But I do anyway, and would love to try getting and growing Weldenia.  
People keep mentioning and showing new and unheard of (to me)  
species, all with spectacular flowers. All of which seem to be  
impossible to find sources for. It's almost as if these people enjoy  
torturing all of us in this fashion.

> I've never heard of Dichorisandra

A common one that I've grown is Dichorisandra thyrsiflora, also known  
as the Blue Ginger (even though it's not a ginger). It is a wonderful  
shade of blue and is easy to grow here in southern California,  
although I think it's tropical. I got it as a rhizome-looking thick  
piece of root thing. So I think it could be considered a geophyte.  
You can see pictures of it at <http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/ 
Commelinaceae/Dichorisandra_thyrsiflora.html>. Logees and Aloha  
Tropicals, among many others, sells it, and Glasshouse Works sells a  
variegated form of it as well as D. pendula ("Blue Pendant Ginger")  
which I've never grown.


--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena, California, USA, USDA Zone 10a




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