A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 Mother-of-Thousands ready to break out!

Oh, our BIG mother-of-thousands is ready to do it!
In all the years I've had these babies I've never witnessed one making flowers.
We have three different kinds budding and one is getting ready to fully open.
Sad, here, because after they bloom, it's all over.
I had read that if you keep them slightly stressed, they'll just keep making plantlets & will go on and on. Guess I wasn't mean enuf to 'em. The main one is over 4 ft tall and it'll open first. Two other types just produced buds and will open in a coupla weeks. (((SIGH)))
We'll post pics this weekend..

Oh Jillie please take a pix of the whole plant as well as the blooming! Okie Dokie! How exciting!!!!! Can't wait to see the pix's!

Jillie and JC...any pics yet??? I'm very curious, not sure I know what a mother-of-thousands looks like.

ME TOO, ME TOO!!! Can't wait to see those pictures!

Tomorrow morning, we're shooting old Mother. She's almost in full bloom and she's amazing. We have a smaller version that's almost there, too. We'll post 'em tomorrow nite.
Thanks for asking, you guys!

Gardengal, take a peek at what old Mother looked like a few months ago...

At last! here's our beloved Mother-of-thousands in her almost-glory. I don't know how long she'll bloom, but after she's done, she'll REALLY be done (for).
Check her out....

Mother of Thousands Album

Jillie it didn't work....try again!!!!

I wanna see, I wanna see!

Cat, try clicking again....It works for me

Doesn't work for me either...

Whoops, Hollywood just told me I did it wrong! Sorry!

Lemme try this again....

Be right back..

Now?

Mother

I see pictures,
going for a peak!!
Weezie

Yep worked! It has said something about we weren't the owner!!!

Wow! That is terrific...so glad you could share your "bloomin mother" (Ha Ha) with everybody.

So she will die now?????

How beautiful,
the colors on the stalks of flowers are
so pretty, ever multi~tonal!
And the flowers are soooooooooo neat!!
Do you have them staked??????
Or just leaning on the chair????

And in the one picture with the
yard stick and it's leaning on the chair,
what is the plant in the far background
that's a lime green color, on the wall,
with it hanging over the wall.????????????
VERY INTERRESTING!!!

Weezie

Weez, Mother is normally up on a high garden stand, leaning against our retaining wall for support. We took her down & propped her up against the chair for her "photo shoot".

The plant in the background is a donkey-tail..Hollywood has had it for about 10 years....I don't think there's any soil left in the pot...I'm afraid to do a re-potting on it...It's very touchy & drops its little parts if disturbed. I seems to be happy, root-bound and all.

Yes Cat, she'll die now, from all that I've read. But, I harvested a million of her plantlets and we have many, many of her offspring in different stages of baby-hood. That's one of the things I love about these plants!

What great documentation of a very interesting plant!!! Is this the plant that makes babies everywhere it touches down? I think I read that people are afraid to plant it because it tends to take over everything.

The flowers are very nice. They look like the type hummingbirds would love - do you get many there?

Oops... seems that we posted at the same time - you answered my question about the babies!

plants, we get a zillion hummers, & they're loving Mother, right now. In India, These plants ARE considered weeds because they reproduce at a rapid rate...We find her babies growing in other plantings. Always a surprise!

I wonder if there are a few of that type,
because we used to have one a long time ago,
and the I don't remember it that tall, or
that type of flower,
but all the babies are on the side of the
leaves and drop down on the dirt and form
new ones all over the dirt...
It was very pretty.. But yessssssssssss so
many babies!!!
Weezie

Weeze, I've been discovering so many varieties of this plant. We have about four really different ones that make those little plantlets on the leaves...

Oh, and Weeze, I think the plant that you mentioned being in the background of the birdie shots? I think it might be foxglove...

I'll go back and take a peak,
but I"m not sure about that one...
My grannie grew them and I do and I love them,
didn't think so...
I wish there was a closer shot of them???
You've got me peeked now...
Summer's coming right???

Weezie

NOPE!!

You gotta go put that picture in the MYSTERY SECTION!!
I'd say a penstamin or something,....

We love a good mystery!!!!

Weezie

WEll, I'll say nope to the ones I have on my coast. I think flower had some different shaped ones, maybe she'll take a peak at it!!

Hi Everyone!

I have done some investigation on the Mother of Thousands. They are Crassulaceae - Bryophyllum.

What we have been calling the Mother of Thousands is really a Chandelier plant or Pregnant plant.

The real Mother of Thousands is also called a Mexican Hat plant.

I went out during my lunch break and snapped a few pictures of our other Bryophyllum, here's the link:

Look in More Mother of Thousands

Here are two links to site about Bryophyllum:

Bryophyllum Plant Identification Guide

Bryophyllum Common Names

Have Fun!

jc2weho

So now I know...very cool plant indeed. Thanks for sharing the pics!