I am joining the SOS crowd today with our new host, Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. Follow the link to see more SOS posts! Thank you to Jim for taking on this task.
I have been ruminating about the odd nature of some of the plants in my garden. There are aspects of my garden that remind me of The Far Side cartoons. Below is a Pencil Cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli) standing sentinel by my side door. I kept thinking this thing would snap in a high wind, but it hasn’t.
Another novelty plant in the garden, Coral Plant (Jatropha multifida). These look oddly like a multi stem marijuana plant, but in reality are deadly poisonous and the flowers are a great butterfly attractor. These are planted in a narrow spot between the house and driveway.
The Coral Plant flower. It looks like a coral from the ocean..
The caudex of a Desert Rose (Adenium obesum). I have several around the garden. This one has the most interesting trunk. These are native to the Arabian Peninsula and grow quite large.
Buds on the Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscue arboreum). I was poised above this with the pruning shears when I realized how many buds were there!
The super tropical Palm accent is a gift from a passing bird. It’s the seedling of a Chinese Fan Palm (Livinstonia chinensis) This is about 8 or 10 feet tall and has been in the garden for the past 10 years. The trees get much bigger. It has been surprising to me how slowly palm trees grow.
That’s my Six for this Saturday. Maybe I should take up garden cartooning??
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
They are plants from the far side. I think the more unusual the better.
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Every now and then a plant is just too weird, have you seen the black Bat Flowers?
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That sounded familiar, so I looked it up. A wild-looking plant. Did you see PBS Green Planet? They covered some very unusual plants and I just read a story about a poison plant garden in England.
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No, I need to see if we can stream PBS, having a hard time figuring cable free life out..I want to watch the Stanley Tucci Italy series. I love that a poison plant garden.
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I can’t figure out what is streaming unless my kids tell me.
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I tried without success to sow a jatropha. I know the seed is very slow to start but nothing for months (since March)… I still have 2 more seeds to try. This is a very unusual shrub that I would like to grow. Good tropical choice this weekend.
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Is this the one you want to grow? I get a lot of seedpods and get rid of them quickly so the dog won’t get them…do you want some?
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Why not? Yes it’s the jatropha multifida.Do you know if seeds should be sown fresh? (So mine may be too old? ) And should they be scarified (I had scarified them a bit with sandpaper and soaked them 3 days before sowing – hot bed)
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I don’t know how to grow them from seed. I will ask the Florida gardening group. The seed pods are like figs and start green and dry yellow. I have never opened one…I will see what I can find out and let you know.
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Thanks, email me if you have their answer. And we could do a swap with stuff from here, why not?!
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OK
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The coral plant is definitely something out of Dr. Seuss!
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Indeed!
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These look like species that live in Bedrock, where the Flintstones live. Pencil cactus is the same as ‘Sticks of Fire’, which was a fad only a few years ago. I think that it would have been a good fad, but gardeners do not know how to maintain it. They just shear it like a hedge!
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It is a Firesticks variety. The green ones go crazy here.
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Oh, I did not recognize it. It looks green to me.
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I think of Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars when I see the Desert Rose trunk! Looking at your conversation with Fred, I am astonished that you can swap seeds from one continent to another in that way. We’d probably nearly be thrown in prison if we tried that!
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I love how you see the self seeded plant as a gift from a bird. The Coral plant is beautiful, I can almost image a cartoon fish or two swimming through it.
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The coral plant is magnificent in its totality, its shadow on the wall enhances its form beautifully.
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An unusual bunch! I have always been a fan of the Far Side cartoons and take a look at the website every morning for a little giggle.
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