I potted up two aloe vera and six Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic'™ at the greenhouse today. Next to the two aloe vera on the left is a little pot of five of their pups. I may not have gotten enough root from all of them so we will see if any of them grow. The larger aloe in terra cotta pots (not pictured) that made it through last winter look better now than I expected, and I am reconsidering my plan to tear them apart and replant the pieces. Counting the two big ones here, I have six or seven semi-presentable aloes.
The Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic'™ is my 30-year continuing propagation of what is probably Plectranthus Amboinicus, known by several inaccurate common names that I'm not going to repeat here. Just call it by my made-up trademarked name; it is much more accurate. It is a semi-succulent, which means it can't store as much water in its leaves as succulents and doesn't need soil as gritty (but it still has to be well-draining).
This plant is so easy to propagate, when one shows signs of getting leggy in late winter, I just take cuttings and start new rather than trying to save the plant. I decided to try something different with this one, which was the best one I had last November. It spent the winter in our bedroom in a west-facing window, and here it is January 30.
It was at that point where it started going from bushy to leggy. One distinguishing feature of this plant was the tall central stalk. I thought maybe it might flower (which I have never seen in 30+ years) but it was not to be.
This plant was the source of most of the cuttings I took this spring, a total of 18. Unlike my petunia cutting success rate, which is about 25%, I was 100% with 'Velveteen' cuttings this year.... Getting back to doing something different with this plant, I pruned it heavily to see what will happen. There are many small sprouts lower down on the stems, so something will happen. Will it become nice and bushy, or remain sparse and weird? Seeing it like this with the tree-like central trunk almost reminds me of a Jade. But it grows much faster than a Jade.
July 5 update: Here is what the prune job looks like after two weeks. It is filling in but is far from presentation quality. If I had to do it over, I would reduce the height more. I have moved it closer to the house where it doesn't get quite as much direct light to reduce the risk of yellowing.
July 31 update: The leaves continue to fill in, particularly around the bottom. It doesn't look quite right yet, but it is getting there. The plant is so ridiculously easy to propagate from cuttings and grows so fast that I don't know if this is worthwhile. I believe I still have 20 of various sizes in pots, and if I can't give them away I need to decide which ones make the cut for winter.
Here is what I cut off. I could have started 10 more propagations with this, but I have the six I potted up today in 6-inch pots, six more still in 4-inch pots, two in greenhouse window boxes, and maybe eight larger plants in various pots scattered around the two properties.
There are some random yellow leaves hanging off the upper stems of the pruned plant. The interweb attributes yellow leaves to improper watering, lack of nutrients, or too much sun. I think it is the last one. The plant has been sitting outside for a month and developed the yellow leaves on the upper stems, but the leaves lower down that had been shaded until today are green. UV light is about 20% stronger here at 5,588 feet than at sea level, and it can destroy chlorophyll in leaves. It's a balancing act: Too little light and the plant gets leggy, too much light and the leaves turn yellow. The Monardo and the peppermint in the barrel (shown above in the first image) also are sun stressed, which their leaves show by turning reddish-brown. (Other plants in the barrel such as sage and rosemary aren't affected.) The barrel gets full sun from sunrise to late afternoon. The two Monardo I'm going to plant at the house will get some mid-day shade from the shed, so that should be good for them.
Anyway, I need to put most of the 'Velveteens' somewhere where the light isn't as intense. (The two planted in the outside window boxes are being left to their fate.) Sad. The deer don't eat them and I would like to leave them outside for the summer. Here is one of the local residents at the greenhouse. I walk toward them yelling and waving my arms and they just stare at me. They are town deer and have very little fear, and they know there will be no consequences for chewing on my alyssum. (BTW, the interweb says, "According to Rutgers University, alyssum is rated as 'rarely damaged' by browsing deer, making it a reliable plant for your garden." Hah!)
