Devonian Gardens Calgary

The Devonian Gardens in Calgary have been undergoing a facelift for some time.  They just reopened last week and are located downtown in The CORE shopping centre (essentially a big mall).  They are on the fourth level right beside the food court and will provide a much needed oasis during Calgary's cold winters.  I took a bunch of photos, so I hope you enjoy the virtual tour below.

Greenhouse Plants Update

Woahoooo two blog posts in one day?  That's right, but I cheated and my first when was written earlier and just scheduled for today.  If you follow my blog, you already know that I left some plants in the local university greenhouses for the winter.  I visited them today and noticed that they haven't grown much since the last visit.  I ended up potting them all up but took a few photos first.

Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) - Now I thought I had F. religiosa but the seedlings look identical so I didn't take a photo and think they're just also Banyan.  There is however, something strange in these seedlings.  Notice how the back left pot has red in the stems and 'frilly' leaves with a different shape?  The pot on the right has a seedling with the same shape of leaves but minus the red and 'frill'.  Any idea what's going on here?  The round leaves seem correct for Ficus benghalensis, see here.  The others ones must be different, so can anyone ID them?

Desert Rose (Adenium arabicum) - I see flower buds coming! Hopefully they don't fall off this time. :)

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) - They are towards the back of the photo. The one on the left is single stemmed but on the right there are 5 stems with a few more coming up! I wonder if this is because the fruit was irradiated? The young passion flowers are up front (Passiflora edulis).

Empress Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) - these haven't grown at all.  They must desperately need to be repotted.  I'll mention again these can be invasive in warm clients but are generally fine in zones 7/8. They should also be hardy in USDA zone 6 (my zone), but I'll keep these ones in the greenhouse for their first year.

That's all. I hope you enjoyed my seedlings! :)

Germinating Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla)

Source: http://www.travelinlocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/DSC_0087.jpg

    Hurray, another fig!  Now what attracted me to this fig?  Could it have been the incredible roots?  Maybe it was the lovely smooth bark.  Then again it has edible figs and can easily be trained into a bonsai.  Seems like a great combination of traits to me.  Clearly I just had to have one.  Also yes, I do expect to have one get this big and take over a greenhouse somewhere...

    The tree in the photo above is actually located in California.  Ficus macrophylla are rated for USDA zone 9b and can grow to a height of 60m with a similar spread.  Once again I intend to use my ficus method for germination.  I'll just fill some plastic take out containers with a seed starting mix.  Then I'll sprinkle on the seeds, put the lid on, and leave in a southern window until they sprout.

    Tomorrow I'll break with tradition and actually post about something hardy in my zone (USDA zone 6), Black Iris (Iris chrysographes).

Germinating the Strawberry Fig (Ficus auriculata)

Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2316/2276410498_ac3cf490ca_b.jpg

    So I'm sick today. I have a really sore throat and runny red eyes. There's been a cold going around for weeks and I think I finally have it. I'm going to take it easy today so hopefully I feel a bit better by tomorrow. At least I have my blog to keep me busy. :)

    This is one of two plants I ordered, that I've tried to germinate previously.  For some reason the last time I tried, I didn't get a single sprout.  I'm not entirely sure what happened but I'm thinking I didn't keep them wet enough.  Figs are definitely one of my favourite genus of plants.  The species are very diverse, vigorous, adaptable, respond well to pruning and almost always make attractive plants.  I love that Ficus auriculata has huge leaves and produces large numbers of figs that taste similar to strawberries.  If it isn't obvious already, figs are also some of my favourite fruit!

    I have found the easiest way to germinate any species of fig is to fill an old sushi or Chinese food tray with soil and sprinkle the seeds over the surface (seeds are extremely tiny).  Most figs need light to germinate so be sure to put them in a south or west facing window.  Keep the seeds relatively moist but not wet.  They can take a tonne of water when older but damping off can be a problem for seedlings.  Then just put on the clear lid that came with the food tray and wait.  Within less than a week the first sprouts should appear with a very high germination rate after a week.  Room temperature is fine for the first few weeks, but ideally give these plants some heat and they'll grow like crazy!

    Tomorrow I move onto the Fishtail Palm (Caryota urens).

Sacred Figs (Ficus religiosa) at 3 Months

This is just going to be a quick post.  Most of what I wanted to say I already said in my last post on Strangler Figs.  My Sacred Figs have been growing almost as fast.  I haven't noticed any abnormal or odd seedlings yet. One thing you'll notice is that both species of fig look every similar when young.  They are only just starting to show sign of being different species.

I fell in love with the Sacred Fig because of these gorgeous leaves and very light coloured bark.  The most recentl leaves on the large seedlings are beginning to show more of an adult shape  I'm hoping to grow some of these over rocks similar to what I have planned for the Strangler Figs.  Hopefully they all do well and I end up with some very interesting plants!

Strangler Figs (Ficus benghalensis) at 3 Months

I had to drop by the University Greenhouses today and as always decided to check in on the plants I've left there for the winter.  I was shocked to see that some are barely recognizable!  It really is amazing the difference as little as a week can make when you have plants in a greenhouse.

The happiest seem to be my Strangler Figs (Ficus benghalensis).  I started the seeds about 3 months ago in an old take-out dish in a southern window.  They grew relatively quickly and after a few weeks I moved them into a small greenhouse outdoors.  Here they did even better.  The heat really makes a big difference with these figs.  As the weather began cooling down I took them into the greenhouses and their growth rate exploded.  In the last two weeks, some have literally more than doubled in size!

Now I shouldn't be surprised.  Strangler figs are native to India and the surrounding regions.  They LOVE lots of water, high humidity and warmth.  A greenhouse is a perfect home for them.  I'm hoping to eventually train some over rocks and let the roots grow into soil below.  I might actually have to do this sooner than I thought because the plants are already putting large roots through the bottom holes.

If you didn't notice, one of the seedlings has much more red and a bit of a ripple in it's leaves.  This is also the only seedling to display red stem colouration (far right in the picture above).  I'm not sure if this is the result of cross-pollination, a common natural mutation, different species, something new, or even if it's permanent.  I'm just excited to have at least one plant with unique characteristics!

I really love these figs.  I'll be sure to update regularly and post my progress as I train some of them over rocks.  I also have some Bo-Tree or Sacred Figs (Ficus religiosa) growing.  They're planned for my next post, so stay tuned.

Ficus benghalensis & religiosa Seedling Update II

Although my ficus seedlings seem to be growing slowly they seem healthy. I transplanted them into small pots from the original germination containers a few weeks ago. I figured I'd put a bunch in each pot because I'd heard that sometimes the seedlings are finicky and will die. Somehow, literally every seedling survived the transplant. I should probably cull some of them soon, maybe leaving 4 per pot. I'll pinch them at the soil level so I don't disturb the roots of the seedlings I keep.

I have a few pots of each species. Below you can see some of the Ficus benghalensis:

... and here are the Ficus religiosa:

I'm hoping to train some into little bonsai-like plants and grow others in a semi-epiphytic state. It all depends on how many survive. In the current hot weather, they seem to LOVE water. I've noticed the pots "standing" in the water have the largest seedlings. I expect growth to keep picking up as they get older and I've removed the competing plants.

Ficus benghalensis & religiosa Seedling Update

Just a quick post today. The seedling have been growing slowly but steadily. They've still only been inside around 21C or so. I moved them to a West window where they receive nearly full sun, just filtered through a window screen. When I divide them I'll move about 1/2 or each species out into filtered sun. They should enjoy the heat as long as I don't forget to water.

Ficus benghalensis seedlings

Ficus religiosa seedlings

Ficus benghalensis & religiosa seedlings

I've always been fascinated by figs. The genus includes anything from small creeping vines, to many edible varieties, those used commercially for rubber, and many houseplants. As such, I ended up purchasing some seeds on ebay from India. I went with Ficus religiosa (The Sacred Fig or Bo-Tree) and Ficus benghalensis (Indian Banyan Tree) both of which can grow epiphytically initially.

I chose the Ficus religiosa because of the lovely leaves and generally light (almost white) bark. Then went with the Ficus benghalensis exclusively because of it's well known extremely vigorous growth habit. My long term goal is to grow both into small house plant trees. The summers in Southern Ontario often see temperatures of 25C or higher and have high humidity. I figure both trees will be very happy outdoors in the warmer weather.

Ficus benghalensis seedlings

I planted the seeds about 2-3 weeks ago after soaking the seeds overnight. The soil is a mix of compost and clay loam. I added a few wood chips and some shredded coconut fibre. I figured this would help encourage some fungal growth which would be beneficial to seedlings expecting a moist forest environment. I did end up noticing growth over about 1/4 of the soil surface. The seeds were just sprinkled over the soil surface (allegedly the need light to germinate). Each container has a lid which I've kept closed most of the time and receives about 2 hours of direct sunlight each day. The first sprouts popped up within less than a week.

Ficus religiosa seedlings

They seem to be doing well, although the Ficus benghalensis is a bit slower to get going. Thinning and transplanting them will be interesting but hopefully I'll have little healthy trees within the next few months. I also grabbed a fig fruit from a local nursery. It was the most DELICIOUS I've ever tried. Of course I saved some seeds. The fruit may not be as good but I'll see what happens...

Frustrating Ficus elastica

This is my Ficus elastica.

This is what happens when I try pruning my Ficus elastica.

Why won't it branch and become bushy? It gets lots of light. :(

Ficus pumila Cuttings & Calathea Flower

I love Ficus pumila. They have nice dense foliage which grows very quickly with little care. The only problem is that you can never let them dry out. I learned this the hard way with the first plant I purchased after forgetting to water once. It was in an extremely small pot and I should have transplanted it immediately after getting it. Instead I left it in the pot and took some cuttings. Within two weeks it was dead. It doesn't seem these plants ever recover from drying out.

Fortunately the cuttings survived. It seems I still hadn't learned my lesson. All the cuttings rooted and resumed with growth but within another two weeks I'd let two more dry out (in those little peat pockets). I immediately put the remaining three in a plastic container filled with water. They'll stay there until I find room for a permanent home. I'd recommend you always do this with the cuttings and put mature plants in a pot with a self-watering reservoir. If you're prone to letting plants dry out, this is NOT the plant for you.

My Calathea roseopicta 'Medallion' has sent up several flower spikes over the last few weeks. Nothing spectacular but interesting nonetheless.

Wordless Wednesday: Plant Zone

New Plants & Looking for More!

I've purchased a few more plants that I was either desperately in love with or were on sale for various reasons and super cheap. I'm also looking for more! If anyone in the Vancouver area has some extra houseplants or would like to donate some leaves for cuttings or plantlets it would be much appreciated!

The reason for this resurgence of plant purchases... the free section of craigslist. I received 3 - 4ft light fixtures with two bulbs each. The bulbs themselves are brand new and have a reasonably good spectrum (not ideal but I can replace a few).


I've just tossed the plants if for now but you can see most of them in this photo. You may notice I am extremely fond of plants with reddish or striped leaves. So clockwise from the bottom left:

(1) Alocasia x amazonica (I've seen this mislabeled as Alocasia 'Purple Prince' and 'Metallica' so please let me know if my ID is incorrect)
(2) Calathea roseopicta 'Medallion'
(3) Anthurium amnicola (with deep almost black flowers but NOT Anthurium watermeliense)
(4) Schefflera (old news)
(5) Ficus elastica 'Burgundy' (also old news)
(6) Spathiphyllum wallisii ($1.99 because it was slightly wilted, barely visible)
(7) Cattleya NOID ($7 marked down from $25)

Front Tray, left to right:

(1) Aphelandra squarrosa
(2) Ficus pumila (which I purchased and immediate took 5 cuttings of)
(3) Fernicus unknownicus (seriously, I have no idea, some fern)

The red container has three papaya sprouts. There are also my Tracycarpus and Chamaerops palm sprouts as well as my unsprouted Jubaea hidden in the back. Now...

Can anyone ID this fern? I have no idea what it is. It reminds me of a Microsorium pteropus 'windelov' but the edges of the one I have are not smooth but slightly saw-like. It's the one I split into three in the picture above. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

New Houseplants!

Believe it or not, a few days ago a had no plants in my house. None. Not a single one. Everything I have is currently outside enjoying the sunny Vancouver summer. I figured it was about time to get my first Vancouver-bought house plants and ran to the best/worst place I could think of, HD. Like usual nearly everything was unlabeled.

I ended up with a selection of three plants. The place I'm in right now is a basement apartment and is really drab. Luckily, it's an entire basement and there are windows on all four sides of the house. I wanted some plants to add a punch of colour.

Side Rant (You can skip this part if you're not a cynical person):

This place is painted an ugly colour somewhere between light grey and brown. It's like grimiest attempt at white anyone has ever tried to achieve. Literally the entire place - ceilings, walls, trim, and the carpet/tile is a similar colour. Why?!?! I've been painting part-time for the last two months and every last thing I've painted has been beige or off-white. Please no more. Could everyone do me a favour and design with colour in the future? I need colour in my life and so do you. See example of colour below. Makes you happy doesn't it?


I ended up deciding upon Ficus elastica 'Burgundy', Dracaena deremensis 'Warneckii Lemon Lime' and a polka-dot plant. I'll probably end up putting the Ficus outside. It needs bright light to retain the deep 'Burgundy' colour. Full sun is a bit too intense near the equator (although it will still grow) but here is seems to be ideal.