tropical foliage
Benjamin [Ficus benjamina]
Originted in India, this tree is as well called weeping ficus tree.
3/10/02 
3/31/02
Juvenile plant of F. benjamina variegated
The same plant has been trained into a standard form (topiary). Pruned lower
branches & woven the three tranks together. In order to encourage multiple
shootings on the tips for future sphere, I keep pinching their tips time to
time.
3/10/02 
3/31/02
juvenile plant of F.bejamina v. miniature
Also trained into a standard form. The lower branches can be propagated instead
of discarded since this plant relatively roots easily. I recommand propagation
& training in spring or early summer when they are in growing season.
Caladium
3/29/01
4/1/01
Coleus
6/16/01
It's said medieval French nobles used to compete to create new colors or shapes
of this diverse foliage plant.
It thrive in shade and also can be trained into standard form.
Dieffienchbaca margarita
6/9/01
Mt favorite of creamy center foliage with light green. This photo was taken
after I accidentally knocked down its main stem. You can see two side stems
are growing together now. The broken main stem didn't survive instead of effort
of rooting, by the way.
Dracaena marginata
4/19/01 
4/9/01 
4/10/01
We had three pots of D. marginata in different places in the house. They did
very well for long time, but all of sudden, they are attacked by massive mealy
bugs. And you know what happned. Mealy bugs are stronger than I am...
4/19/01
One day, I got a little visitor. Allways
welcomed.
Dracaena reflexa [song of India]
4/20/01
Lemon Fern
6/9/01
Boston Fern
6/9/01 
10/3/01
It gets really big in the end of growing season. The longest leaves was almost
touching the ground.
Ginger
3/30/01
5/15/01
I planted a piece of ginger root I boguht in a grocery store for a fun experiment
(so I have no idea its species). I have been using a lot of ginger for long
long time for cooking, but nver planted before. Wanted to see what would happen.
And here they come! The root I planted was about 2" long and 1.5"
wide, and several shoots came up. It was an exciting project at indoor garden
during winter. By the way, my friend in Hawaii told me she had a field filled
with gingers in her backyard and when breeze blushed they were very fragrant.
Imagine the scene. Spectacular, huh.
Ivy [Hedera species]
4/27/01 
3/10/02 
3/10/02
Peperomia
4/1/01 
4/19/01 
4/16/01
Pinapple
4/1/01
Another fun project from a grocery store. I bought a pineapple and ate it
all. Now I got this head, usually tossed, but this time I propagated. First,
I remove all fleshy fruit around the leave. Then, let it sit in water for
a while. I made sure only bottom part was touching the water to prevent rot.
It was October and now, 6 months later, the plant roots vigorously enough
to be planted in soil. It's said that it usually takes 1-2 years to have another
fruit from these kind of cutting.
Ponytail Palm
4/1/01
Pothos
4/16/01
Purple Heart
6/16/01
Rubber Tree
6/16/01
Spider Plant
4/19/01 
3/10/02
It was started from a tiny tiny cutting in December 2000. In several months,
it reached the size of more than five times of its original cutting. Amazing
growth. Now it's even bigger and started to produce babies out.
Wandering Jew
6/9/01
Yucca elephantipes
1/27/01
and...
A Cat in a Picture Frame..
all rights are reserved @ A. Saito March, 2002