Pussy Willows are the Symbol of Spring and Easter. But why are they called
Pussy Willows?
According to an old Polish legend, many springtimes ago a mother cat was crying at the bank of the river in which her
kittens were drowning. The willows at the river's edge longed to help her, so they swept their long graceful branches into the waters to rescue the tiny kittens who had fallen into the river while chasing butterflies. The kittens gripped on tightly to their branches and were safely brought to shore. Each springtime since, goes the legend, the willow branches sprout tiny fur-like buds at their tips where the tiny kittens once clung!
Ever since then, in Spring, the willow gentle velvet buds feel to the
fingers like the silky coat of a small cat. These buds are known today as catkins and remarkably, in every country, these soft
willow trees are named after cats.
Read more about
the legend.
Q: My Red Jade Vine has the leaf tips turning brown. I water this plant four
times a week and I am using a half a teaspoon of miracle grow bloom booster
15-30-15 per 2 gallons, every two weeks. In the beginning I had to water this
plant off city water in South Fort Myers. Over the last two months I picked
up a dechlorinator buggy plus threw that on my hose and I've been watering it
with that but it didn't seem to make a difference. I put this plant in the
ground last September. It has three shoots that run into the top of the tree,
so it is growing but leaves seem to drop off down low at the base of the vine
and the brown tipping running into the top of the plant. But not the newest
shoot its leaves are solid green all the way at the top. Thanks for any
advice.
A: Mucuna benettii - Red Jade vine - is not the easiest plant to grow, and
we are glad your vine is growing well. For those who love this plant but not
ready to face all challenges, we recommend its cousin - Camptosema grandiflora - Dwarf Red Jade Vine, which is much hardier and
easier plant.
We looked at the photos and these are our thoughts.
1) The top of the plant with green fresh leaves definitely indicates
that the plant is generally healthy and vigorous.
2) Dry tips of the old leaves may indicate excess salts in soil, in
combination with the summer heat that it went through. Based on your feeding program
description, that fertilizer may create a problem. Water soluble traditional
fertilizers are EDTA-chelated which often causes nutrients lock up in soil
and leaf drop. Try to stay away from that fertilizer for a month and let the
rains and/or irrigation water flush the soil for a couple of weeks.
3) Red Jade vine is a very sensitive species. Normally, during hot season
it is safe to use traditional fertilizers, especially slow-release granulated.
However, with this plant we recommend you to switch to more delicate formula
and use only liquid fertilizer. SUNSHINE Megaflor - Bloom Nutrition Booster will be the best. It is
safe to use it as frequent as with every watering! It is amino-acid
based, and will be totally consumed by the plant without nutrient lockup.
4) Another cause of dry leaf tips may be micro-element deficiency.
Megaflor booster already has all necessary micro-nutrients in it, plus you
may apply some extra: SUNSHINE Superfood.
5) You may continue using regular water for watering (including city water)
as long as you use amino-acid based plant food and supplements: they improve
soil acidity (what tropical plants like is acidic soil, and Florida soils
are alkaline). Additionally, to improve soil acidity which can be critical for
this Mucuna species, you may add 1"layer of pure peat moss on top of the
soil around the plant. Please keep us in loop how the plant is doing. It is
pretty rare species in cultivation and we will be happy to help you to keep it
thriving.
Date: 4 Dec 2020
Establishing Cerbera Manghas
after a long shipping trip
Q: I live in Hawaii. I purchased Cerbera x manghas - Enchanted Incense. I followed the repotting
instructions but it looks like dying? Is the normal for all the leaves to fall off?
I only use purified water to mist and water the plant. I let it dry between watering and still it looks sad. Please help!
A: Cerbera is very sensitive to shipping stress (in particular to
darkness) and it often loses leaves in transit. Considering long trip to Hawaii, it had extra 1-2 days in transit, longer than to most of the
states.
Your plant looks very much alive, however we understand your concern about lost leaves.
You need to treat it like Plumera: keep on a dry side until it starts
sprouting new leaf growth. Once it gets re-established, you may move it out into regular irrigation or
rain.
We recommend to keep it under roof to control water input, but in very blight spot, preferably
sunny.
Make sure the soil doesn't get soggy, too much water may kill the plant especially when it is leafless and hence doesn't consume/evaporate much water.
Water only when top of the soil gets slightly dry.
Do not put into bigger container until roots start growing.
The plant should recover and start new growth under proper care. Keep us in loop how the plant is
doing!
Date: 2 Feb 2020
Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: James Coconuts progress report
Many people asking about James Coconuts who used to be in charge of our Office and Customer
Service team. What is he doing now? Did he get a promotion?
We addressed this question to Coconuts and here is what he's got to say:
"Hi folks, I am doing just fine. Yes, I got a promotion and currently working in Sunshine Boosters Lab together with Mr
Booster (I just call him Mr B). We are developing a revolutionary Sunshine Plant Nutrition Program. It is important that your plants have
good food! I can tell from my own experience. When these nice people at
TopTropicals picked me up from the street couple years ago, I was nothing but
bone and skin... not even much fur. And look at me now! I am still working on my
work out, and my resolution for 2020 is to become even more fluffy, just
like that chick in the calendar! I think everyone should eat good... and do
good... Like someone said:
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good!"(Minor Myers Jr).
Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Sonya, the Co-Author
In our previous newsletter, you met our editor/photographer tandem - Tilda & Marina. Today we introduce our columnist assistant - Sonya. For
the past decade, this True Norwegian Forest Cat has been a great helper and
inspirational co-author for Alexandra, TopTropicals website writer and social media blogger.
Alex has been with TopTropicals since Day One (2003). In 2011, she got
Sonya, a 3-month old kitten that someone kicked out: at that young age she
already had quite a temper of a real Wild Cat. No one wanted to adopt her and
Sonya was doomed to suffer a street life... So Alex invited her in the house...
and it took her many months to teach Sonya some good manners! And Sonya
turned into a beautiful and affectionate Purrrson as well as became the Boss in
the house (what a surprise, duh) and Alexandra's dearest life companion. Sonya also discovered her talent in writing plant stories for TopTropicals, sitting on Alex's shoulder and whispering into her ear while she is typing Sonya's horticultural tips. And when Alex stares at monitors for more than 5 hours, Sonya lays on her keyboard saying: "Now get up and get some stretch lady! Let's go re-pot some plants for a change!"
We will be following up on Sonya's creative work, and you will hear from her again soon...
