Hopwood Hall opening for tours

 Hopwood Hall.

According to the BBC, Hopwood Hall, built in the 1420s, is being restored by an American, Hopwood DePree.

I've forgotten what my part of the family's association is with Hopwood Hall - ISTR the name coming from service there, rather than being the owners - but I'm glad a Hopwood has come forward to restore it. It seems he thought it would be a fun thing to do, but found it intricate and tedious. Still, he's sticking with it. Part of it is opening for tours this month. Sadly, I'm where DePree is from - I'm near LA, he's back in Lancashire.

Last I heard the hall was full of monks or the RAF or something but I guess they went away and the roof started to fall in, as they do.

I might even buy his book.

Kalanchoe collection - update on K. millotii

Correspondent Kyle lets me know that the plant labeled K. millotii which I described here is most probably Kalanchoe x gildenhusii.  That's a hybrid of K. millotii and K. tomentosa, and explains why it's showing characteristics intermediate between the two. 

Here's the page on the International Crassulaceae Network with the deets. 

Mine was labeled (incorrectly) as K. millotii. Kyle says that this hybrid is often sold under the invalid name Kalanchoe 'Behartii'. 

Egrets

Egrets

I've had a few

But then again, too few to mention.

Birds on hay bales, near the Salton Sea. 

They may not be egrets. I'm no birder. 

On writing: The one eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater vs aphantasia

A friend and I watched Dune recently.

“That’s not how I imagined Leto,” I said of Oscar Isaac.

“What do you mean, not how you imagined him?” he said.

“Not like the picture in my mind’s eye when I read the book,” I said.

After a few follow-up questions, I learned that he didn’t have a mind’s eye.

I assumed everyone experienced a book the same way. After a while, the words on the page disappear, and you’re watching people move around places and do things. As someone explained it online, "The words describe something, and you imagine it happening as you read. That's what reading a story is.”

But for 2% of readers, no movie plays in the mind. They have aphantasia, inability to visualize imagery. (Everyone has different levels of this ability – it’s a spectrum. Some people imagine it so perfectly, that they can even smell it. That’s hyperphantasia. I’m not going to go all Oliver Sacks on you. That’s it for the psychology.)

I thought at first they must not read enough to have learned the trick. Apparently not. In an experiment, people were fitted with goggles and presented with two images, one for each eye. The brain only sees one of them. If the person was first asked to imagine something, and then presented with one image resembling their mind’s eye picture, and in the other eye an unrelated picture, most people see the related picture. Those with aphantasia see either picture, with no correlation. There is no image “generated” by imagining something. (Dreams, which don’t involve the visual processing part of the brain, are not affected by aphantasia.)

Imagine a "a one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater.”

Got it?

Some of you just saw their screen. The rest of us saw a purple monster eating people. (And a few pedants saw a monster eating purple people.)

This revelation made some difference to my writing habits. Why? Because writing involves simile and metaphor and there’s a basic assumption that readers can hold the images in their head and compare them.

(Not mine - I nicked it from Facebook.)

 
The first ever mention of the “mind’s eye” is in Cicero, where he explains what makes a good simile. An orator should not speak of “Charybdis” but of “a whirlpool,” because “the eyes of the mind are more easily directed to those objects which we have seen than to those of which we have only heard.” Good advice, I always thought – but what if a reader has no mind’s eye?

Carl Zimmer, writing in the New York Times, described it as “thinking only in radio.” In online conversations, I learned that those who saw head-movies as they read loved upfront descriptions, because they could furnish the room or plant the garden in their mind and commence watching. Those who heard only the radio quickly tired of description, which to them is a list presented for no good reason. They dropped any book that failed to focus on a character’s inner life (their relationships with people, emotions, and reactions).

As a reader and a writer, I love description. Setting the scene with a Charybdis or two, ensuring flowers are correct for the season, choice of silverware or plastic forks match the characters’ current circumstances…it all adds up. But some readers will never “see” it.

One writerly trick is to “storyboard” what you’re writing, either on paper as cartoons or in your imagination. I spend an hour working out the movements of say, a fight, because someone will certainly tell me if I’m wrong.

“If he’s standing between her and the window, against the light, how could she see the gleam of a knife in his hand?”

But I learned some readers are skipping descriptions. They just want to know WHY he has a knife. Maybe a little less choreography is warranted?

Another thing writers do is critique other writers’ stories. That means deliberately slowing down to catch typos, homonyms, and poor or confusing grammar. I’ve found that critical reading snaps the internal stream of pictures for me, and text becomes a series of ciphers to be decoded. Is that what aphantasics see?

I learned a lot from watching Dune with that friend. We don’t all have the same experience when we crack open a book. And the more I try to write a description that can have only one meaning, the more likely it is that 2% of readers will throw the book against a wall.

[Written for my writing class's end-of-term presentation]

Kalanchoe collection: new K. beharensis bush

 I said I was getting a new Kalanchoe - here it is. It's a dwarf K. beharensis. According to the label, it'll grow to about 3 feet (a meter) high and slightly less than that in spread. Mind you, according to the label, it's a "Fang". It clearly isn't a Fang - there are no under-leaf tubercles in sight. The previous owner has written 2020 on the label, and it's apparently over five years old. It's going to look a little small in a barrel close to the tree-form beharenses but its abundant curly foliage should more than make up for its size. 

Kalanchoe longiflora, Tugela Cliff Plant

 Last but not least, I have a Kalanchoe longiflora, a relatively common South African succulent that is grown for its spray of long-lasting flowers.  The one I got has not grown or divided much at all over the course of a year, nor has it flowered, but it's sitting there looking quite pretty. It's the red plant at the back, behind the K. fedtschenkoi.  (The tiny stalky ones are baby Pink Butterflies, which get everywhere.)

More information can be found here. 

(I say last but not least, but I'm getting a new plant tomorrow...possibly more to come!)

Kalanchoe marnieriana

 One unusual Kalanchoe is K. marnieriana. The leaves are rounder than usual, the stalks longer and thinner, and the plant grows roots along its length, allowing it to lie on the ground and creep across to new places to live. 

It was sold as a ground cover, in a flat. I grew it in a pot and wasn't impressed but this year it seems to have settled down and filled the pot nicely. It will get long and leggy (as Kalanchoes tend to do) but it's easy to cut it back and it starts again from the rootstock. 

One resource is Gardenia.net. 

Kalanchoe "John Bleck"

 One Kalanchoe I have looks like a K. diagremontiana but has a black border on the leaves. It was labeled "John Bleck".  I couldn't find much information on the web about it, but here is the nursery's description.  It seems John Bleck is or was a big cheese in the Santa Barbara Cactus & Succulent Society. His name is associated with several hybrids and articles on the Crassulaceae.

He made a very pretty plant. It did, however, do the Kalanchoe thing and get weedy, leggy and huge - about a meter and a half tall - flower, and then die back slowly. I cut the tops off and this nice thicket grew up within a few weeks. 

Although it doesn't grow rooted plantlets along the leaf margins while the leaves are on the plant, if the leaf falls in the soil before it dies, plantlets grown from it. Quite a few grew last year. (They're in a separate pot.) By the end of the year, I should have enough to make a beautiful display. 

Kalanchoe silhouette

 Here is a line-up of "classic" Kalanchoe shapes. 

Mother of Thousands----Mother of Millions----Pink Butterflies

All of these are young plants, less than a year old. The tiles are 25 cm in length.  See the individual posts for details. 

Kalanchoe Mother of Thousands, Mother of Millions and Pink Butterflies

I started collecting the Kalanchoes because I'd had a Mother of Thousands as a kid.  Once I started looking for them as an adult, I realized that commercial nurseries don't always know which Kalanchoe species they are selling.  There is apparently a lot of confusion over which of the stalky, leggy, classical Kalanchoes are which. 

Mother of Thousands is often said to be K. diagremontiana and you'll see it pictured as having broad, pale green leaves, for example here.  As far as I know, that appearance is more typical of K. laetivirens, which means "green all over."  Laetivirens is a hybrid of K. diagremontiana and K. laxiflora. 

I have another plant said to be K. diagremontiana which is most likely a different hybrid, Kalanchoe x houghtonii, which I wrote about earlier. 

Pictured below, my most-probably x laetivirens.

As you can see, the Mother of Thousands lives up to its name. It has literally dozens of plantlets growing along every mature leaf margin. These either fall off and root or, in my case, come off when I touch them to feel the irresistible detaching motion as they separate. (I've likened it to shelling peas in terms of tactile satisfaction.) The mother plant makes so many of these that they can become a nuisance or even invasive.  Best to keep them in pots and remove leaf debris before they root.

Mothers of Thousands look lovely at this age, but after a year or so, they become large and leggy. They don't regrow well if you cut them (at least mine didn't) but you can uproot them or cut them off at soil level, and believe me they'll have sufficient babies underneath to fill the area. It's not like you have to buy any new ones!

Mother of Millions is another species.  Mine was sold as K. tubiflora but it can also be seen on sale as K. delagoensis.  It's also often known as a Chandelier Plant. It's a classic Kalanchoe shape, a thick weedy stalk with beautiful leaves. In this case, the leaves are almost cylindrical with a furrow along the top, and a spray of plantlets at the very tip of the mature leaves. I think in a cage match between Mother of Thousands and Mother of Millions, Thousands would win in the number-of-plantlets competition. However, it's MoM that is designated as an invasive species - the plantlets escape and are hard to eradicate from your landscape. 

K. tubiflora is another one which will get tall and leggy. It's too small for six months, just right for three months and then a weed for the rest of its lifecycle. 

However, there's no doubt it's beautiful when seen from above. (Which is why it's pictured that way in for sale ads.)

One of my favorite Kalanchoes is Pink Butterflies. When I first started collecting these plants it seemed so rare and exotic. I eventually found one from a Chinese seller and weeks later obtained one through the post, thoroughly chemically treated before it had been allowed in the country. In its many days on a boat and trapped in customs, it had wilted to a sad stalk with a few collapsed leaves at the top and a dozen dried curls where the older leaves had been. 

But as I've said before, Kalanchoes are just sproinging with growth tissues. I put it in water for a few days then planted it and got a perfectly good Pink Butterflies out of it. Because it had lost lower leaves it was a bit stalky, so when I found a domestic seller, I bought three more. They rooted perfectly as well. In a few months the "Pink Butterflies" appeared - rows of pink plantlets along the margins of the leaves, lending the plant an eye-catching fringe. 

Unlike with Mother of Millions and Mother of Thousands, the plantlets don't have chlorophyll (or they'd be green). They fall off in the same quantities, but very few of them root and generate enough chlorophyll to start growing. My original four turned  into about eight or nine, all of which are slower growing than their parents. I'm fine with that. As I have said, the "classic" Kalanchoe look can turn into a tall, bolted weed surmounted with unimpressive flowers, so the little ones are fine by me. 

Pink Butterflies are also hybrids - Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana, our old friends.

Resources for growing these can be found on the web. I accessed Wikipedia (delagoensis), California Cactus Center (Pink Butterflies - this is a video), Gardening Know-How ,(delagoensis), Wikipedia (laetivirens).

Kalanchoe tomentosa "Panda Plant" and "Chocolate Soldier"

 K. tomentosa, the Panda Plant, is a pretty, furry, compact succulent that can be grown indoors or outside if you live in a warm area. (I'm in Southern California.)

The edges of the leaves have contrasting dark brown spots, making for a striking display plant. Mine have grown considerably but aren't bolting or putting down many plantlets. 

K. tomentosa also comes in a variety called "Chocolate Soldier". You can see one to the right of the Panda Plant below.  It's a bit lost in a pot outside but would make a lovely houseplant if you can get it enough light. Care for them is the same - they just have more of the dark coloring. 

You can find tips on K. tomentosa on the web. I looked at Gardening Know-How and World of Succulents.

Millot's Kalanchoe

 Kalanchoe millottii is a pale green, furry succulent that stays quite small.  It's the one nearest the camera in the photo below.  It has pleasing scalloped leaf edges and thick succulent leaves. So far it is making a good effort to form a little clump of plants. It's less than 25 cm tall. It hasn't flowered (in a year) and is showing no signs of bolting yet. 

On the other hand, the new leaves (to the upper left) are not the same shape. They resemble K. tomentosa. No idea if every specimen does this or if it's just mine. 

(Update: it's probably a hybrid between the two - see here for details. Thanks, correspondent Kyle.)

Important care tips for millotii can be found at World of Succulents. To which I'd add: don't get water on the felted leaves when it's sunny. You can see the leaf damage that results on the far leftmost leaf. 

(The other plants visible in the pot are K. beharensis Blue Slick and K. Marnieriana, about which more elsewhere.)

Kalanchoe collection: Fedtschenkoi "Lavender Scallops" and compacta

 There's a regularly-seen Kalanchoe called Lavender Scallops. Its pink-and-pale-green foliage makes for a pretty display in succulent gardens or in pots. It grows about 30 cm high and forms comely clumps. It pales (no pun intended) in comparison with its compact form. This tiny plant has the same leaves, but they remain upturned forming a scalloped cylinder. 

K. fedtschenkoi is on the left in this picture, with a rooted plantlet in the forefront center. I used to have a whole potful of them, but they grew a bit leggy over the course of a year so I started afresh. (Getting a bit leggy is a Kalanchoe trait.)

The "compacta" variety stays small. It doesn't bolt...that's what the compacta part means. This one is over a year old and is growing new stalks regularly, but remains about 10 cm high. I was startled when I got it in the mail, as it was so small. But that's how big it is. If you buy one, don't be fooled by the photos that show them as miniature towers. (If that ever happens, I'll let you know!)

(The other two plants in the top picture are K. longiflora and K. "Pink Butterflies". More on them elsewhere.)

Resources on K. fedtschenkoi can be found at Succulents and Sunshine and The Hosta Farm. 

Kalanchoe collection - the spoons. Copper, Silver and Grey Ghost.

 If you're in the right zones to grow Kalanchoes outside, a midsize beauty is Copper Spoons, Kalanchoe orgyalis. It's another furry plant, so it's sometimes known as Cinnamon Bear and rather less glamorously, the Shoe Leather Plant. 

It grows to about a meter, three feet, high and doesn't lose the lower leaves. (Well, it didn't until I let it get sunburned during a heatwave.) It's a striking plant that requires little care and unlike some Kalanchoes, doesn't go leggy and horrible at the end of the year. 

Copper Spoons

I bought a small one to fill in the gaps at the bottom of the larger Copper Spoons where I let it get burned in the hot sun. I think if you treat it well, the leaves normally last for years. 

This is such a lovely and long lasting plant that when I saw a variety of it called Grey Ghost, I immediately took it home with me. 

Grey Ghost looked ghostly and great for a few months and then turned into another Copper Spoons. I don't know if that always happens. There's no information on it I can find on the internet, but the nursery label was professionally done, not a handwritten guess. The plant is still a beauty. 

Grey Ghost

You can see that the lower leaves are still grey, but the top is distinctly cinnamon. This is a plant that has not read its own label.

Not closely related is the much more delicate Silver Spoons, Kalanchoe bracteata or Kalanchoe hildebrantii. 

Silver Spoons is the taller, more delicate plant to the right. It's a slow grower - this one is a year old. It's also the only Kalanchoe I've had that's been attacked by aphids. I have a 2" pot in the greenhouse with a young one but it's not exactly growing like Topsy.  One of its names, bracteata, either means 'bronzed' (nope) or 'bearing flowers on specialized leaves.' It's the second one - the bracts are the sites of new growth in this plant. All Kalanchoe seem to have a body part that's raring to grow new plants. 

Information on these plants can be found here:  Etsy Store, Succulents and Sunshine, 

Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri, "Donkey Ears"

One of the most spectacular Kalanchoes is K. gastonis-bonnieri. (Its name is as impressive as the plant.) Like a Mother of Thousands, it bears plantlets on its leaves. Not a whole row, like the mother, but one or two at the very tip. And the leaf itself is often over 25 cm long. They really do look like Donkey Ears, if donkeys had thick, green, hairless ears. 

My current ones are still babies, with small, rounded seedling leaves. Here's a picture of their mother, late last year, during flowering. 

Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri, Donkey Ears

Eight month old Donkey Ears

It took quite a bit of care to get the plantlets from the leaf tips to root in soil and start growing. It's worth it to have such a display plant at the end of the year. (You can buy them online but usually you'll get one of the small ones, so it will still take most of a year to get a grown specimen.)

I found further information on Donkey Ears at Plant Care Today.