Al

The flowers, as Al notes, are wonderful - simply white and fragrant. The fruit's quite edible (as long as you let it ripen) - kind of like a semi-bland strawberry. It's a common landscaping plant in San Diego, especially in parking lots and along swimming pools. Quite the effective hedge, too.

I'm going to link you to a thread that I think is a very good place for beginners to start. It covers the basics that are important in the sense that they have a very large impact on how easy/difficult it might be for you to be able to consistently bring along healthy plants. Getting the basics right goes a long way toward ameliorating the difficulty factor, and can save a lot of time you might otherwise spend on learning by trial and error. If you find it to be interesting or of value, let me know. There are some other links I think have a great deal of potential to move you quickly forward if you'd like to get into growing houseplants.

I might even be able to furnish you a Canadian reference or two if you like. ;-)

Al

Im actually not that concerned about blooms, But,, would luv any firsthand tips regarding pruning or care, backbudding potential, rootwork tolerance, etc,, (ive posted here in the interest of conserving bandwidth? and condensing 'search' features)

As an interesting sidenote, ive found that 'propagating Carissa' is NOT as difficult as many 'instructions' had led me to believe,, one of the more common approaches ive
copied below from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carissa_macrocarpa]

[A vegetative propagation is possible and preferred. The most efficient method consists of notching young branchlets by cutting them halfway through. Then they are bent downwards and allowed to hang limply. After the young branchlets have built a callus, in approximately 2 months, the cutting has to be removed from the parent and planted in sand under moderate shade. Roots form within one month.]

Myself, ive found that they will root from soft 'tip' cuttings, and ive even rooted a cpl in a ziplock baggie with the cuttings 'base' simply encloaked in a moist paper towel, tho i wouldnt suggest that approach,,,

Hope this encourages anyone who (like me) mayve been deterred from trying. :)

Years ago, I purchased NP, and grew in a Bonsai container..it did well, even flowered and fruited..however, one summer, while taking care of other projects, the soil dried too much and it died.

Al, wanted to ask you about your Pilea/Artillary Plant..don't know if I should start a new thread??? Toni

I too have enjoyed the Natal Plum in San Diego, the look, the bloom & the fruit, tasty too.

The Carissa I've seen bonsai'd is an entirely different plant, very small leaves & tiny white blooms, have seen the white edged version only. I saw one at the very first bonsai demo I ever saw, (of a Carissa, by Patty Lee, Jeff, pretty neat demo too, pruned, trimmed & bonsai'd).

A link on Wiki

hey Karen
you get back up n runnin again?
and Toni is right of course,,
both actually link to the same Wiki pg. :)

hey Larry,
weird, but yea, probably,,, couldnt be much more Dissimilar in my mind tho, ?

Ive a Serissa (foetida) i wanna post as well thats needs Serious attention, should i keep 'searching' for another 'previous thread' ? or...
Here, since we're all in the dark anyway? hehee

btw is there anything you Havent Had? lol
and Toni, anything you Havent (now)?? lol

btw the roots of Serissa are foetid! didnt know about the plant itself?
havent 'bruised' her yet,, tho taking cuttings didnt offend me that i recall..?
now the (milky) 'Sap' of Carissa (Natal Plum) is toxic, right?
"Some claim.... poisonous" according to wiki. :)

This picture shows the leaf discoloring.

SS... are you serious about spraying w/salt water???

If you're good, maybe Santa will leave a variegated NP under the Christmas tree. :)

Plants I'm without...I don't have a green NP or Serissa..lol.

Great, another poisonous plant! I didn't want toxic plants in the house because of our birds...turns out 90% are. I wasn't aware they were harmful when adopted.
I tossed out a tree Oleander after discovering it's extremely poisonous, and refrained from adding a Dief when my son, at 2-3-yrs-old, took not one but two bites from the cane. Talk about a hysterical time!

Larry, don't feel bad. I tried growing Serrisa too..no luck..When you said, 'it got a lot of stink,' did you mean literally?

Marg..Your NP is nice and full.

Was NP outdoors in summer? Soil needs to dry between waterings..

It's slow-growing, and w/winter approaching will soon grow even slower, if at all.

I'd withhold fertilizer unless you see new growth and/or days are sunny. Just my opinion.

For the time being, removing dead foliage sitting atop soil, and marred leaves.

Otherwise, you have a very nice, good-sized NP...Toni

I have 3 of the green and two variegated ones.

As Al had mentioned above, I find mine do this naturally as they get older every spring and fall. It seems they loose older leaves as they get bigger and bigger.
Some leaves on my green ones turn a nice red while others fall off yellow.
I also find this happens when transeferring it from ideal conditions to less than ideal until it gets use to it's new location.
Also, I find mine hate the cold temps I keep in my plant room, even in full sun, so I keep them in the greenhouse now.

I LOVE the smell of the flowers and the taste of the fruit, therefore the reason I have 5. I also find that the variegated ones have a much more potent fragrance than the green ones.

If I had the room , I would get many many more, these plants being one of my faves. You can let them go wild, or keep them Bonsai style. I love the freedom of shaping them and find them very easy to grow.

I'll post a pic tomorrow if it's sunny.

Mike:-)

Marj...Nope, gnats don't build webs. Mites do. Inspect your plant regularly. If you see more webbing, it's time to treat..In the meantime, wash foliage w/soapy water..

Since you found Fungus Gnats, you repotted in different soil/medium, right?

Toni
nooo, LOL
wiki (n others) suggest (implies?) theyre semi-tolerant of ocean/sea-spray in their native coastal areas tho,,,,
We wanna keep the salts OUT of our containerized houseplants, right? ;)

btw i found like (6)? viable carissa cuttings over the weekend,
so Take That Meyer_Mike!! hoo-ra ...kiddin,,, lol im envious, wanna see yours :)

No, no salt..I attempt buying fertilizer w/o Urea. When my plants are fighting off a bad, sore-sprout, they are not allowed to gargle with salt and water... :)

I finally had a moment to sit and share with you all....I forget to take pics of my other one, it is much smaller and I would like to keep it like a Bonsai plant. Instructions to come for me on that soon.:-)

Good night everyone:-)

Good night everyone:-)

oh Mike,,,
man you n Toni post the most beautiful plants, i mean Really, Nice, plants, photos, good light, the whole 9,, ive GOT to get me a variegated now,,
its like.....Euonymous~? for Indoors!? :)
the compactness and short internodes~? obviates your better light availability tho,,
..i'll hafta see how artificial Lt. and aggressive pruning might compensate here on my cutting babies,,
hmm i retort~? im not envious, im Inspired!

oh wait, did he just say that?? yea, Twice! lol
Mike (who'll be henceforth known as Dbl-post Mike) lol
like-wise mista, you kids keep it fun. :)
tnx for the stunning Natal pics.

Reason I'm asking..Do you find variegated NP's fussier than green?

Why did I assume NP's grow upright? Yours are vining..Right?

SS. lol. I find myself researching often. Google this or that..

Are the succulents you neglected doing better than those you paid close attention to? Seems to work that way w/succulents.

After the holidays you can order NP..either green or variegated. www.accentsforhomeandgarden.com has both.

Marg...the good news is, although your NP was rootbound, at least you know it's alive and well..roots just needed a little more room.

Were roots stuck together, as one huge clump? Toni

Toni, you know me, amd I lousy with ages...I think I remember telling you I bought these last fall? I have had them for quite sometime and find the very easy to care for.
They have grown quite well, but I find them to grow slower than the green and more compact.
Do you remember the pic I showed you of that one in flower?

Yes, that green one on top os draping and it will to teh floor if I let it. I have it on a round table that sits about 3 feet tall and let it flow down. I LOVE the shape of it.
Some do grow upright if you train it that way. By nature, they like to grow horizontaly if you let them.

Toni, the succulents are all doing good, whether I neglect them at times or pay special attention to some, especially the ones I recieved from Germany and Japan.

Hey silentsurfer, hey silentsurfer, thank you, thank you, and thanks for the laugh, the laugh..lol

My Natel plums are in a very porous mix since I found they do not being in a mix that stays wet too long. I almost lost one to that.
They can handle drying out better than staying to wet, especially in colder temps.
I water freely as often as I want which they seem to enjoy.
They never got more then 5 hours of sun all winter and less that that in the fall and winter months.

Thanks again everyone. I would post you a picture of my variegated one in bloom, but my work computer won't allow me.

Mike

The long draping one I have had over 2 years. I love this one and it has never had a haircut. That is it's natural growth.
The other green one I have had since spring and that is the one I want to shape. I was thinking of potting it between two volcanic rocks in a pot while the roots grow underneath them. We shall see.