pls provide me with tips, if u can, on how to look after this plant... i just cut off some parts of it, and stuck it in soil..guess its some kind of coniferous plant. hence, i watered it and place it in full sun, and another in partial shade, and another in half sun... i really dont know what to do.hence some experimenting. just hoping that when tmr comes, the cuttings will face the sun =)

Can you tell us where you are located; your profile says Singapore, is that true? Was the plant being sold as a cut plant or was it in soil?

If you made cuttings from it, I would not put those cuttings in full sun just yet. They need some time to recover. Did you put some cuttings in plain water? I would try that too.

I have seen this plant in floral arrangements but never that colour. I believe that this example has been dyed. It looks like something in the erica or protaea families and possibly South African in origin.(???) I do not hold out much hope of your being able to root it and even if you do the colour appears entirely fake to me. Sorry to be such a wet blanket.

yup i am from singapore.. frost-free climate..
30-35 degree celcius everyday...even plants we can find here are quite limited..sobs (i wanna grow tulips)

but perhaps valentine's coming and lunar new year is just over, thus shops have more variety of plants and cut flowers..there were fuji apples on sale at a nursery...(?!)

it's a cut flower... and i just wanna grow these, cuz it looks unique (nevermind about the colour)

it comes in purple and red as well..looks fake to me as well..tried scratching it and all.. but the purple ones at the shop looks real...cuz some parts of the purple are faded..
but on the hand, mind don't really look fake also, cuz a few spiny leaves seem to grow blue, below the flowers, hence abit unachievable with dye, i believe... and it seems that the flowers are really spiny leaves that clump together and happens to be blue! and the flower is brighter electric blue in the centre, and darker blue at the rims, for every circle of flowers...

and it has a scent..i dunno how to desribe it..a bit like white wine (smells a bit sour)

wow..i never seen protea before..they are beautiful(from google images)..looks like lotus or passionfruit flowers.. never evenheard of them..shall look out for those next time.
it looks more like erica, (from wikipedia search) cuz of the leaves.. but not one of the pics match with mind. thanks alot for your help ! =)

I used to grow Globe Amaranths when I was doing dried flower arragngements for sale. The flowers look similar in form, but the leaves do not match. They are easy to grow annuals, not sure if available in S'pore or if they would even grow there!
Have you been back to the flower shop where you bought them and asked the owner what it was?? I would!
Been fortunate to have visited your lovely city twice in '02 and '05 it's a great place, we love it and can't wait for the 3rd time.
Gill.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gomphrena Globosa/globe amaranth

thanks gill..i just asked today.. the florist said it was hy-bri-can (i mean that's how she pronounced it, high-bring-can). I haven googled yet.

the blue is dyed (asked the florist today)...but it certainly didint look like it the first time i saw it..however, yesterday, some patches of leaves turned blue.

singapore is definitely a nice place. cant wait for new tourism spots to be ready by 09, 10... shld visit it 2 years later..if u would like( integrated resort, singaore flyer, casinos). And although the flyer( giant ferris wheel, like the london eye)is ready now, tickets have been booked by corporations, and tickets are availaable for sepember 08 onwards..even i cant get to enjoy riding on it... but for now, the place nv change much, and has limited places to go..and inflation is definitely higher.... my friends and i are kinda bored of here for now.. even shopping is done in hongkong and bangkok for a lot of singaporeans..it's kinda an annual thing for people here.. i certainly wouldnt wanna live elsewhere..cuz it's a peaceful and safe place... but some (a few) people can be quite rude...even i cant stand them.. especially older singaporeans..and for us...there's a culture of calling older women and men, uncles and aunties, even though we are not related( so dont be alarmed..)

i searched...and searched but still cannot find anything similar...the closest thing to -hy-(prea)bring-can- is hypericum..and they dont look like my plant at all..i really wanna grow it... i believes cuttings from it would be called sprigs?? hope they take roots soon..

Your plant is proving to be a mystery to us. On thinking about it, it's possibly because it could well be an Asian plant of some kind Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia etc and therefore 'totally foreign' to us here. The vast majority of GW members are from the USA, the 'odd' one or two being from far less exotic places than Singapore, i.e. the UK....like myself! A lot of UK plants are imported from the Netherlands, that even may be the case with your mystery plant, but I have no idea what it could be, sorry. GardenWeb has an Asian gardening forum but having just checked it out, it's really not very active at the moment, infact it's VERY slow, so that may not be of any help either.
Found S'pore to be a very friendly and safe city, also very clean too. The people we were fortunate to meet were open and friendly and often invited us to join them for a chat... people said hello and returned a smile when we passed them in the street. It made a refreshing change from what we find at home in some of our larger UK cities, but I guess eveywhere has it's downsides.
Gill.

Looks like a Bruniaceae, compare it with Brunia and Berzelia. Being a South African I'm afraid it may prove difficult in the hot, humid climate of Singapore, but it doesn't hurt to try.

ooh..ya..i just happened to come across this website...a bit hesistant to post here also... and i am 20 years old... i dont know anyone my age that are interested in gardening
(though gardeners my age will definitely exist), especially...weird type of plants...and people older than 45 are usually housewives..who tend to stick to tropical plants...nurseries also hardly have new plants...sobs... i have this belief that plants not found here(never seen b4) have little chance of survival...

and milo_z7.... i have like 10pots of Z.Z, Zambifolia or sth... my mother's..cuz in singapore, they are treated as fortune plants...most households have them..are they treated as fortune plants elsewhere in the world?

and may i know pls, what is the difference between south Africa. climate's and singapore?? and also South America/?
read that brazil's amazon forest has 3 months of dry spells.and thus i shud give less water to my amaryllis after the leaves die off naturally??? true?? but i believe that plants from those places should grow fine here...

rsponses and help are much appreciated..thanks for ur hardwork in helping me!!

lol.maybe i should post a message in the asian forum..if u hadnt told me about it..i wouldnt even look it up cuz i would type in the relevant forums.... shall check if there are any others singaporeans using this forum...

Don't worry about your age, there are several of us here still in our twenties :-)

It's impossible to generalize about the climates of South America and South Africa, the areas are simply too large, you'll find both snow covered peaks and tropical rainforests. The ZZ plant comes from Kenya and NE South Africa, an area with a climate similar to yours, although drier. I had never heard of it being a fortune plant, mytle (Myrtus communis) is/was a fortune plant here, often included in wedding bouquets.

Bruniaceae are native to the Western Cape; an area with a mediterranean climate. The summers are hot and dry, and winters are much cooler than yours, with temperatures in some areas dropping below freezing. Still, there's no harm in trying, try to find a cool spot for it.

ok..thanks...does brunia comes in other colours besides white.. milo..thanks so much...i was only wondering about those areas..where the climates are similar to singapore.. u hit the spot!

Pleased it looks like you have been given a positive ID, congrats Milo, nice job...the Brunia looks very likely to me. I should have got my daughters partner to check it out for you when they come this weekend....he's from north of Johannesburg! Take care and happy growing...oh, BTW, lots of us started to be intested in plants in our early 20's ...and still are several years down the line, the addiction grows as you get older so watch out Evelyn..haha!
Gill.

Thank you Gill so much for your great help!!!