We had a lot of fun on vacation, but it’s really nice to be home. One of the first things I did (after bringing in my bags and kissing Chowder and Maxine) was go outside to see how my plants fared during my absence. I’m happy to report that my Nana took good care of them. One plant seems to have done especially well.
tear plant when first transplated on 6-11-10
During my visit with Granny (a neighbor, family-friend, and phenomenal gardener) a couple of weeks ago, she gave me this very visually interesting plant that she called a tear plant. She said that growing up she’d also heard it referred to as hen and chicks. Now, I’ve seen hen and chicks at greenhouses and they don’t look anything like the plant she gave me. And after googling tear plant I’m equally stumped–all I got was pictures of leaves dripping water that looked like tears.
tear plant today, 6-21-10
I transplanted the big plant she gave me pretty soon after I got it. At that point there were very few “babies,” but I transplanted the bigger ones to some old (not nearly as attractive as the one above) pots. You can’t really tell from the pictures, but the big one really grew while we were on vacation!
this is what i mean by "visually interesting"
Very few of the leaves had these on them when I left, but now they’re covered up. These things fall off sometimes, and from what I can tell they become the babies? I could be totally wrong about that.
babies that aren't quite big enough to transplant yet
I’ve already transplanted three or four of the larger babies that were pretty big when Granny first gave me the plant. These sprang up while I was on vacation. I’ll have to transplant them and find good homes for them, too. Any takers? Also, have any of you seen or heard of this plant called by any other names?
That’s really cool, I’ve never heard of that plant before and I definitely couldn’t find anything online… It’d be interesting to see if those little buds that drop are what create the new “babies” if you find out anything more through observation I’d be curious to know what you find out.
Chris, I think those buds are in fact the babies. I find that really cool as well! And from what I can tell they seem to mature and become new plants pretty rapidly. I’ll let you know what else I learn through observation!
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Chris, I’ve solved the mystery!
http://disfordelicate.com/2010/06/23/mystery-solved-bryophyllum-crenatodaigremontianum/
Hooray! Congrats! Glad you solved the mystery! What an interesting plant and it seems to be quite aggressive when it come to spreading. Having the baby buds grow on it’s leaves so they’ve got a head start when they drop, combined with their willingness to choke out other plants sure makes it quite a hardy plant. Find it interesting that some people on the gardenweb forum see it as a “weed” I don’t think it is, but it definitely shares weed like characteristics.
Where or how can i get one of these plants for my mother
how much do you water them and what kind of dirt do you get for them? I found one at a yard sale
Debbie,
They are succulents and require very little water, and I just used regular old potting soil for mine. These plants definitely thrive on neglect!