Desert plant (red flower) ID'd by David Dickinson and Fleur as Kleinia fulgens

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Hilary

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The desert quarter of the  PALACIO DE CRISTAL DE LA ARGANZUELA in Madrid was still in the process of having the plants numbered and named.
This plant was numbered but not named.
Does anyone know its name?
« Last Edit: April 24, 2018, 12:00:37 PM by Alisdair »
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Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

David Dickinson

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Re: Desert plant with red flower
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2018, 10:04:35 PM »
I had a Senecio hybrid which looked very much like your plant but with longer leaves. I posted a photograph in  "Plant of the Day", page 22 http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=2104.msg16812#msg16812. I say "had" because one was killed by the extreme cold we had last year and the second, which had survived last year's cold,  succumbed to the -7°C of this winter.
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

Hilary

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Re: Desert plant with red flower
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2018, 06:14:22 AM »
It certainly looks like the same plant.
Many thanks
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

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Fleur Pavlidis

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Re: Desert plant with red flower
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2018, 07:17:51 PM »
MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece

David Dickinson

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Re: Desert plant with red flower
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2018, 08:36:37 PM »
Thanks Fleur for pointing out the new name. In my original posting of a few years back I wondered  how much of a hybrid mine was. The only thing was that mine had more orange to the flower. The good news is that emptying the pot today to throw away what  I thought was the dead plant, there was one root and a little bit of healthy stem attached.  Fingers crossed it may make a comeback. It was on the verge of producing its beautifully intense flowers when the frost arrived so I didn't really get to see them this year.
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

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Fleur Pavlidis

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Re: Desert plant with red flower
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2018, 09:48:59 PM »
Here and at Sparoza we have them planted out. In cold winters they die right back but reliably reappear in the spring. This does mean that they are delayed in flowering though.
MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece

David Dickinson

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Re: Desert plant with red flower
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2018, 12:47:51 AM »
Not that I'm superstitious - what, me? - but just after reading Fleur's last  posting about her experience at Speroza which gave me some hope I saw the photo in "Places to visit, Madrid" with not one but two Magpies! "One for sorrow , two for joy" as the saying goes. Let's hope. Thanks Fleur and Hilary.
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

Hilary

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Re: Desert plant with red flower
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2018, 06:04:11 PM »
Last October when we went to Sparoza, on the plant exchange open day, I came away with three succulents. The person in charge of selling the plants kindly wrote their names in my notebook. Flipping through the book a couple of days ago I came across said list
Crassula tetragona, which I re- potted and which is doing very well.
Stapelia variegata, which I re- potted and which died an immediate death.
Yes, have guessed,
Senecio fulgens, which I didn’t re- pot as it looked a bit straggly and I thought I would do something with it in the spring.

Not many days later there was a hail storm which caused not the slightest damage to any of the other succulents on both balconies but centered all its force on this small plant. The fleshy leaves had a round white spots where the hail stones had hit.  A few days ago I was looking at the plant, saw all the damaged leaves had dried up and the plant is even more straggly so I thought I might start again from the beginning and chop off the ends of the stems and plant the fresh tips, then I saw the flower bud and wondered what sort of flower it would produce.

Now that everything has come together finding the written list again, identifying the plant, the discusion on the Forum and the photos I have from Madrid I am excitedly looking forward to a bright red flower. I also have realised that it is in its nature to be straggly.
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

David Dickinson

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Perhaps the Magpies did bring me luck! (see earlier posting 18.4.2018) The plant has made a come back and is looking quite healthy. Next year, if cold weather is forecast, this will be one of the plants to go into my little plastic greenhouse.
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

Hilary

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Photos of Kleinia fulgens which survived the hail in the winter and the weird weather we have been having recently.
The first flowers came out at the end of May and a new one is in preparation
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

David Dickinson

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Good to see yours has flowered Hilary. Mine probably will decide to do so next winter just as the cold sets in again!
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

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John J

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Our Senecio fulgens is quite a small plant but its flowers provide a bright spot at this time of the year.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)