[John J]

This photo, taken today, of the first flower to open this year. I'm always surprised at just how well this plant grows here in Cyprus, often with little or no irrigation. Mine has none, only getting the occasional drink during the summer months. It is fairly well shaded, especially the roots, by large trees all around.

[Daisy]

That is a beautiful flower John.
I didn't know it could flower in winter.
Does it really smell of coconut, during the night?
Daisy

[John J]

My Solandra usually comes into flower from December onwards, Daisy. It's in full bloom now, photo taken today. My wife says the scent of the flowers at night is more like apricots.

[Daisy]

Wonderful!
It is when I see a photograph like yours, I wish that I had a larger garden.
Daisy

[John]

Just guessing but is this bat pollinated in the wild?

[John J]

I believe they originate in the Mexico, Central America, West Indies area. Your assumption sounds reasonable, John. I have never seen any pollinating insects, bees, etc, around my plant and we seem to be extremely deficient in bats around here. We used to get regular visits from Egyptian Fruit Bats eating the berries on our Melia trees but they they haven't been around for a few years now. Their roosting haunts were being systematically destroyed. The Solandra is very easy to propagate from cuttings.

[Sandra]

These look stunning - how big do they grow and what conditions suit them best?

[John J]

I have just returned from 2 weeks off island so have only seen this post now.
I can only describe my plant as 'rampant', it climbs into all the trees around it to a height of several metres. Its roots are in shade although the majority of the plant is in full sun. The area is not irrigated and it gets very little water during the summer months.

[ritamax]

It is a large plant, gets surely 15m long and very wide, too. Needs support, the branches become thick and woody with time. Likes full sun to bloom well, fertile soil, but only moderate watering, and when established, will be drough-tolerant. Useful hiding ugly fences.

[John J]

Another plant I'm returning to. Questions were asked last time about its size. This photo was taken a few days ago. It's been in bloom for over 2 months now. The structure it is climbing over is at the X-roads of 2 paths and the plant has scrambled up into the trees to a height of several metres.

[Jamus]

My wife and I were both so enamoured with Solandra that we gave it as a second name to our first born child. Her middle name is Solandra. I struck a cutting which is alive and well at the base of a large Grevillea robusta in our back garden, but it's only a few years old and hasn't really taken off yet.

[Alisdair]

Jamus, Your daughter is lucky to be named after such a gorgeous plant. The favourite plant of my mother's own (late Victorian-era) mother was Ivy - as soon as my mother was old enough she persuaded everyone to call her Peggy instead, the shortened form of her own third name!
(The family did then stick to plant names, as my mother in turn called her daughter Heather, and she then called her own daughter Rose.)

[Jamus]

Rose was on the short list for my daughter. My Mum's name is Erika, a variation on Erica.

[Umbrian]

Yesterday some young English neighbours of ours brought their two and a half year old daughter for a swim. She is a charming child being brought up in a very rural spot and learning to appreciate the natural world around her - the first thing she does when being shown a flower is to put her nose to it to find out if it perfumed or not. As we sat by the pool she suddenly said "I have two names and my second name is Primrose" I replied how lucky she was to have the name of such a lovely flower and then told her that my second name was Rosemary.  "Oh" she said "that is a nice name too" I had to agree but remember my mother saying that she did not give me it as a first name as she feared it would be shortened to Rose. Obviously a love of flowers was not behind the choice but rather the overall sound/attractiveness of the word.