I love Lowes they put so many plants on sale on their dead shelf and they really mark them down so low. These are my dollar plants this week.

Purple Passion Plant or Velvet Plant

Botanical Name: Gynura aurantiaca

This one will need a lot of care but I think it will survive.



This one really looks good. There is no tag so I do not know its name but it is still a pretty Bromelaid and it looks good. It was 19.00 they marked it down to 9.00 but when I took it to the register they gave it to me for 1.00.

Wow, $1 for that bromelaid?!

I think the Purple Passion plant should come back too. It looks good!

Planto

Yep 1.00. It was originally 19.00. They had it marked at 8.00. When I took it to the register they rang it up as 1.00.

I saw a design on one of those plant shows and they had a 5' tree limb and mounted different color bromelaid on it. They had the limb in a large pot with pretty little plants in the soil as a ground cover. It looked like the bromelaid tree growing up out of the pot. I am going to use Callisia fragrans at the bottom as a ground cover.

I picked these up for 1.00 too add to the tree design.





I had some extra so I added them in my ceramic birdhouse.

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with Bromeliads, so I couldn't say which one your big one is, but the small ones you picked up (love those too) are Cryptanthus, also known as 'Earth Star.' They are related to Bromeliads (I believe they are in the same family). As with Bromeliads, they bloom and die, but not before producing new "pups" to replace "Mama." I think instead of forming at the base like Bromeliads, Cryptanthus babies grow from the top of the plantand once large enough (at least 1/3 the size of "Mama"), you can remove them and root them.

Now, how to go about rooting them, I don't know. Cryptanthus are super easy, don't water the tops like you would a Bromeliad, but the potting mix. There really isn't a cup to hold water on those anyway.

Sorry, I may be preaching to the choir, you may already know this!

Planto

Thank you. I did not know I am reading about them now. It is bad for me to start watching YouTube and finding a sale. Then I am off and running and do not know squat about how to care for the plants. But it looked so pretty when he finished his bromelaid tree.

But for 1.00 I felt it was not a big deal if they died on me. It is something to try.

Cinta,
I'm glad you found the information useful. I feel bad telling someone something and they already knew.

That's okay, I doubt you're the only one that does that. Some of the plants I've bought, I'm like uh... Let me research this later. When I get home, I discover some are more difficult than I think I can accomodate and those go back to the store.

That is true though, for $1, if they don't make... you're not out of much! Do you have a picture of the tree? I'd love to see it.

Planto

Here is one. I cannot find the other one where he lined the floor with plants other than Bromelaids. I was bored there was nothing on TV and being the night owl that I am I usually just search different garden topics on the net.

I had it booked marked on my computer that was stolen during my break-in. But I remembered it a soon as I saw this plant for on sale. I will go back next week and see how many other ones they mark down for a 1.00.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Cinta,
I'm sorry to hear someone broke into your place. I hope you were able to recover or replace the things that were stolen.

Thank you for the video, that looks really cool! I have an old houseplant book that shows you how to make one of those trees (just occurred to me).

If only I had the space. Hubby already says it looks like a jungle in here.

I looked in my houseplant book after I remembered the bromeliad tree. I think I may have found a name for your big one. Neoregelia carolinae var. tricolor. There are several diffrent types of Bromeliads, I guess that one you have is known as a Neoregelia.

Planto

Hey you need to complete the jungle with a bromelaid tree.

The robbery was strange. If you are bored and want a laugh. I told my sedum buddies about it on the Sedum forum.

The thread "Hi" in Sedum forum

I will tell Hubby one of my garden forum friends said I needed a Bromeliad tree. I can already see his facial expression.

I read your story. That is strange indeed. I wonder if they took the computers and jewelry to "mask" their underwear stealing intentions. Not that they did a good job at it IMO. I am still sorry to hear that happened to you. I can only imagine having lost your Mother's jewelry, that is terrible. My Mother has somethings from her Mom too. I would also be sad if something were to happen to them (she passed away ten years ago when I was still in high school). And you call that a dog? She looks more like a bear!

Planto

Yes blame me. It would be fun for someone else trying this other than me. I will probably kill it.

What plants did they use in your book for ground cover around the bottom of the tree branch?

Yes taking my mom's jewelry really hurt. There were pieces she would show us that my father brought back from Korea.

I suspect it was the son of the handyman I was using. He would come past the house and ask if I need something done he needed money to take his girlfriend out. If I had something for him to do I would put him to work but If I did not have something I still would give him a little money. I felt sorry for him with the single dad that was sick raising him alone and they did not have much from what they said.

Why I suspect him.????? One of my plants in the morning room was knocked over and the robbers set it up and picked up as much of the soil they could with their hands and put it back in the pot. He knocked it over getting the computer disconnected. Strangers do not do that. I think the underwears was for his girlfriend. Why take the drawer I have no idea. I know he did not have a bed he said his bed was mattress on the floor. So I doubt he had pillows hence was why he took the pillows off my bed.

Aww, no! I doubt you will kill them.

Well actually, the picture didn't have any plants at the base of the tree. Just one sinle bromeliad in the pot and the rest of the pot is empty (that doesn't look all thst interesting being empty like that).



Wow, that is sad. I do feel sorry for the kid, but then again, I don't feel that excuses his behavior whatsoever. That does sound odd about the plant. Did you ever allow him back in your house after that? Or his Dad?

Planto

After the robbery I did not see him or his son until just last week. The father was knocking on my door. Which was strange because they would call me at least once a week or every two weeks asking for work.

The robbery was March so from March until now I had not seen them or heard from them. I was rude I asked who was there and he said his name and I went back and sat down. I did not open the door or say anything else. If it was his son that robbed me I hope he got the message. If it was not I just do not feel safe with them around. They live about a half hour away.

The father was only in the house once. I used them mostly for outdoor things. Racking leaves, cleaning the garage, cutting down tress, cleaning the gutter that kind of stuff. I have a couple acres of land and there is always stuff to do.

Oh ok. I don't think it was rude to not answer the door. I wouldn't have either. Hopefully they both get the hint and don't bother you anymore.

Planto

Thank you but I did feel it was rude and I felt a little bad but I could not look at them. The police said they felt it was personal meaning someone knew me and I have a small circle of visitors, my sisters and two girlfriends that cannot lift their legs up to go through a window.

The police also said because of the area and the way my house sits it is was unlikely that someone picked my house at random. The houses on this street sit back off the street and they all have a couple of acres. There was no luck of the draw to just rob me.

You just have a big heart it sounds. Lol, we also have a small circle of friends. It's better to have a few good friends than a lot of associates IMO.

That makes sense (what the police said). It is sad that you cannot be kind to someone without getting taken advantage of.

Planto

Any time one has a break in, go to the local pawn shops immediately. You often find your stuff.

Nice finds for a buck Cinta!! Our Lowes always have racks of clearance plants but they are never marked down that much and it's very rare to find something that isn't almost totally dead!

Love that Neoregelia and I agree with Planto, it definitely appears to be the Blushing Brom, N. carolinae var. tricolor. Check out these images for comparison: http://www.learn2grow.com/plan...
http://www.glasshouseworks.com...

Nice little Cryptanthus too. I hope you will post a photo here if you make a Bromeliad tree!

Thank you Lin. You all are so helpful and gave me some good tips and ID maybe I will not kill it so fast.

I am going to look for a branch I have acres of woods so I am sure I can find a good branch. I will soak it in some clorox and get busy making a living tree with my cheap plants.

Lin I talk to a lot of out of town friends and have told them about Lowes markdown area and they say the same thing you have said that their markdown area always have almost dead plants. Our area always have good plants. I wonder why. My Lowes have three price points in the Markdown. 1.00,, 3.00 and 5.00. Nothing is higher than 5.00 in the markdown area.

Picked up another one for my Bromelaid tree. I had to fork over 5.00. They only had this one on the sale table. I might be able to pick up enough to make a big tree. Because I only had the one big one and the couple smaller ones I was in the woods looking for a nice shaped small branch,

Maybe someone can ID this one.