An Exotic Clerodendron Bush Will Decorate Your Windowsill Or Winter Garden

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

"Blue butterflies" in the house

A bush with "blue butterflies" - this advertising name for clerodenrum conquered me right away, and I decided to order it, without even having read almost nothing about the plant.

My imagination was already drawing exotic flowers that dotted my bush. Blue petals-wings, and long curved stamens and a long pistil give the flower a resemblance to butterflies, which perched on a plant with thin flexible stems of light brown color and velvet "quilted leaves" of a beautiful elongated shape.

When I opened the package, there was no end to my disappointment. In the peat glass there was one sprout no more than 15 cm long. And I thought - absolutely no signs of life, since several of the kidneys on it seemed dry.

At that moment I did not know that it is quite simple to propagate such an exotic plant as clerodendrum. And now I already have three new shoots taken from my first bush. I am sure this year they will also become wonderful flowering plants.

So, having transplanted the resulting clerodendrum into a 20 cm flower pot, filling it with a ready-made earthen mixture for flowering plants, as recommended on the label, I pushed it further so as not to get upset looking at this poor twig …

And I decided to read again about the exotic guest, which I acquired.

First of all, I must say that it has two names: in the literature, sometimes they write

clerodendrum, and sometimes

clerodendron … The thing is that Carl Linnaeus in his work Species plantarum (1753) refers to a plant

clerodendrum (Clerodendrum), but he already was a Dutch botanist Johannes Burman, who in 1737 called the plant

klerodendron … And this spelling is also accepted in the world of botanists. It seems to me that this is a more correct option, given that its name comes from "dendron", which means "tree" in Greek, and from "kleros", which has several meanings. First of all, "klero" - this name comes from the tradition of planting these trees in monastic courtyards in Sri Lanka, and it also means "fate, fortune", which is associated with the tradition of making small talismans from this tree, which were used during the division of land inherited allotments, therefore, they were also considered amulets that bring good luck. For others, luck was in the abundance of flowers that distinguish this tree, which is why it was popular in Japanese gardens. But one way or another, it turns out that

Clerodendron is a lucky tree.

Clerodendron, or

clerodendrum, is a genus of perennial shrubs, semi-shrubs, lianas, and even trees. Among them are deciduous and evergreen plants, until recently attributed to the family

Lamiaceae (Lamiaceae) - This family of salvia and other herbs. But biomolecular studies have identified a close relationship type

Klerodendron overlooking

Ayyuga, also belonging to the family of

Lamiaceae

… Further complicating the classification is the fact that many species have synonyms, that is, two equivalent scientific names. The reason for this phenomenon was the "research haste" that characterized the period between the first half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, when expeditions followed one after another, the botanists working in them discovered new types of clerodendrons, but the lack of effective communication routes did not give them the opportunity to notify them at once the entire scientific world. So, one biologist called the plant in his own way, and another after a few years gave it a different name, which created the confusion.

But, digressing from the "botanical" systematization, it should be said that clerodendron is very graceful, and many of its species can be grown in different regions, providing shelter for the winter, or even at home to admire the beautiful and fragrant flowers.

In total, there are about 400 species of clerodendrons. They have different shapes, they grow like trees, and like bushes or vines. Among them are both deciduous and evergreen plants. Basically, their homeland is Asia and Africa.

My Ugandan Clerodendron came from the mountainous regions of Uganda. This explains that it is deciduous, requiring rest in winter. It can grow both as a liana and as a bush, and I form a tree from it. Shaping is easy, as the clerodendron easily tolerates pruning.

So, I remembered about my sprout after about two weeks. What was my surprise when I saw open leaves and new branches ready to grow. After a couple of months it was a really lush bush, and flower buds appeared at the tips of new branches. After a while, flowing brushes with beautiful flowers appeared from them. I chose a good location for him: in the first half of the day the clerodendron was generously illuminated by the sun, and in the second half it was in partial shade. This plant is very demanding for watering, loves moist soil, but without excessive stagnation of water.

To create a natural environment, I put pieces of gravel in a tray and poured water into it so that the pot would not touch the water. Thus, the plant had the necessary moisture in the periods between waterings. And you need to water it regularly, not letting the earthy one dry out. With a lack of moisture, the leaves of clerodendron can turn yellow, and with an excess of moisture, they can be affected by black rot.

Fertilizers. The plant is very responsive to fertilization. Every two weeks I watered it with flowering fertilizer, and it gave flowers generously until December.

During the entire growing season, my clerodendron was not sick or damaged by pests, however, at the beginning of the growing season I treated the plant against diseases with an insecticide - a preparation containing copper.

Clerodendron can also be affected by spider mites.

At the beginning of spring, when this article was being prepared, my Ugandan Clerodenrone was still "on winter vacation", but it is already noticeable how its buds began to grow, which means that soon it will again delight me with its flowering.

I can tell flower growers: despite the fact that this is a rare, exotic plant, it is surprisingly unpretentious, does not require any effort or time, but only gives great joy with its amazing flowers - "blue butterflies"!

Elena Kulishenko, Italy.

Especially for the magazine "Flora Price"

Photo by the author