I then had the idea to email Costa Farms, my Home Depot supplier, and see if maybe they could ID it early, (Patience is not my strong point.) I wasn't sure if they'd answer ID request emails, so I sent them a basic request for maybe just the list of what Stapediads they sold/grew/whatever. I got a reply about a day later asking for a picture to ID it with, which originally exceeded my expectations.
I sent them a few pictures, and then never got a reply. Just to see if maybe that was a fluke I emailed them for a cactus ID about a month later from a different email account (including pictures) and got nothing back about that one either. Maybe if I asked a really general culture question about a very common plant they would be able to give me a generic reply letter back and all would be well. Why bother asking for pictures if no one can take the time out to ID one of their own plants anyway?
Anyway, now it is growing buds. They are supposed to be fall bloomers, so the temperature decrease as of recent must've triggered it.
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| Close-up of the buds |
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| The whole plant, buds on the stem farthest right. |
These are my favorite succulents and the reason I started growing them at all. Stapelia, Huernia, Orbea, etc., all the succulents that bloom with interesting, although possibly stinky flowers. For pollination most of these species flowers smell like rotting meat to attract types of flies. What's not fun about that? I'll keep it outside though because carrion isn't exactly the scent you want to perfume your home with. I realize this isn't my most thrilling post, but it's my 1st Stapelia flower ever, plus the 1st one I'll get to see in real life, so I'm pretty excited. My fingers are kind of crossed in hopes it turns out to be a Stapelia gigantea, because although I already have one it's a one stem cutting that hasn't done anything but be a one stem cutting the whole year or so I've had it. Anything else would really be fine too though, I've never been less picky in my life.
Stapeliads are awesome, it's true.
ReplyDeleteI have been . . . unimpressed with Costa Farms when it comes to helping customers identify what they've purchased. Though in fairness, they're wholesalers, not retailers, and wouldn't have to bother with that sort of question in the first place if they didn't plaster their name all over everything they produce.
I suppose you'll find out what you've got soon enough anyway, though.
Wow, I read your New Plants post about the Costa Farm's response to the mystery Strelitzia and laughed.
DeleteI totally understand not wanting to ID everyone's plants daily, they probably get a ton of requests like ours. The rep that answered my 1st email specifically asking for a picture to ID it was what threw me off and made me think maybe they did do IDs. I would've been thrilled if they just sent me what I had asked for originally, which was just a list of Stapelias they did sell. Should be pretty easy to send, much easier than getting a plant ID. However, I should just learn to stop impulse purchasing and then these situations would never be an issue for me.
I suppose they may not want to get a bunch of plant ID requests, but come on, they knew what they were getting into when they decided to turn themselves into a name brand.
DeleteThe Costa website, by the way, still has the mismatched ID ("Strelitzia reginae [White Bird of Paradise]") on it. They've had two years to fix it if they wanted to, so I'm left to conclude that they don't particularly care about providing website visitors with good information. (And if they don't care about providing visitors to the website with accurate information, what are the odds they care about providing accurate information to customers who e-mail them with questions?)
I suspect that the most likely explanation, though, is that you were asking about plants that they don't actually supply. Was there an actual Costa tag/sticker/etc. on the pot when you got it? 'Cause it wouldn't surprise me if Home Depot has multiple vendors, and the Costa website doesn't list any Huernia, Orbea, or Stapelia species, which seems like it would explain the lack of response.
If your HD people have told you they only have a single vendor, then never mind, but there's a company called Altman Plants that produces lots of cacti and succulents for Lowe's, HD, and similar stores, which I think is a more likely source for your plant. Their catalog, cunningly listed under a different domain name, includes four Huernias and nine Stapelias, so it doesn't do much to narrow down your options, but if you still want an answer before the flowers appear, you could try contacting them.
I'm not surprised they have mismatched IDs, but to never correct it shows that they definitely don't care. Fine, it's not like I ever specifically go shopping for Costa Farms plants anyway.
DeleteThank you for the suggestion, but I am sure that this one is theirs. Although they don't have it listed on the website, they don't have a lot of products listed that I've seen them supply. It was in a Costa Farms pot and had a Costa Farms barcode sticker. The specific Home Depot that I got this one from uses Costa Farms for nearly everything houseplant, I've never seen anything from Altman Plants there in the 6 years I've lived in the area. Altman usually supplies our Lowes and Wallmarts around here. Although Costa Farms doesn't usually send their plants labeled, Altman mislabels a lot of their plants. I'm not sure which is worse?
Wrong label is definitely worse than no label; at least when there's no label, you know that you need to look. With a wrong label, not only do you have bad information, but you're liable to pass it on to someone else.
DeleteIf Costa is producing these, then it's weird that they don't have them on their site: you'd think they would want people to know, lest a customer who wanted a specific plant would go elsewhere. Probably very little to be gained by speculating about the reasons for this, though.
In any case, it looks from your latest post like you'll know what you have pretty soon regardless; I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Stapelia flowers do look stunning albeit the carrion smell. I've been curious about these plants, and have been meaning to buy one, except the smell factor does throw me off. Looking forward to seeing your one bloom and please advise of the fragrance. :)
ReplyDeleteNot all of them smell bad, and I don't know how strong the stink is either, but we'll find out about this one at least!
DeleteHi, i just got a stapelia from rona l'entrepot in canada and it comes from costa farms. I also wanted to id it but their site doesnt help. It is also not in vert good shape but i never found one in a store here i've asked florists botanical center and got the same Answer everywhere.it seems that no one are growing them here in Canada anymore. So I ha to buy it.they are part of the mini cactus and succulent collection that comes in really cute cubic glazed terracotta pots. I wish they would label thoses better!
ReplyDeleteTrue, it would be nice if they labeled them correctly, but when the larger companies try to, they get it wrong or mislabeled it often enough that I think I'd rather them not try! By the way, I'm not sure how many types of Stapelias Costa Farms sells, but this one turned out to be a Stapelia grandiflora, pictures if you click the Stapelia tag in the list to the right.
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ReplyDeleteHey again. I have a grandiflora and this one is not it... Its quite small can't wait for it to bloom so i can figure out what variety it is!:)
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I'm curious to see what other Stapelia they distribute then too!
DeleteI also just identified the other ducculent i bought from costa farms : faucaria felina. You have one i believe. Has it flowered yet?
ReplyDeleteI do have Faucaria felina, though not from Costa Farms, I didn't know they even carried Faucaria. All of mine have already flowered and slowed growth for the year as fall starts around September here.
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