Saturday, March 15, 2008

Pistils Nursery


kalachoe fedtschenkoi
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen.


I found the plant that I have been searching for at Pistils Nursery yesterday. I have been looking for a plant that I remember from my childhood that I called the maternity plant. When I described the plant to sellers of succulents I was told that very few people carried the plant because it was considered weedy. The current nick name for the plant was mother of millions. We went into pistils to look at the baby chickens. You can have three hens but no rosters in your back yard in Portland. After looking at the cute chicks I noticed a new shipment of succulents at $2 apiece. I asked if they had mother of millions she pulled out a plant from the box and said this is it. The Latin name for my plant is Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi and it is a sedum.
The nursery isn’t very big but it has lots of interesting and useful things, plenty to keep you busy in your yard. They even have the red compost worms. After I set up new worm box I will go back and get red worms.
3811 N Mississippi Ave Portland, OR 503.288.4889
www.pistilsnursery.com

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yes, Pistils is a nice little nursery which I also enjoy visiting every once in a while, mainly just to see what kinds of succulents they're carrying. As a native Portlander, I've been pleased to see N. Mississippi Ave re-blossom in recent years.
However, the plant you got is not what is normally called the "Mother of Thousands". That would be Kalanchoe daigremontiana (syn. Bryophylum daigremontiana). I don't believe the one you purchased (Purple Scallops, which is also nice) produces the babies.
The ones that produce babies on the leaves are all of the Bryophylum division of Kalanchoe. Most succulent nurseries have them; they just don't take them to sales as they are weeds in the nursery.
By the way, they also aren't Sedums. They're a separate genus which is a part of the Crassulacea family.
If you would like a "real" Mother of thousands, I could bring one to the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society meeting this coming Thursday night. If interested, email me and I'll give you directions.
Luther, growing succulents in North Portland.