Kalanchoe

Kalanchoe, or Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, or Christmas kalanchoe (so named for the holiday when it is often available in stores) is such a pretty plant, with petite, beautiful flowers and glossy, paddle-like leaves. It is a succulent. I’ve had this plant for nearly three years. It’s often described as an indoor plant, but I’ve always had it outside, in a a shady spot in a hanging container.

In the first year, it was all flowers. The following year, just leaves. I wasn’t sure what happened. But this year, in the spring, it made a dramatic comeback with a gorgeous display of intense salmon-pink flowers. Welcome back! The photo on the right is a better view of the leaves. Although a bit difficult to see in that photo, on the left is its “container mate,” the epidendrum orchid. This orchid broke off from its larger parent. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, this type of orchid easily breaks off when apparently it, too, is ready to become its own independent mature plant.