Monday, August 3, 2009

My Friend's Flowering Medinilla

Quick post: I was asked by my friend Ronald Achacoso to drop by his house. He was proud of his magnificent feat, to make a Medinilla sp. flower in his Metro Manila garden. The medinilla he suspects as Medinilla magnifica or kapa-kapa (named after the cape like flower bracts) which is a common plant in Tagalog provinces. These grow and flower in the cooler mountainous parts, so to have it flower in warm and polluted Manila is truly amazing. Kudos, Ron! Keep it up.

But Ronald's Medinilla does not have the showy bracts or capes that M. magnifica has. Could it be that it is another species or the cape-like bracts disappear when they flower in lowland?

To other garden enthusiasts who are discouraged keeping Medinillas because of its non-flowering in the metro, Manila flowering is possible. Just be sure to buy cultivated specimens and not wild collected ones. For one the cultivated plants are already hardier and adapted to domestication.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I remember my affinity to this magnificent plant. Still beautiful in pink even without the large lacy bracts. I would love to have one medinilla magnifica flowering in my garden too. I recalled buying one for our home in Cainta but died already without even flowering. It could be the wild variety that I bought. But would be nice to have one cultivated kind and wait for its bloom.

metscaper said...

hi grace. nice to hear from you in this blogspot.

Unknown said...

It might be that this plant is Medinilla cummingii.

Unknown said...

Hi guys! Can anybody tell me where I can order a Medinilla Magnifica in the Philippines please? We have the Medinilla Cumingii but I want to have the Magnifica as well. Any info please? :)