Little Bird Flower ( Pedilanthus Bracteatus)

First came  one little 'Bird'

From the moment I saw this plant, I was caught.  The flowers resembled little green birds, very fascinating !  However the nurseries were selling this plant at a rather high price,  so I never got round to buying a plant.  After reading about how easily it can be propagated through cuttings, I decided to  ask  a neighbor for a cutting. She gave me a small plant instead. The tiny plant had hardly four leaves to start with - it had sprouted by the mother plant, perhaps from seeds.










 I was very pleased to have this tiny plant although initially I was worried that it will not survive. So I watched it like a hawk - making sure not to over water it.. Touch wood, once it adapted, it started growing robustly and rather fast compared to the initial state when at times I thought it was rotting away since it seemed almost stagnant.  When it was a small plant it did not take to the sun too well so I had to remove it to some shade. Each time I let the soil dry up a bit before watering sparingly. Now it is growing well under the sun and rain - and blooming perpetually !

Then two little birds ....

The 'tail' is cute !

..... and then  three little 'Birds'...

Now roughly a year  down the road,  this plant continues to give me a lot of pleasure every time I see the tiny green birds appear !  Just the other day I was  surprised to see a round pod appear after the bloom was done ! To my disappointment however it just disappeared one morning - maybe it just burst during the night .......

The Seed Pod

Well  they say this plant brings good luck to the owner, but I am just delighted to see this plant with the little green birds  !Aside from this  Pedilanthus Bracteatus, there is the other variety, the Pedilanthus tithymaloides with the little pink birds. I had grown them from cuttings (see post dated 29th April 2011), however they have yet to bloom (sigh)...!