A free spirited plant - that is how I view the Kalanchoe plants (first posted Jan 9 2011). Around Chinese New Year period, these potted Kalanchoe plants are sold everywhere - supermarkets, wet market, nurseries .... and available in many different colors. Some of blooms come in single petaled, most are the multi-petaled type. I have only a single variety - red, single petal. I have not added other varieties as earlier I was not too successful in caring for this plant - this plant seems to rot easily if too much water. However the moment I stopped paying too much attention to it... that is why I say this plant is a free spirited plant, it seems to thrive by its own, multiplies freely and easily even on the ground where earlier I tried to grow it; under some bigger plants but still exposed to sunlight ! I only maintained one plant in a pot where I exposed it direct to sunlight and watered only sparingly. In the shade the leaves become rather leafy and thick. Since I have not paid much attention to them, I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed flowers buds appearing at the tips on some of the plants.
It took a while before the flowers appeared from bud stage, but once they do, they seemed to stay forever -- so far lasting more than a a month. Currently they are still looking fresh and attractive. So despite this plant only blooms once a year, it is still worth the wait ......!
