I have to start out by saying how lucky I feel to have found the Master Gardener program and more and more the wonderful people that make up its heart, soul, and success.  COVID has hit me particularly hard and I've been able to gain the respite needed through gardening and further plant investigation.  Since finishing the final, becoming a Master Gardener, reading the blogs, and interacting with our community, it has opened up a whole up new world for me to explore.  I have so much to learn but have found since starting classes in January, have been truly fascinated and eager to check out horticultural in more depth.

I'm a regular cruising the big box stores and nurseries for the newest indoor or outdoor plants I have never seen and or would love to try.  Since speaking to an MG about African violets, I am no longer afraid to grow them and have to say my deep purple flowers and fuzzy leaves are thriving in my garden window and giving me joy.  Just before the holidays, a good friend gifted me with a Tail of the Monkey (Hildewintera colademononis), or "rat tail" clipping from her garden that I've always admired in hers to also place in my window.  And finally, in January, I found the most amazing trailing plant with glossy green leaves and the most unusual and wonderful name:  Aeschynanthus radicans or Mona Lisa Lipstick! 

Mona Lisa Lipstick's origin is South East Asia.  In their native rain forest habitat, these evergreen plants grow as epiphytes, perched on trees, where their long vines sprawl along with moss- covered branches.  Give these tropical house plants the same dappled sunlight and humidity and they're extremely easy to grow.  The real attraction, though, is its tubular flowers that emerge from a calyx in bright colors that look like a lipstick tube.  Most often, you'll find them in red, but some rarer varieties have dark red, red, orange, yellow or coral blooms.  In my opinion, this is just a gorgeous plant and has non-stopped blooming since January. 

Since the warmer weather is here, I've noticed the top shelf of my garden window was too high to the glass up top and the Mona Lisa started to get a sunburn.  So today I lowered the shelf, fertilized well, and then placed in back next to my Tail of the Monkey plant that was starting to bend as it grew on the lower shelf.  My African Violet, Tail of the Monkey, and Mona Lisa Lipstick give me such joy every morning while making coffee.  They are there to remind me of the wonders of nature and how much I must be grateful for.  Today what I'm MOST grateful for is that my family survived the COVID virus including my 82-year-old Mom.  After several months of worry, I will fly out of the 16th to Chicago to see her and my 2 brothers to celebrate and finally reunite. I did warn them to get ready for the biggest love fest of their lives! ha!

Resource:  guide-to-houseplants.com