Are you into flowers and gardens? Do you love plants? Get in here!

Welcome to the Inaugural meeting of The Hibiscus Flower Society

(abeg don't keep quiet o, clap! )

Please feel free to showcase your plants, share your stories, identify different tropical blooms and share any knowledge about potting soil, aphids or best times to plant or what to plant indoors (especially in dark areas) with us. We are all here to learn.

For now, we will keep the discussion on local tropical plants and trees. Stuff growing here already.

Thanks.

let's start by identifying some popular flowers and plants we see daily, feel free to join in.

IXORA COCCINEA

Also known as Jungle Geranium or Flame of the Woods. We all know this one (I'm sure several of us pulled out the stall from the flower to suck the juice at the bottom as kids. It's a beautiful shrub plant that comes in flower colours like red, yellow, orange, pink and white. A lot of gardeners use it as a hedge plant. It likes Sun and can be potted as well. It looks lovely in a table centrepiece. A lot of the different parts of the plant is used in Ayuverdic lifestyles in India and Asian subcontinent. Try it in a floral arrangement for your home today, add water to a vase and cut diagonally down the stem, very colourful.

Dumb Cane

Dieffenbachia.

Very, very popular indoor plant. It doesn't flower. It's very good for purifying air and is easy to care for (its very hard to kill, so little maintenance apart from some watering). However... there's a reason for its name. You see, it secretes this liquid that, when ingested, causes your throat to swell up and you can't speak for a while. In smaller animals, it can be deadly (it won't kill children but it will cause them medical distress for a few hours). So try not to have it around very small children who are still at the age of eating and putting everything they can see in their mouths. But once they pass that age, get one!

Nerium Oleander

This is a new addition to most Nigerian gardeners, but I do see it a lot around my house. It's a shrub with lovely flowers ranging from. white to dark pink. But BE CAREFUL: every single part of this plant is poisonous in a serious manner. Ir is a posionous plant, no children or adult should be injesting any part of this plant (I used it in a centrepiece for my house amd the sap killed the other plant). So this is not an indoor plant, but it does bring a certain elegance to the front of your home.

Celosia/Cockscomb

Also known as Wool Flowers. Beautiful unique-looking flowers with a soft, velvety feel. They have a very different texture and they almost look like fake plants but are very real. They come in colours like green, orange or deep pink and red. Plant in sunlight and dont water the flowrs directly to avoid fungus, they like a well-drained soil. They are very long-lasting in bouquets and centre pieces (below is a picture of a bride in Lagos who used them for her bouquet) and don't wilt easily. Apparently the leaves of a Cockscomb specie is what Yorubas eat as "soko" leaf for vegetable soup.

Royal or Flamboyant Poinciana

If you grew up in Benin city or Ife, you should know this tree! It's name is the Dexonia Regia or Flame Tree (I was erroneously told it was "flame of the forest" as a child, that's not true because that tree is another specie native to colder climes). Stunning for its deep red flowers, it also had these seed pods that would fall on the ground and we would call them "Devil beans" and say they were scratchy to the skin
It's very much a tropical tree and in fact, certain Christians of India believe it was growing nearby where Christ was crucified and that his blood shed on the tree and gave it the gorgeous red colours.

Bird of Paradise

Strelitzia Reginae


What a glorious plant this is. Native to South Africa, it is now well-established in Nigeria. Very hardy, does well in rich loamy soil, it likes full sun to semi-shade and is pretty low maintenance. Here's the thing: it takes up to 3 years before it begins to flower and bloom. But it's worth the wait! The plant symbolises Magnificence and liberty. Florists and brides, this is the showstopper you need.

Onegai:
Royal or Flamboyant Poinciana

If you grew up in Benin city or Ife, you should know this tree! It's name is the Demonic Regia or Flame Tree (I was erroneously told it was "flame of the forest" as a child, that's not true because that tree is another specie native to colder climes). Stunning for its deep red flowers, it also had these seed pods that would fall on the ground and we would call them "Devil beans" and say they were scratchy to the skin
It's very much a tropical tree and in fact, certain Christians of India believe it was growing nearby where Christ was crucified and that his blood shed on the tree and gave it the gorgeous red colours.

Nice! I know this flower. It was in a school close to my ppa where I served. The tree is very beautiful (for lack of a better word) i must confess.

Snake Plant

Sansevieria, also known as Mother-in-law's tongue (go ahead, laugh).

a good ornamental indoor plant, though you should keep it close to a window. Once it flowers, it stops propagating so you can regrow it by cutting and planting one of its leaves. It needs to be reported because the roots can grow and end up breaking the original container. It doesn't like to be overwatered, so give it a well-draining (not clay) soil and not so much watering. It is an air-purifying plant, but yes, its leaves are poisonous. So keep it out of your children's bedroom and all will be well.

Aloe Vera

I'm sure this plant needs no introduction. At some point in time, I think we all grew some. I still have some growing in 2 of my homes and from my observation, I'd say give it minimum shade and some good water in a nice loamy soil with lots of space in a big container and it will flourish. Aloe Vera tends to be grown from. planting a leaf of it or baby plants grow from the Mother plant (just take a cutting). Its uses are endless: I've consumed it to cleanse the body, rubbed it on some itchy skin irritation (it calms the itching), put it in hair, mum used it for skincare. It is also an air purifier. What you want to avoid though is eating the green outer skin (that will give you runny stomach), go for the transparent flesh inside the plant.

Bougainvillea

A showy ornamental viney plant with thorns, with brightly coloured leaves in yellow, lavender, white, peach, pink and fuschia. It's an outdoor plant as it needs plenty of sunlight (it blooms better with sunshine and not too much water). They can be kept as an indoor plant (but they still need sunshine) and have been used as Bonsai trees. The funny thing is the flower itself is tiny and white, but they are known for their showy coloured bracts which most people think are the actual flowers.

Canna lily

These are not actual true lilies. Cannas are known for their vibrant flowers and can be grown in pots or on borders outside the house. They do like water and sun and not giving them enough can lead to them not flowering. The plant can be harvested for its seeds (to make musical instruments), its leaves give a purple dye and the plant can be used to remove pollutants from wetlands (environmental cleaning). It is also given as a bouquet for Father's Day in Thailand. I believe the most popular colour of canna lily we see here is red and yellow-speckled, though I've heard they have white flowers as well.

Indian Head Ginger

This is a very sexy plant. Dazall

This is perennial shrub, very hardy with a truly, er.... UNIQUE looking flower. Very suggestive looking but I know you're all too mature to be making jokes right now . It likes Sun to medium shade and a moist soil (OF COURSE IT WOULD LIKE MOISTURE!! ). It does well in centre pieces as it lasts long. It usually comes in red flowers as I've never seen any other colour. It looks nice when you plant a lot of them on a border.

Rosy Periwinkle

Also known as Vinca Rosea. This is a shrub, native to Madagascar. It's an evergreen which like sunlight and a well-drained soil (don't over water it). It looks nice around the compound or around borders of the house. Sometimes it's called Dwarf Periwinkle because it's a short shrub. Chemical components from it have been extracted and used to successfully treat certain types of cancers (some lymphomas and children's cancers), but don't eat it as it is toxic in its original organic state. Vincas seem to bloom beautifully during February-March (before the rains).

There's one incident I'll always remember and my siblings still laugh at me until today whenever I talk about flowers.

Once when we were younger, we were taking a walk and I saw a bush of flowers that I couldn't just resist. I went close to the shrub and proceeded to pick some only to discover that I'd stepped on someone's poo.
I wonder who'd chose to poo there of all places.
Some mighty stinky poo. Mehn. I stank all the way home before I could wash it off my sandals. (And their laughter didn't make things any better.)
Even after bathing I still felt like I was smelling.

It's funny now.
But that day, it wasn't funny to me at all.

Onegai:
let's start by identifying some popular flowers and plants we see daily, feel free to join in.

IXORA COCCINEA

Also known as Jungle Geranium or Flame of the Woods. We all know this one (I'm sure several of us pulled out the stall from the flower to suck the juice at the bottom as kids. It's a beautiful shrub plant that comes in flower colours like red, yellow, orange, pink and white. A lot of gardeners use it as a hedge plant. It likes Sun and can be potted as well. It looks lovely in a table centrepiece. A lot of the different parts of the plant is used in Ayuverdic lifestyles in India and Asian subcontinent. Try it in a floral arrangement for your home today, add water to a vase and cut diagonally down the stem, very colourful.

I remember sucking this flower when I was a child, has some sugar-like tasting liquid.

Onegai nice thread really.
Can't wait for spring. That's when everywhere seems like it's some sort of color parade with bloom of flowers.
Really lovely.

Do you have a garden?

cococandy:
There's one incident I'll always remember and my siblings still laugh at me until today whenever I talk about flowers.

Once when we were younger, we were taking a walk and I saw a bush of flowers that I couldn't just resist. I went close to the shrub and proceeded to pick some only to discover that I'd stepped on someone's poo.
I wonder who'd chose to poo there of all places.
Some might stinky poo. Mehn. I stank all the way home before I could wash it off my sandals. (And their laughter didn't make things any better.)
Even after bathing I still felt like I was smelling.

It's funny now.
But that day, it wasn't funny to me at all.

Lol, stepping on poo was one of the most annoying things ever back then, I
Remember peeps used to threaten to pour pepper on and then torch the sh1t, claiming it would burn the poo owner's bum, Kai! The things we used to believe.

The average naijarian no send flowers so I can understand why they'd poo in a flower garden, probably plucking some to use as toilet paper. #sad

cococandy:
There's one incident I'll always remember and my siblings still laugh at me until today whenever I talk about flowers.

Once when we were younger, we were taking a walk and I saw a bush of flowers that I couldn't just resist. I went close to the shrub and proceeded to pick some only to discover that I'd stepped on someone's poo.
I wonder who'd chose to poo there of all places.
Some mighty stinky poo. Mehn. I stank all the way home before I could wash it off my sandals. (And their laughter didn't make things any better.)
Even after bathing I still felt like I was smelling.

It's funny now.
But that day, it wasn't funny to me at all.

OUCH

I don't have a garden now (we live in one of those service apartment type buildings) but we have one at my parents, and I'm helping my sister with hers. I'm going to get some indoor plants (we've got low light windows in the house) and take it from there. Once we get our place, I'm taking half the available space for a garden and library. You?

freecocoa:
Lol, stepping on poo was one of the most annoying things ever back then, I
Remember peeps used to threaten to pour pepper on and then torch the sh1t, claiming it would burn the poo owner's bum, Kai! The things we used to believe.

The average naijarian no send flowers so I can understand why they'd poo in a flower garden, probably plucking some to use as toilet paper. #sad

Did that fire and pepper thing ever work though

I think Nigerians do o, just that they don't gather to discuss it. In Lagos, it's mostly older people who like gardening (though there's this young lady who has a blog on her garden). It's a nice hobby to have. Which is why i started this, im hoping we can eventually organise meetings and start a proper horticultural club. Besides, there's serious money to be made in being a professional gardener (there's a guy in Benin city with 2 ha of plants and garden, who supplies almost every in Edo, Ondo and Delta states with bouquets, altarpieces and wreaths). Heck, the Orchid Garden in Lagos sells orchids for N18, 000 and people buy.

I remember the first (and only time) I grew yams in my former garden. I planted it and waited happily to show them off... a month later. See as my mum finished me with mouth "if you used to go to the village, you'd have known yams take MONTHS to grow and not in this clay soil and you planted in dry season ". At least I still harvested them (small as cocoyams) and they still ate them sha!

Boston Fern

I think this is one of the most popular ferns out there. I remember my sister bought one and killed it due to wrong care . It's a lovely indoor plant, though it can manage in full sunlight. Place it right by a window because it likes bright indoor light, give it plenty water (it loves humidity) and even get a bottle mister once it starts growing to mist its leaves. It doesn't need much fertilizer. Why not hang it indoors in place of a ceiling fan, as a nice way to decor?

I want to start one but more than half of the year it's so freaking cold. I can't even imagine staying outside in the name of gardening in that freezing cold.
But I'd so love one.


I think I'll consider potted ones instead and leave them in the back patio so that they can get some sun. I doubt any indoor flowers will get sun in this kind of weather except during spring or summer.

These ones look nice.

Onegai:



OUCH

I don't have a garden now (we live in one of those service apartment type buildings) but we have one at my parents, and I'm helping my sister with hers. I'm going to get some indoor plants (we've got low light windows in the house) and take it from there. Once we get our place, I'm taking half the available space for a garden and library. You?

What I used to hear was that the person's leg would swell
Lol.

freecocoa:
Lol, stepping on poo was one of the most annoying things ever back then, I
Remember peeps used to threaten to pour pepper on and then torch the sh1t, claiming it would burn the poo owner's bum, Kai! The things we used to believe.

The average naijarian no send flowers so I can understand why they'd poo in a flower garden, probably plucking some to use as toilet paper. #sad

cococandy:
I want to start one but more than half of the year it's so freaking cold. I can't even imagine staying outside in the name of gardening in that freezing cold.
But I'd so love one.


I think I'll consider potted ones instead and leave them in the back patio so that they can get some sun. I doubt any indoor flowers will get sun in this kind of weather except during spring or summer.

These ones look nice.

ooohhh, pretty. The U.S. is nice in that they have assigned zones to each part of the country, you can look up where you live and see what zone it falls under. That will tell you the plants you can grow there. And at least you have access to good commercial potting soil. Have you considered Orchids? my friend has some in the U.K. and they're indoors and she gives them an ice-cube and that's it (she probably sings to them to make them bloom).

Onegai:

ooohhh, pretty. The U.S. is nice in that they have assigned zones to each part of the country, you can look up where you live and see what zone it falls under. That will tell you the plants you can grow there. And at least you have access to good commercial potting soil. Have you considered Orchids? my friend has some in the U.K. and they're indoors and she gives them an ice-cube and that's it (she probably sings to them to make them bloom).

Singing to flowers?

Yea I'll do that. They have good potting soils for less than 10 dollars a bag. In fact you can buy full grown potted plants and just water them but I don't think it'll be as gratifying as doing the work yourself.
Also roses somehow grow very well here too.
I've seen lots of house with rose bushes. Very pretty roses. They are my favorite.
I'll consider those too.

I pledge to do all these before this year runs out.

Do you know this flower we call "queen of the night" in Nigeria? It opens up at night and smells so sweet almost like bananas mixed with vanilla.
I googled it now and the images I'm coming up with aren't what I remember.
Maybe we were calling it by the wrong name.
But that flower is so awesome. You can smell it from more than 100 feet away.
The petals are long and light greenish-yellow like the color of almost ripe bananas.

If you know it, maybe you can help me identify the correct name for it.

Onegai:


Did that fire and pepper thing ever work though

I think Nigerians do o, just that they don't gather to discuss it. In Lagos, it's mostly older people who like gardening (though there's this young lady who has a blog on her garden). It's a nice hobby to have. Which is why i started this, im hoping we can eventually organise meetings and start a proper horticultural club.

I remember the first (and only time) I grew yams in my former garden. I planted it and waited happily to show them off... a month later. See as my mum finished me with mouth "if you used to go to the village, you'd have known yams take MONTHS to grow and not in this clay soil and you planted in dry season ". At least I still harvested them (small as cocoyams) and they still ate them sha!

I doubt that it did but the way people were recommending it eh, you'd be tempted to believe it does work. I mean how can it even work?

Lol @ you ate them, I can imagine how those yams came out.

You are right sha because I remember mum and some women I knew growing up all had gardens, but they were more on vegetables than they were on flowers. tbh, I don't know many people who care about actual flowers.

The only garden I've ever had was in secondary school, it was an assignment on agriculture and I grew pumpkin leaves and tomatoes, I was proud of it because they came out great, although my mum helped, she loved growing things, she even had a farm in the village then. Mehn! I don't like weeding and that discourages me but I hope to grow a vegetable garden when I start having kids.

I love an environment with flowers, they are usually beautiful so I will love to grow some in my home someday, maybe I will consult you then.

@Freecocoa, their vegetable garden grew with flowers. Below is Celosia or Cockscomb, the leaf is Soko leaf (that is used for vegetable soup). I've accidentally grown waterleaf and I wish I knew how they started.

I'm glad to help you when you're ready, though I'm just learning myself sha.

@cococandy Queen of the Night, hmm, I vaguely remember it. I'll ask one lady I know who is a great gardener for its proper name.

Roses need cool weather to grow. So many people (including myself) have tried growing roses and unless you're in Jos, one very small pitiful looking flower will come out that's it. Almost all the roses in Nigeria are imported and that's the annoying thing, florists abroad will buy 50 roses to choose just the 10 best ones for your bouquets (that's what makes it pricey) but Naija florists (most of them) will just pick random roses (wilted or not) and give you like that and still charge you pricey. Which is why i recommend brides not to have just roses in their bouquets, max 5 roses and tropical flowers make a modern, lovely arrangement that lasts.

cococandy:
What I used to hear was that the person's leg would swell
Lol.

See why it was all talk. Different people, different versions.

Onegai:
@Freecocoa, their vegetable garden grew with flowers. Below is Celosia or Cockscomb, the leaf is Soko leaf (that is used for vegetable soup). I've accidentally grown waterleaf and I wish I knew how they started.

I'm glad to help you when you're ready, though I'm just learning myself sha.

This kind name,cockscomb.


Lol, its funny how things you didn't plant just show up in your garden, I guess now you don't have to worry about buying waterleaf for afang soup.

Oh no wonder.

Onegai:
@cococandy Queen of the Night, hmm, I vaguely remember it. I'll ask one lady I know who is a great gardener for its proper name.

Roses need cool weather to grow. So many people (including myself) have tried growing roses and unless you're in Jos, one very small pitiful looking flower will come out that's it. Almost all the roses in Nigeria are imported and that's the annoying thing, florists abroad will buy 50 roses to choose just the 10 best ones for your bouquets (that's what makes it pricey) but Naija florists (most of them) will just pick random roses (wilted or not) and give you like that and still charge you pricey. Which is why i recommend brides not to have just roses in their bouquets, max 5 roses and tropical flowers make a modern, lovely arrangement that lasts.

This is a very nice flower though.
It just looks so lush

Onegai:
Celosia/Cockscomb

Also known as Wool Flowers. Beautiful unique-looking flowers with a soft, velvety feel. They have a very different texture and they almost look like fake plants but are very real. They come in colours like green, orange or deep pink and red. Plant in sunlight and dont water the flowrs directly to avoid fungus, they like a well-drained soil. They are very long-lasting in bouquets and centre pieces (below is a picture of a bride in Lagos who used them for her bouquet) and don't wilt easily. Apparently the leaves of a Cockscomb specie is what Yorubas eat as "soko" leaf for vegetable soup.