eGarden © 2004 Ed Mues

From The Garden of Ed. Submitted for publication in The Towne Crier on October 20, 2004

My Love Affair with an "Ugly Duckling" of the Plant World.

My Personal Notes about Bowiea volubilis aka "Climbing Onion".

Getting up close and personal with a living plant is a pleasure enjoyed by countless plant lovers. For a few years I grew "bonsai" plants. I derived a lot of pleasure from facing and overcoming the challenges, but always felt a small part of me disturbed by the notion that I was hurting the candidate by forcing it into an unnatural growth habit. My inner voice eventually led me to abandon the practice. For several years following this, I grew orchids. I was a member of several orchid societies and enjoyed the vast number of varieties there were to be had with over 30,000 species, and, Oh!, the blooms on some were breathtaking. But as time moved forward, Home Depot began selling nice mature plants in bud or flower at prices I was paying for much younger plants, years from blooming. These were grown professionally in nurseries around the world and threatened ubiquity. This, accompanied by the not infrequent forays with insect pests like mealy bug and scale, and, my desire to not use chemicals to control them, ultimately led me to lose satisfaction with growing them. Today I have few.

I've been growing plants since the mid-sixties. This is where my love affair really begins. I both managed a plant store and owned one in N.Y.C. during this era. It was during this time that I made the acquaintance of W. A. Manda, noted grower and horticulturist in Cherry Hill, N.J.. I would travel to his nursery to purchase plants for my store. This is how it played out one Monday morning: Walking through the greenhouses with Bill and his nephew, Al, I saw a plant that sent my heart racing. It was softball in size and shape, half buried in soil, and from it emerged some fifteen feet of green, spaghetti like growth traversing the greenhouse wall. I had to know what it was, and if I could purchase a small plant. No, no, no was all Bill, cigar in mouth, would say. Finally, after many visits and considerable begging, Bill reneged and sold me a small plant, about the size of a marble. Bright green and shiny, it was. It showed one small strap like leaf.

My title suggests that the Bowiea that I am so attached to is not a beauty of the plant world. Well, we all know what has been said of beauty. My attraction, initially, was its growth habit. It is a leafless plant (actually a bulb, member of the lily family) that is native to South Africa. Named for James Bowie (1789-1869), who was a renowned British collector for Kew Gardens, it has remained relatively rare and sought after by collectors. It is wonderful to grow for its obedient, easy to manipulate, asparagus like vining stems that allow the owner to create living and constantly changing sculptural forms. I have never owned or cared for a plant that is more "user friendly". It is virtually pest free, perhaps owing to the fact that it contains at least three cardio-glycosoidses and has long been regarded as poisonous. This, in spite of the fact that it is a popular ingredient in traditional South African medicine. It is also used for its local magical and aphrodisiac properties.

I've been growing this "unsung" beauty for at least 35 years. I have never tired of it. Each of the more than one hundred plants I now have all came from the one plant purchased that Monday from William Alfred Manda. His name is attached to many plants, but, I somehow know, he'd be smiling on this report of our connection. Thanks, Bill.

So far, this has been a bit of a memoir, a little history, my encounters with the plant and the man from whom I purchased my first one. Now I offer the owner's care manual.

Bowiea v. should be placed in an area of bright indirect light, or filtered sunlight. Temperatures should be at 50 degrees F. or greater. Direct sunlight indoors is okay, but extreme hot sun out of doors can severely injure the bulb. It requires water rarely, but when there is active growth water when soil is dry. This may be weekly in a warm environment, but the plant has the ability to store water in its bulbous body for long periods of time, and, as a result, is extremely drought tolerant. One of the many attractions to this plant is that when the remainder of the houseplant world is quietly resting, this rarity is enthusiastically putting out growth at a rate of several inches a day. The only plant I have ever lost was one I accidentally over-watered during a long, dark, cloudy, cool period where it could not make use of the supplied water fast enough to prevent a root rot situation.

Provide a matrix for your plant to climb on. One might hang above it, or might be stuck into the pot, or sit along side of it. The plant will find it. It will ascend a curtain with ease and rapidity. The really creative will have a field day once they get up close and personal with this plant. It climbs and twines and vines, always toward the light, and I find rotation a very useful ploy to create uniquely sculptured plants of special beauty and character. I had a mature plant growing beneath a hanging sculpture of my creation. The sculpture was on swivel hooks and the potted Bowiea plant beneath it climbed and twisted and, itself could be rotated. This was the most beautiful Bowiea plant I ever grew, and I shared it with many friends and neighbors. I am never not thinking about this plant as a user friendly substitute for the bonsai. If you like a plant you can interact with, Bowiea v. is the one. You can create the most elaborate, self directed sculptures of your dreams. Try it and you'll see.

Bowiea plants in their native habitat lose their top growth once a year and go dormant for several months. Not truly dormant because beneath the surface the bulb is constantly growing and changing. Dormant only above the surface. When the top growth dies back after turning yellow, simply cut if off using a clean sharp scissors. A new stem will emerge. Often a new stem emerges while the older one is still present. This is just a signal that the older one is to die off. In the thirty-five years that I've been growing this Bowiea, I've never seen one stay dormant above the soil for any length of time longer than a few weeks. If your plant goes dormant, simply stop watering it until a new stem appears. Once one does, begin watering it as normal, that is, when it gets dry. If you don't use a moisture meter, simply use a sharpened dowel or pencil. Stick it into the soil and leave it for five minutes. When you pull it out, you'll be able to read it like a dip stick. You'll know whether it's truly dry or moderately dry. Truly dry will show no moisture on the stick. It is now time to water thoroughly, allow water to drain through the container, and discard any water that remains in the saucer longer than a half hour. If still moderately moist, wait a few days to water. Remember, only too much water or too frequent waterings can hurt this plant. It deals with drought exceptionally well. So, if you're a traveler, or can't be around to water when it gets dry, don't worry. It'll keep growing and going until it gets another drink or needs to shut down for a while.

From time to time, smaller bulbs will bud from the mother plant. These are called offsets. Sometimes a bulb will simply begin to divide or split into two. How do you think I wound up with so many? And, if you really enjoy growing this plant, you'll have the opportunity to either grow more or pass some along to a fellow plant lover or admirer. Not only are they owner friendly, they are nearly indestructible. They are perennial, succulent, tropical bulbs. Protect them from freezing, darkness and overwatering, and they'll outlive you.

From The Garden of Ed. Submitted for publication in The Towne Crier on October 20, 2004

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