Mother of Thousands: Curiosities in North American Mothers Day Gardens

Summary: North American Mothers Day gardens change outdoor wastelands into colorful, plant-packed curiosities and control Madagascar's mother of thousands indoors.

A native of Madagascar, mother of thousands (Bryophyllum daigremontianum; Kalanchoe daigremontiana) is a succulent that shows well in courtyard and indoor settings: onlineplantexchange.com, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

North American Mothers Day gardens accept the non-native mother of thousands as indoor curiosity and interior courtyard plants in Canada, in Mexico and in the United States outside California, Florida and Texas.

The exotic houseplant from the southwestern part of the southwest Indian Ocean island of Madagascar off coastal southeastern Africa behaves competitively and curiously indoors and outdoors. The contracted light, moisture and soil and the constant temperature control the Southern Hemisphere succulent's life cycle inside while frost and sunscorch cut its longevity outside. The relative of flaming Katy and jade plants, fellow Crassulaceae family members and Madagascar native flora, delivers flowering delights dwarfed by dashing foliage deft in cloning.

Embroidery-like plantlets emerge along leaf edges and exit, upon establishing roots for independent existences, in bare or vegetated ground, cracked pavement, potted soil or split wood.

The mother of thousands freely fills plant-friendly habitats indoors and, during summer, plant-loving niches outdoors by following through on the function formulated by its common names. The leaves' snout-, vertebrae-, sombrero-reminiscent reproductive growth generates the common names of alligator plant, alligator tongue, devil's backbone and Mexican hat plant and of maternity plant.

Thirty-six- to 48-inch (91.44- to 121.92-centimeter-) tall plants have one 18- to 35-inch- (45.72- to 88.9-centimeter-) high stem holding inward-curling, opposite-arranged, sawtooth-edged leaves at eight-degree angles. Blue-green leaves incline toward spear-shaped impressions with widths half that of their 4- to 10-inch (10.16- to 25.4-centimeter) lengths and include purple blotches on their undersides.

Leaves and stems jumble brown speckles and white spots when aphid, mealybug and scale pests, direct sunlight and waterlogged soils jeopardize North American Mothers Day gardens.

Soil moisture wrung-out sponge-like in consistency and temperature ranges between 61 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (16.11 and 26.88 degrees Celsius) keep the mother of thousands kempt.

Mother of thousands lives through drought and salt stress and temperatures above the upper extreme but not those from 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.44 degrees Celsius) downward. Balanced liquid fertilizers every March, June and September and irrigation every fortnight maintain the cactus potting mix's air and moisture pore spaces and soluble nutrient levels. Terracotta planters and pots with drainage holes respectively need 6- to 10-inch (15.24- to 2.4-centimeter) interplant spacing and 2- to 6-inch (5.08- to 15.24-centimeter) spring-repotted sizing.

Indirectly sunlit, 1-inch (2.54-centimeter), room-temperature, soil- not plant-splashed sprinkles obstruct root rot and optimize unpredictable mother of thousands' bloom times in North American Mothers Day gardens.

Proper procedures in proper environments promote autumn and winter production of chandelier-like, downward-hanging clusters of gray-lavender, orange, pink, trumpet-like 0.8-inch (2.03-centimeter) flowers atop 12-inch (30.48-centimeter) stalks.

All-poisonous parts and Bryophyllum daigremontianum (sprout-leaf of the daigremontianin-filled plant) or Kalanchoe dagremontiana (blue temple plant filled with daigremontianin) qualify as mammal-unfriendly concerns and scientific names. Poisonous proliferation remains problematic since taxonomies by Joseph Perrier (Aug. 11, 1873-Oct. 2, 1958) and Raymond-Hamet (1890-1972) and by Alwin Berger (Aug. 28, 1871-April 20, 1931). It suggests shunning by, and separating from, animal, old, sick or young household members and staging, under budget, in underplanted and unplanted niches inside and out.

North American Mothers Day gardens tether the Androhibolava Mountains' and the Fiherenana River's world-famous succulent in courtyards and interiors and transform wastelands into mowable, plant-packed vistas.

Mother of thousands is disfavored as a North American garden plant in a trio of U.S. states (California, Florida, Texas) that lists the naturalized succulent as a noxious invasive; flowering mother of thousands succulent in Harris County, Texas, March 1, 2009: A Yee (ArturoYee), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

A native of Madagascar, mother of thousands (Bryophyllum daigremontianum; Kalanchoe daigremontiana) is a succulent that shows well in courtyard and indoor settings: onlineplantexchange.com, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/140263584@N06/24736901893/

Mother of thousands is disfavored as a North American garden plant in a trio of U.S. states (California, Florida, Texas) that lists the naturalized succulent as a noxious invasive; flowering mother of thousands succulent in Harris County, Texas, March 1, 2009: A Yee (ArturoYee), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/57412095@N05/5413243431/

For further information:

"Bryophyllum daigremontianum." PlantLust > Plant Index.
Available @ http://plantlust.com/plants/6071/bryophyllum-daigremontianum/

"Bryophyllum diagremontianum." Plants & Flowers > Plants Rescue.
Available @ http://www.plantsrescue.com/bryophyllum-daigremontianum/

"Bryophyllum daigremontianum (Raym.-Hamet & H. Perrier) A. Berger. LLIFLE Encyclopedias of Living Forms > Succulents > Family > Crassulaceae > Bryophyllum.
Available @ http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/SUCCULENTS/Family/Crassulaceae/14431/Bryophyllum_daigremontianum

Cammidge, Jacki. "Kalanchoe daigremontiana." Drought Smart Plants: Succulents and the Gardens and Containers to Plant Them In > Plants > Drought Tolerant Plants.
Available @ http://www.drought-smart-plants.com/kalanchoe-daigremontiana.html

"How to Care for a Bryophyllum Daigremontianum Plant." SFGate > Business > Home Guides > Garden > Garden Care.
Available @ http://homeguides.sfgate.com/care-bryophyllum-daigremontianum-plant-22308.html

Laurent, Anna. "Mother of Thousands Plant, Kalanchoe Daigremontiana." Garden Design Magazine > Succulents > Popular Succulent Plants.
Available @ https://www.gardendesign.com/succulents/mother-of-thousands.html

"Mother of Thousands." Guide to Houseplants.
Available @ http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/mother-of-thousands.html

"Mother of Thousands Care Tips." Guide to Houseplants > House Plant Encyclopedia A-Z > Cacti and Other Succulents.
Available @ http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/mother-of-thousands.html

"Mother of Thousands Plant." Serenata Flowers > Pollennation > Plants.
Available @ https://www.serenataflowers.com/pollennation/mother-of-thousands-plant/

Raymond-Hamet; and Perrier de la Bâthie. 1914. "Kalanchoe daigremontiana." In "Nouvelle Contribution à l'Étude des Craculacées Malgaches," Annales de l'Institut Botanico-Géologique Colonial de Marseille. Serie 3, vol. 2: 128-132.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924069821373;view=1up;seq=140