The BMF Burle Marx's Flame

The hype is everywhere, and I do mean EVERYWHERE. There are Burle Marx's Flames showing up on every plant site I visit. People raving over them, talking about fenestrations and height and plant maturity. Ooos and aaahs. Gag me with a spoon. I got one, because of course I did. I took it through the Soft Landing process all of my rescues go through, just to make sure it didn't have any bugs or whatnot. Can't be getting the fam-damly sick.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/6f8628_2842fb8d005b40a7a97a3669c599e0a2/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

And let me tell you what. I hate this thing. It's lanky, out of balance, a teenage rebel without a cause. It doesn't just grow UP; it grows OUT. Which means it's definitely not appropriate for small spaces. It pushes other plants out of the way, and if another plant's leaf even looks at it funny, it falls over, cache pot or no.

BUT. But. So what I did was, I took the plant I bought, and, being an aspiring business owner, I chopped it in half. I put the "pretty" part in a pot, and I put the bottom cutting in its own container, both in my Not Dirt. Then I walked away. And now, a mere few weeks later, that top cutting has pushed a new leaf (no fenestrations yet, but it's working on it).

The bottom cutting though. Y'all I thought these things grew slowly. But it's pushing out babies like that's its job. FIVE growth points (one recently re-buried in an up-pot that had to happen) are coming out of this thing like some weird science experiment gone wrong. It is one BMF. Did I know that was going to happen? I did not. So what is happening? Well, plants grow new offshoots from nodes (where the leaves come out). They're little bumps on the plant (sometimes referred to as pimples) that contain something called meristematic stem cells.

It's called adventitious regeneration, which basically means "you cut me! I must make more of me!" Hormones are produced, roots will start shooting out, and if you're like me and the aerial roots were already there, the plant starts double-timing it on making new shoots.

Now we have many, many BMFs. Soon I'll start chopping them into their own plants and rooting them in their own soil. I'll probably sell some, should anyone be interested in purchasing a vining, unbalanced, disaster-waiting-to-happen for their own home.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep marveling at this BMF BMF. Because even as a lady with an English degree, plant science is pretty cool. Think you might need frequent spills and your very own toppling wonder-plant?

Vining, unbalanced, yours. Meet the BMF.