What is my viney plant thing?

February 17, 2008 2:17 PM

When my grandfather passed away recently, my coworkers sent me a lovely arrangement of tulips and a viney plant thing. The tulips have died, but the viney thing has begun to grow and sprout some leaves. So my question is a two-parter. 1) What IS this viney plant thing? 2) How do I keep alive a while? (Can/should it be moved to potting soil? What's the best light for it? Etc.)

Picture here.

posted by katillathehun to home & garden (8 comments total)

The viney plant thing appears to be a variety of dogwood. More pics. It also appears to be upside down in the vase. I could be wrong.

If it is, plant it in the ground, and cut it back hard in winter. Come spring, it'll send up more brightly coloured shoots.
posted by Solomon at 2:32 PM on February 17

I'd keep it in the water until the leaves are more developed, and you (or someone here) should be able to identify it much more easily. My first thought was a willow of some kind, but it's hard to tell with just what's shown in the photo. You could find out who the florist was and call them; they should at least be able to tell you what it is. If it's any kind of tree, do as Solomon suggests and cut it back (I'd leave some leaves up top, some well-rooted area below) and plant it. Keep it well watered while it grows.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 3:28 PM on February 17

Here's the willow it looks like to me.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 3:29 PM on February 17

BTW, if I'm not mistaken you can plant those tulip bulbs and they'll come back one of these days. They prefer colder climes.
posted by wsg at 5:40 PM on February 17

It looks like the standard curly willow which is a staple of florists. It's used in the water to give an added visual element to the floral arrangement, as a support structure for the flower stems in the arrangement, and it is essentially disposable. It's growing roots because it's in water and willow is extremely easy to propagate from cuttings. It looks like there are more than one branch in the vase, as there is a cut end sticking up out of the water, as Solomon pointed out, but the roots are starting to grow near the cut end of a different branch in the lower right of the picture. If you want to grow a willow tree, you should pull the whole jumble out of the water, separate the different branches, straighten them out as much as you can, then put just the cut end with the developing roots back into water to let the roots develop before planting it in soil. The other branches should also start developing roots if you put them in water, and you'll have the beginnings of two or more willow trees.

Practically speaking, if you want to grow a willow tree from a cutting, you'd probably do better going to a florist and buying a more substantial branch that hasn't been twisted up and shoved into a vase. You'll probably find that the pliable part they used in your arrangement isn't really an ideal tree starter. But I appreciate wanting to keep what you already have alive. If I were you I'd pull the whole mess out of the vase, separate the different branches, see if any look like a viable starter for a willow tree, and go from there.
posted by Balonious Assault at 6:39 PM on February 17

Doubt it is a dogwood, because it looks alternately leafed. But it's hard to tell from the photo: OP, is the plant oppositely leafed or alternately leafed? That info would help people narrow it down. A close-up shot of the leaves and an unopened bud would be useful too. It is a woody shrub of some kind, so do what solomon says. It isn't a house plant and won't be happy in water forever.
posted by BinGregory at 7:05 PM on February 17

I had to Google "alternate" vs. "opposite" leaves (I'm not that plant savvy. I can keep things alive, but I couldn't tell you much about them), but it appears to have opposite leaves (that's where they face each other, right?). I could be wrong about that - the buds are just starting to open up.

I wish I could get a better pic of the leaves, but all I've got that's digital is my cell phone, which doesn't do closeups very well. :(
posted by katillathehun at 8:49 PM on February 17

You know... it does look like dogwood, now that I've done some searching. Especially this image.
posted by katillathehun at 8:52 PM on February 17