A Class Act
Slipper Plant
A Class Act.
The Slipper plant boasts unusual orange-red, slipper-shaped flowers, appearing along the stems.
It’s recognized as a succulent and has green stems that grow upright from a woody root crown. Many assume it’s bamboo!
It’s just a really cool, unique plant with slipper shaped flowers, hence the name, but others protest the flowers look more like a red mini-bird of paradise.
Personally, I think they resemble seahorses. 🤷🏻♀️
The plants’ jointed stems are ¾ inch thick and can grow up to 5 feet tall, standing up well in the Arizona winds and even monsoons. The plant can eventually spread to 3 feet wide.
The slipper plant prefers to be planted in full sun or light shade and it will tolerate reflected heat too. I feel that it does its best when given full eastern-daytime sunlight and not subjected to the western sunset or the worst direct sun, during the hottest part of the day.
While it requires very little irrigation, it does need well draining and porous soil. A height of 3’-5’ tall, makes it noticeable in any garden, especially a desert landscape. Good for only up to 32 F, so cover in frost warning.
What is really awesome is that the Slipper plant blooms twice a year. Sometime between February – May and again August –October.
The one pictured here is mine, located in the northwest corner of our back yard. As you can see it is blooming on this, the second week of May.
Unfortunately the stems drop just 3-5 days after they appear but are so small and so few that I would never claim it to be a dirty plant.
The Slipper plant originates in Colima, Mexico and the flowers contain both male and female flowers about 1-1/4 inch long.
It’s just a fun backyard conversation piece. It looks and feels like a desert succulent noticed in both Arizona and/or the Mexican desert- yet is mistaken for tropical as well. All of which only enhances its simplistic beauty and peculiarity.
When planting, use ½-planting mix, ½-potting soil. Fertilizer is not necessary but I occasionally do a bit of plant or succulent food and bone meal maybe once a year, as well as add a bit of vitamin B upon first planting. Additionally, I almost always use homeopathic Silicea dissolved in fresh water to avoid transplant shock and to prevent exhaustion as the plant gets through the hardest, longest part of the Arizona summers.
It is necessary however to add extra watering to the slipper plant from July 1-October 1 if you live in the valley or further south of the state where it is the hottest.
This plant can do well in large planters, but I find that planters made of ceramic, terra cotta or plastic, keep the plant warmer therefore should be watered and sprayed more frequently, yet not as to allow the soil to become wet and mushy!?! Not easy! Once in a hotel, I saw very large planters filled with Slipper Plants, placed in partial shade. The long stems began to curve toward the sun, and although I think it is a bit cruel to the plant, it is pretty funky looking!
If interested in this exotic plant for your own urban desert landscape, seek out the Slipper Plant (Euphorbia lomelii), also sometime sold under the old name of (Pedilanthus macrocarpus). It comes available for purchase in these parts sometime around end of February through first of May. Best to plant it between late March-April so it is well established before the heat takes its toll.
BTW..Never use water from an inside tap if you have a water softener.
Enjoy!
