Henry asked of Welwitschia:
Where do you get it? My plant was grown from seed from Silver Hill. How difficult is it to cultivate? Well Henry, isn't it obvious that such a rare plant could only be grown by superior, omniscient types who know how to pronounce everything correctly? OK, back to the real world. The culture of this plant is simple beyond belief. Just be sure it gets plenty of strong light and try to remember to dump some water on it every once and a while. Here's the brief history of my plant. The seed germinated in 1996 - it was grown by a local gardener who raised several at once and donated my plant to a local plant organization for a fund raiser. I acquired it when it was one year old. So I've had it for about fifteen years. The strong light part is important. Twice I've almost lost it because I neglected that. It spends the summer outside; when we begin to have night frosts I bring it in and it goes under fluorescent lights. That's the danger period here, because the lights are not always ready when the plant comes in. If, after bringing it inside, it does not go under the lights immediately, bizarre color changes take place within a few days. The dull blue green becomes flushed with sickly yellow, alarming blue and rust red. It gives every impression that it's about to croak. So far, each time this has happened, exposure to strong light has brought the plant around. With a bit of luck, I might have to include this plant in my will. Jim McKenney
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