Today was the first day of Gardenfest 2014, an annual event that draws industry vendors and garden enthusiasts from miles around. The offerings are always unique and beautifully presented, but today I saw an epiphyte that stopped me in my tracks:
The stunning Medinillla magnifica grows in partial shade locations from the soil pockets of rainforest trees or beneath these same trees in clearings. The leathery foliage is aroid-like and can reach 12″ long with ballerina pink fly-leaves cascading from succulent stems. At full bloom, the fly-leaves drop panicles that dangle a foot and half below the plant’s body:
Here’s a close-up of the panicle:
The next photo shows a panicle at the very end of the 4-6wk bloom period. It’s easy to see why M.magnifica is sometimes called Phillipine Rose Grape:
M. magnifica prefers dappled shade and high humidity. It can grow outdoors in Zones 10-11 and elsewhere indoors as a conservatory or houseplant!
For more on this Gardenfest Showstopper, check out the grower’s website at http://www.medinilla.ca/.
Until next time…..
🙂 🙂 🙂
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15 thoughts on “Medinilla magnifica, a Gardenfest Showstopper!”
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small house/BIG GARDEN 
yes, that is a beauty! Show us more!
I took soooooo many pics over the two days. 🙂 I can guarantee you’ll all be saying “enough with this Gardenfest!” by the time I’ve exhausted them in posts!
Wow! Beautiful:)
Really, it was one of the most unique plants on display!
Stunning, I hope you bought one for SHBG!
I thought long and hard about it, but worried I couldn’t keep it healthy! I may look online for a less mature (and cheaper) one though!
That is a beauty!
Really spectacular looking plant!
Showstopper is right, SHBG – I’ve never seen a specimen as magnifier as this! I fell in love with them years ago, living here in the Australian Sub-tropics, but never had much luck with them 😦 We had several varieties in Sri Lanka and I thought perhaps I’d be more successful there, but really, I should have kept them in pots, suspended above the ground – too much rain in the true tropics, even when planted in gravelly pits!
For real, people were stopped short when they noticed this plant on display! I didn’t buy any for all the reasons you mentioned–i just didn’t feel I could keep it healthy!