My first Kalanchoe Luciae has a tall bloom spike on it now. It's outside so I don't know if a freeze will get it before it blooms or not. Your flower reminds me a bit of a Nicotiana bloom. Hummingbird adapted?.......Do you know if Kalanchoes are monocarpic (blooms once then plant dies)??...........Maryl

First time that I see marmorata's flower. Very beautiful.

Maryl, there are no hummingbirds in the Old World, and they're not monocarpic.

Thanks Cactusmcharris. So my Kalanchoe Luciae won't die after it blooms right? If that's the case I may try to overwinter it inside my garage. I was just going to let it succumb to the winter elements. Any info on how cold hardy it is?.......AND interesting about the pollinator not being a hummer. Sure looks suited to them.......... I take it Mfss that you have different types of Kalanchoes with more blooms on the way. I hope you post them here...........Maryl

Yes, Maryl, do save your plant through the winter! Not only will you get plenty of babies around the bottom of the plant, but also all along the stem, too! I got about 20 babies off of one plant. I probably could have gotten more, but I was impatient and eventually cut down the stalk and removed the babies.

Winter Hardiness is said to be 25-30° F. My plants survived 39 with no problems, but we haven't been colder than that.

Thank you Crenda. I've got pups squeezing up around the old plant which is rather stretched now and looks alot like yours. I say the pups are squeezing up because I kept it in the original pot I bought it in and there's not much room between the rim of the outer decorative pot and the pot inside for pups to spill over. Next spring if I manage to keep it going I will repot them into a better potting mix. I wouldn't have even attempted them if someone on this forum hadn't posted some drop dead gorgeous pictures of them when they were colored up to the maximum. It got down to 35 here last night. Mine is in a rather protected site facing west, and the outer decorative pot provides some degree of insulation, so the plant looked just fine today. Thanks for the temperature info though. I will try and save it now.....I apologize if it seems I've hijacked this thread. Still hoping for more flower photos from Mfyss...............Maryl Here's a picture of mine I bought this spring. Already showy IMO.

Maryl,

Wish I knew answers to your questions. Some Kalanchoe do live just one year, bloom and die but not K. marmorata. Don't know if long tongued organisms seek nectar from K. marmorata, but white flower color indicates that moths might be involved.

Yale, I did not know that. Which Kalanchoes are annuals?

I decided to do some more research on Kalanchoe Luciae and found an interesting article on many different kinds of Kalanchoe including my Luciae. Seems Luciae is indeed monocarpic and will now begin dying after the blooming is done. The pups are what can be saved. It's interesting in this article that they say K. Luciae can take more sun then many, as mine began burning in afternoon sun when our temperatures went up in mid summer and I had to move it into a partly shady position - so different strokes for different folks. Anyway, mfyss you may be interested in this article for your Kalanchoes. Link below.........Maryl

Kalanchoes

In a large genus, it is not surprising to have outliers. I was disappointed on losing a couple of plants with known annual life cycles. A robust K. luciae and sickly K. lanceolata were lost this year even though I was aware that each is an annual (monocarpic?).

Palmbob has many fine articles in Dave's Garden and contributes here, as well.

Many Kalanchoe now in flower, but think K. spathulata brightens up a day.