There are a few twisted forms of futura. Twisted Sister comes to mind. There is also one that is less twisted.

Do you know the name of the less twisted one, by chance?

Seems I'm in the same boat as Vitorama. I was sure mine was a Futura Superba. Isn't it? Either way, these shorter Sans with wider leaves are my favorite of all the Sans!

I bought the mother plant about 10-15 years ago in one 6" pot. By last June it had multiplied to 5 x 8" pots full, and that's after losing some to my mother's over-watering (despite repeated emphatic instructions). It was the only Futura Superba I'd ever found here (I'm in Toronto, Ontario).

Katrina, too bad you're not nearby, as I'm considering re-homing this guy, but it would have to go to a Sans-lover (you sound perfect). I've re-homed 4 of them, keeping back this one for myself. But in the place where I'm at, I don't think I can give it as much light as it needs to thrive, so rather than see it slowly get thinner and longer, I am considering parting with it. :(

Vitorama, that's an interesting sans you found, those leaves are oddly shaped. I'm stumped as to what it is, were there more of the same thing where you bought it? I'm betting it's a Twisted Sister, perhaps a poorly twisted one.

Too bad you found it in a nursery and not Lowe's or Home Depot, I'd be looking for it here.

The sans in your first pic is Futura Simplex, the name Futura Superba is a bogus rename as far as I know. Many sellers are using the Superba name rather than the official one. The old, original Futura has a narrow yellow margin, Simplex's margin is much wider like those in your pic and Nischa's.

Nischa, your plant also appears to be Futura Simplex, it looks well grown and getting plenty of light. I don't know if you're into propagating, but if you cut a leaf and root it, you'll get another wide leaf type without any yellow border, which is Robusta.

Do you know if you can safely send plants out of Canada to the US? I know going in is a problem, but what about going out?

Russ

Russ, thank you for the name clarification. Good to know. This plant has grown most of its life in another house, and only moved to this place last June. It had lots of pups at that time. These are all grown now, and some of the leaves are quite narrow at the base and thinner than they should be (not really visible in the pic as they're towards the inside of the plant) -- dramatically different from the old leaves. Some are also growing taller than this plant (and its sisters) have grown previously. Lastly, some of the leaves are curling outwards (you can see a bit of this on the tall one at the back and the one at the right). All that makes me think it's struggling for light. That being said, I think we've had an unusually grey year here, more overcast and rainy than is typical for us. So it's hard to tell if it's this location, or just this year.

I could look into the idea of posting. I've only recently realized that it may be the soil rather than the plant that is the concern at the border. But with this guy's shape, I can't see how the leaves and tips would survive (even packed horizontally without soil) and I hate to damage it.

I am also still scarred from a horror story I heard about a woman who came to do a post-doc in Toronto and brought her (beloved) plants with her as she was going to be here for a couple of years. On her way back to the US after it was over, the border guards would not let her bring any of her plants into the US and confiscated them all. She was told they would be tossed in the garbage.

Nischa, have you considered posting your extra sans on the Canadian Garden Exchange? You might find someone you could mail to without a problem. If you didn't mind someone picking it up at your home, you could stipulate that as a requirement. You could also say that a trade is possible, maybe someone has a sans or other type that you might like to grow.

Mailing sans is easier than other plants, wrap with bubble wrap or layers of newspaper followed by stuffing more bubble wrap, wadded newspaper or plastic bags to take up the space between plant and sides of the box. It will travel safely with little chance of breaking leaves. That said, the post office is sometimes hard on packages, I'm retired Postal Service and have seen them tossed 20 feet into a hamper. But a well-wrapped sans will take even this in stride, and the extra stuffing doesn't add much to the weight and price of the box. Send bare-root if the distance is long, but for short transit times you can wrap roots with barely-moist newspaper or paper towels, then wrap that with plastic wrap or plastic bag secured with tape, string or rubber band. Rotting is the issue, so you don't want it wet, just moist.

Interesting about the woman crossing borders, I'm amazed that she was able to bring them into Canada.

Leaves curling outward on your sans is probably completely normal, I see this on my plants.

Russ

Russ, this nursery had a group of about 5 of these Sans for $15.99 each. I would be happy to get one for you if you like or you can wait a little while for a pup of my plant which I'd be happy to share with you.

i hadn't seen this growth form either. The coloring is a bit different too. I little more gray, more mottled than striping as well. Thank you for your input.

Katrina, the same offer is open to you as well. If you want to pay for it, I don't mind picking it up and shipping it. Otherwise, if you want to wait for a pup, I'll put you on the pup list as well. Just let me know.

Nischa, thank you for all your input as well. I think you should hold on to your Futura simplex, as we now know is the correct name thanks to Russ. They are such incredibly resilient plants. Do you have the opportunity to put it outside in the summer? I grown on windowsill in NJ and not all my Sans love this fact, but I put them out for the summer and they recover wonderfully!

Hey thanks for that offer Vitorama!! My only reservation is the size of the box necessary to ship, and wondering what the cost of that would be. This looks like a fairly large pot, are there three plants? That said, I don't mind the money if you don't mind all the trouble to buy, box and ship. Sounds like a pain!

I found a possible source for Twisted Sister, waiting for an email response now. But your sans is interesting for sure. At one time I had pots and pots of Twisted Sister, and one I received from a woman in Ireland. She simply called it Twist. I sure hated to lose that one since it came from so far away.

Thanks! Russ

Vitorama, you're too kind! I'll wait for a pup. The shipping must be $20 or more for the full pot. But I'm soooo tempted! Thank you

I've been looking for Twisted Sister as well. I may have to start visiting flea markets and less common shopping spots. I know there have to be more types than those in the BBS; I just haven't found em yet. Heck, this is Louisiana - they grow well here!

Russ, I don't mind at all! if I recall, there were some plants with only one growth in the pot. Probably would be a smaller box, and it is anything like mine, it will be busting at the seams with new pups. The shipping charges would be more manageable with that, but it's up to you. I'll shop for it later this week and try to get it in the mail shortly thereafter. You can email me your address here

vitorama@aol.com

I've seen a picture of Twisted Sister only once. It looks like a really interesting plant. I wonder if you are right about this being a not-so-Twisted Sister. You have one from Ireland! How cool is that!

Katrina, you will be first on my pup list, I promise.

I had Twisted Sister at one time it was my favorite at the time. It never rooted though so I lost it slowly. It was much more twisted than the one you pictured.

Okay, with those reassurances, I think I'll try to hang onto it. I do like it a lot.

Vitorama, I have a balcony and will try putting it outside when the weather gets a bit warmer, and see how it likes that. Thanks for the suggestion.

Russ, thanks for all the excellent info. Interesting that the leaf curl is normal. I've wondered how Sans were posted, so it's great to have such a good explanation. I'm a good packer for other things, so I guess it's just a matter of applying the same skills to this. Scary about the hamper toss, though! I'll look at the Canadian Garden Exchange to familiarize myself; pick-up would be ideal, not only for the plant but because it's always nice to meet another plant person, and a trade would be fun.

If it's not too far off-topic, how do you pack something like a Schefflera cutting? Do you remove most of the leaves? Try and keep the cut moist as you described above (I imagine rot is less of an issue)? It's less brittle, but probably also less hardy.

Personally nischa, I would try to keep a schefflera cutting moist. I would not remove all the leaves either. I say moist, not drenched paper towels wrapped around the cut part only and a plastic bag rubber banded around the paper towel. Hopefully it's not traveling too far.

Thank you, Vitorama!

(Btw, I love your username. Its fun retro vibe always makes me smile and it's perfect for a plant-lover!)

"Hopefully it's not traveling too far." Well, that's exactly the issue. Do you think a cutting would survive a trip between FL and Southern Ontario, say 7-10 days? I'm wondering whether to give it a shot. (Apologies for the off-topic stray; is there a way to message people on Houzz?)

No problem nischa! Thank you for the compliment on my name choice. I'm glad it makes you smile. It made me smile when I thought of it.

7-10 days is a long trip. If it were a Sans I'd say, no problem! But a soft leaved Schefflera, hmmmmm. I'm just curious, the person in FL is in the plant capital of the country.(one of them anyway) can't they get one there for the price of the postage?

My feeling is its a 50/50 shot. You've got nothing to lose but postage. Hope that helps.

Ah, it's the person in Florida who kindly offered to send me a cutting of his large leafed variety that I've never seen here. It would probably take you one try to guess who that kind gardenweb/houzz member is.

Thanks for the probability estimate. I hate to waste a plant, that's all. And all the hope that's embedded in the cutting, too!

And I finally figured out how to message people directly -- via the "message" link on their profile! ~ smacks forehead ~

Nischa, vitorama is right, the roots would have to be wrapped with damp paper towels or newspaper, then wrapped with saran wrap or a plastic bag. I secure with tape, then drop the entire plant into a big plastic bag to keep the leaves from transpiring too much. 10 days would be tough, but might be do-able. The paper towels would have to be wetter than I usually send them, but even then the moisture may run out before arrival.

Regarding the schefflera sp. Nova, I put several cuttings down to root over a week ago and I can attempt shipping when they have a good root system, or I can send unrooted at any time. The cuttings are very woody though, and I thought you might have trouble rooting them in your northern climate.

You can reach me at bluesea14808@yahoo.com

Russ

LOL! I didn't know either, nischa!

Ah, if your gifter doesn't mind, you shouldn't either. It's just a few cuttings, not a whole plant. Not a total waste.

If I had one, I'd ship it from NJ to you!

Russ, I'll email you so as not to further clog up Vitorama's Sans thread with talk of Scheffleras.

Good Nischa, looking forward to talking with you.

Russ

Hey Vitorama, Just chilling out dreaming about Sans, I saw this Starlite. It looks like your 2nd pic huh?

http://www.morningdewtropical.com/wholesale-plants/?search-term=Sansevieria+&per_page=96

Oh Katrina! Why are they wholesale only?? I would agree with you, Starlite looks similar but I think Twist is exactly it. Right coloring and flare. Thank you for showing me that site!

Katrina, Morning Dew's Starlight is Silver Hahnii Marginated, they have a lot of made-up names. But yeah Lori, I wish some of these nurseries would sell to us, but they don't want to sell just one, or even 10, and they want a tax number.

Russ

Those wholesalers irritate me!!!! There are so many beautiful plants I'd like to order and they just won't for the reasons you mentioned Russ. Silver Hahnii Marginated is a cutie. Maybe if I contact them and ask if they supply any nurseries in my area I'd make some headway. That would be nice.

Katrina, if Silver Hahnii Marg wasn't on your want-list, I'll add it. I don't know if I have an extra but I'll check. I occasionally see them for sale at the BB stores here for about $4.

Russ

Thanks Russ...but only if you have one to spare. I found a place in New Iberia (just East of Lafayette) on Facebook. I messaged them and they do have Sans so I'm going check them out Fri or Sat. Hopefully, I'll be able to tick a few off my want list.

Good luck, Katrina! Let us know how you do!

Thx, will do