Your Ma' happily ever after is pretty. Is yours produces a lot of suckers?

Not so far but it is inevitable.

Your plants llok great, Jeff.

Sorry about your getting the flu ...

Unfortunate about your flu bout.

Personally, I'm happy to be enjoying a white Christmas. Was afraid was going to get saddled with a green/brown one. Haven't had a Christmas this snowy in a long time. Only sucky part are the slippery roads.

Is "the King" an Elvis reference, I wonder? Nice rich color!

Sorry about your flu but loved your pix!!!! Rosie

Minnesnowta - LOL! Ah, yes, I've been "enjoying" the winter driving here in northern Michigan, too...it can be challenging, that's for sure. Good for you for having survived the worst the north could throw at you - and that long drive home while still sick sounds like it was less than pleasant - and still to be saying you had an enjoyable trip, that's nice. It sure looks like you struck gold in your plantsitter; your photos show healthy, lovely plants. That Ma's Happily Ever After is going to have to go on my wish list!

Yes, the Ma's Happily Ever After is on is second round of blooms. So far it has been very consistent. Im not entirely sure the best way to try propagation with this plant. I would like to have a spare or two just in case.

What method would provide the highest degree of likelihood for accurate reproduction?

Well, Jeff, being as it's a chimera you need to watch for any natural suckers - allow them to grow on a bit before you remove and root them.

Or you could cut off the crown, root that and then propagate the resulting suckers on the original plant (not something I would do if that was my only plant of that variety, but that's up to you.)

Or you could try propagating the blossom stem, although I've read that the larger the leaves on the blossom stem the better the chances - and I don't see any at all on this variety, at least in your photo. That's something someone else would have to give you tips on as I've never done it successfully.

And I'm sure you know that leaf propagation would certainly yield baby plants, but odds are very slim indeed that any would be chimeras like the parent plant.

I have a decent reproduction of chimeras from bloomstalks only if they have good size leaflets. If they are skinny.. no luck.

Regarding offing the crown - in a year or so your plant will develop a good size chimeras - but crown and may be a neck, At that point you can lop a crown and you will have a stub left with several leaves. This will be your mother plant. It will be sending suckers, you will be rooting them - and waiting for them to bloom - not all will be blooming true, but most will.

Right now - try the bloomstalks. You will need Clonex or other rooting gel.

Ill be watching for some volunteer bloomstalks. Somewhere down the road, maybe a more serious effort.

My plants also bloomed when I was away. I don't know why. I put up plastic sheets and crowd them together. Maybe they liked the humidity. The house was cool, so i thought they would have been dormant. But I came home to blooms. Jo anne

I would hate to call these itty bitty little bits of plant matter "leaflets". I guess thats all it ever will do. Im going to pick out a couple and see what happens.