While visiting a nursery in upstate New York, I saw a plant with two beautiful cascading flowers. I asked about it and the salesperson said it was newly imported from the Phillipines called Medinilla. The caring instruction tag was, as usual, not terribly informative: let it dry between waterings, keep it out of direct sun and in a cool environment. What I call “everyplant instructions”. It peeked my interest since I had never heard of it or seen it in local North Bay/Solano nurseries. I'll wait till I get home and investigate, I thought.

My (somewhat dated) Sunset Western Garden Book and the California Master Gardener Handbook had nothing on it. Finding out about this plant would take some work. The internet was a great resource. Medinilla magnifica is its full name, an angiosperm in the family Melastomataceae. I was fascinated by the subsequent difficulty I had finding out about this plant, just like an internet relationship. 

My next discovery was on Amazon: I could order it! So I did. It was cheap enough that I figured there wasn't much to lose. Several days later, it arrived. If you have never gotten a plant mailed to you, it is a real eye-opener to see how it is transported. Wrapped in swaddling so the soil stays put and the leaves are protected, with bubble wrap and styrofoam to keep it warm and cozy inside its cardboard box. From the tropics to Benicia, via the Amazon machinery; it almost sounds romantic. 

The plant is an epiphyte, like orchids. Roots need to be dried out between watering, low density fertilizer, no direct sunlight but bright filtered light is okay, mid-range warmth. And for me, as in the early stage of any relationship, careful watchful waiting as we got acquainted. I went away for a few days, we had a hot spell, and Medinilla was very sad and drooping when I got back. I think it was just trying to teach me a lesson, since when I started watering again, it came back very quickly except for the flowers. The flowers had dried up and disappeared almost overnight. But new growth appeared quickly from where the flowers had been. I have promised the plant that I have learned my lesson. It has relaxed and begun to put out new buds. Very satisfying. We have begun what I hope is a long and beautiful relationship.