Another of the many new and unusual things coming up in the greenhouse: Malabar Spinach!
Basella alba ‘Rubra’ is the red-stemmed variant of this tropical vine, a plant of dual use: edible and ornamental. As the common name suggests it has qualities similar to spinach with thick succulent oval or heart shaped leaves and juicy stems that can be eaten raw in salads or cooked like its counterpart. Hailing from somewhere in tropical Asia (exact origin unknown as it’s been grown and distributed for so long), it thrives in the heat of summer when regular spinach bolts and then dies away, reaching up to 10 feet or more in length if allowed. If soils turn dry they’ll throw tiny little whitish pink flower spikes from between the leaves, producing black berries with staining dye qualities that hold the seeds.
Quite a few other odd edibles are reaching photographable size, so expect a few similar posts soon.

#basellaalba #malabarspinach #edibleplants #plants #strangeplant #educational #botany #plantsathome #horticulture #botanical #gardening #carltoncarnivores

Either you love it or you hate it. The taste and texture of alugbati is not for everyone, but for me it will always be considered as comfort food, especially stewed with minced beef.
#MalabarSpinach #alugbati
https://allaboutfood.occasionalramblings.org/2025/03/the-versatile-alugbati-culinary-delight.html

Spring is such an exciting time for plant lovers! I love seeing my plants finally flourish after a dark winter. It gets so dark in Finland during winter I actually had to move the most sensitive plants from windowsill to kitchen under the sink light.

I got many plant losses last year during a thrip invasion but at this point I'm just grateful I finally got rid of them last year. I had to cut my several meters long passion fruit vine down to a stick so I'm super happy to see it flourish again.

Remember to check on your plants often and deal with bugs as early as possible. Throw away the plants that are badly infected - if you take cuttings keep them isolated and shower them frequently. I have most of my plants in water instead of soil so it's easy to give them regular showers just in case.

#plantlovers #plants #houseplants #cuttings #spring #newleaves #mirrorselfie #malabarspinach #avocado #plantselfie #sansevieria #angelwing #dieffenbachiasequine #epipremnumaureum #syngoniumpodophyllum #curvy #fitnessjourney #huonekasvit #kasvit #peperomia #dracanea #passiflora #passionflower #suomalainen