alisoncooks Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 I ordered oldest DD a Venus Flytrap kit from Rainbow Resource for Christmas. Its name is Fred. Well, after 5 months of suspiciously observing, we are now certain that Fred has been lying to us. He is not a Flytrap. (dun-dun-DUN!) Anyway.... Any plant identification experts out there? What is our Mystery Plant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Dh found an app where you take a picture of the plant and it identifies it for you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessa516 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 If you have a smartphone, you can try the free app called PictureThis Plant. I tried taking a photo of your photo with my phone, but it's giving me all kinds of different answers, none of which seem correct. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Kiddos Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Well that is definitely not a Venus Fly trap. It looks like a plain green Coleus but I am not sure. ETA: Lowes and Home Depot sell real Venus Flytraps 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Something in the mint family, like maybe coleus, was my thought too. Does it have a square stem? You can feel the "corners" if it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 17 minutes ago, Innisfree said: Something in the mint family, like maybe coleus, was my thought too. Does it have a square stem? You can feel the "corners" if it does. It does have a square stem. So two plants grew from the kit (of the same variety). DD calls the 2nd one Fred Jr. and it does have a more distinct color pattern that looks like google images of Coleus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 1 hour ago, 4Kiddos said: Well that is definitely not a Venus Fly trap. It looks like a plain green Coleus but I am not sure. ETA: Lowes and Home Depot sell real Venus Flytraps another vote for it looks like a green coleus. you can take it to a nursery, and they should be able to ID it for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 the second one is definitely a coleus. thing is - you can snip off a piece and stick it in the dirt and it will root. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 1 hour ago, thessa516 said: If you have a smartphone, you can try the free app called PictureThis Plant. I tried taking a photo of your photo with my phone, but it's giving me all kinds of different answers, none of which seem correct. What a great idea for an app. Is there one for insects too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessa516 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 16 minutes ago, Angie in VA said: What a great idea for an app. Is there one for insects too? I'm not familiar with any. I saw in the app store there is one for $4.99, but I'm not sure how good it is. Maybe someone else will chime in with a recommendation. If you want a good one for birds, I recommend the Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 28 minutes ago, thessa516 said: I'm not familiar with any. I saw in the app store there is one for $4.99, but I'm not sure how good it is. Maybe someone else will chime in with a recommendation. If you want a good one for birds, I recommend the Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab. Merlin Bird ID is awesome 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
learning123 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 So if I order a Venus flytrap from you, does that mean you'll send me a "Fred Jr. Jr."? Could you give me a deal?? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Rainbow Resource isn't doing so well with delivering high quality goods as advertised. . . (When you add this thread to the one about the weird plagiarized history workbook. . .) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 2 hours ago, Angie in VA said: What a great idea for an app. Is there one for insects too? It would be very difficult to make an insect ID app--a microscope is necessary to positively ID many insects even to the family level. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 48 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said: Rainbow Resource isn't doing so well with delivering high quality goods as advertised. . . (When you add this thread to the one about the weird plagiarized history workbook. . .) How sad. I used them quite a bit... eehh 15 years ago. I wonder what has changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 Well, to be fair, this was a prepackaged plant kit. So the error wasn't necessarily theirs...unless they've had complaints and do nothing (continue to sell it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 37 minutes ago, alisoncooks said: Well, to be fair, this was a prepackaged plant kit. So the error wasn't necessarily theirs...unless they've had complaints and do nothing (continue to sell it). The book wasn't published by them either. But whoever is their buyer(s) right now isn't doing a good job vetting products and companies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 And FWIW, RR has offered to credit or refund my $3ish for this kit. They can't do a replacement b/c they no longer have business with that specific plant company. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
learning123 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Thanks for updating about RR. That's reassuring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeachGal Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 The first one could be a type of bee balm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rose Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 FWIW, I'm pretty sure all plants in the mint family are edible. Add it to a salad and you can make your money back by considering it a vegetable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 iNaturalist is another app that helps you identify plants and animals. I had a mystery plant I bought at an FFA sale last year. It was supposed to be a flower (I bought a flat of them) but one ended up being a jalapeño plant. As it started to get bigger I just let it keep growing and was pretty surprised when the peppers started showing up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 UPDATE: Now, a month later, Fred the Plant has a new development. LOL, definitely not a Venus Fly Trap. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 that can actually be confirmation it is a coleus. image of coleus in bloom. https://n7.alamy.com/zooms/132b1677547a4916b1f18ee59c24f0d4/coleus-plant-in-flower-c6prrm.jpg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 1 hour ago, alisoncooks said: UPDATE: Now, a month later, Fred the Plant has a new development. LOL, definitely not a Venus Fly Trap. I think Fred is a she. ? It’s a pretty plant though! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 28 minutes ago, lexi said: I think Fred is a she. ? It’s a pretty plant though! Haha, that's what I told DH: Fred's a girl!! Fred belongs to my oldest DD who, being at camp until Friday, has missed this momentous occasion.:p (I'm documenting with pictures and sending her update texts, lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 Fred has also grown quite large (over 24" tall) and I'm trying to get DD to transplant it to her flower bed. I'll have to check on what conditions coleus like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 On 5/16/2018 at 5:27 PM, Jean in Newcastle said: Rainbow Resource isn't doing so well with delivering high quality goods as advertised. . . (When you add this thread to the one about the weird plagiarized history workbook. . .) Nevermind . Already discussed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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