Pedilanthus tithymaloides aka Devil's backbone, Zigzag plant,Jew Bush ...

Yikes! this poor baby is in need of a make over !!
meet my Devil's Back bone .. at least I think i have identified this properly as ...

Pedilanthus tithymaloides

it's a succulent in the Euphorbiaceae Family.

This one may be a variegated variety but when I received this it didn't have leaves so I am just starting to find out .

It (along with several others) was given to me by a home health aid who had a patient who had to move and could not take thier house plants with them .

The zig-zag shape of the stems are a dead giveaway for one of it's commen names , The Zigzag plant; but it also lends its self to another of the plants names, The Devils Backbone .

When the stems die and dry they turn very hard and white. These lend themselves nicely to dried floral arrangements when left tall and are very interesting additions in wood or floral crafting projects .

It is so over grown it's hard to know if the interesting turns and twist the branches are in are how the plant is growing or if these are remnants of some topiary form it once held .

Though after finding a few places "braided" , like in this photo, I am leaning toward the topiary theory...
I think.

Yup, Yup.

I'll bet it was neat looking in it's day .











The Jew Bush ( another name for this old fashioned house plant) likes Medium light and does not like direct sun light.

Apparently the light it was in previously was not quite bright enough as you can see from some of the first leaves, but I have read and seen other photos of the leaves and there are some solid green like these on the plant, but this plant had all solid green leaves , so I moved it to a bit brighter spot.











As you can see there is some variegation in the new leaf colors ( insert Big Cheesy Grin here), but again the "Variegated" variety should have some whites, pinks and darker reds ...
But i think i have the light .. almost right. which will help me find it's permanent home in the room it's in .

apparently there is a variety of Pedilanthus which the leaves of are used in the Philippines Medicinally . I don't think I want to try to use this one not Knowing EXACTLY what I have here.


As you can tell from this photo it is rather tall as well as unruly.. but now that I think I have it's name right, I can try to cut it back and propagate it.

(yes it's in the bath tub, my plants tend to get a bath at least every 2 weeks in the winter ) It's about 3 feet tall in it's current state.


This plant Likes to dry out between watering and being a succulent, can grow in cactus/succulent appropriate soil mixes.

It seriously needs to be transplant as well in to a mixture of equal parts, cactus potting mix, sand and leaf mold, and the cuttings will be placed in a mix of equal parts sand and peat to root ..






WOW! that's gonna take some doen' to untangle and make seance of all that .. but here goes......















Lots of new growth in there too .. that's very good news considering it sat from mid June till now with no leaves and no new growth . I was getting a bit worried i had killed it or it would never have leaves .

This plant apparently blooms with red "flowers" on the branch tips, which presumably lends it self to another of it's names , the Japanese Poinsettia.

Well, un-tangling didn't do much for it that I can tell , but it gave me a good idea of what there is to this baby. I think I may look into a large coconut fiber stake and see if I can tie the branches up and try to get them to straiten out.. or maybe look into a topiary frame of some sort... I am not sure yet. I bet this plant is over 4 foot tall if those branches where straight.

I think I am going to enjoy knowing and learning more about this plant...

Aunt D's Apple-Patty-Cake; uses Patty Pan Squash

( this cake takes a little effort and time but it is SOOO worth it!)

Prepare the bundt/tube pan with "bakers grease"

3 Tablespoons flour

3 Tablespoons Vegetable oil

3 Tablespoons good shortening.

Blend together well with an electric hand blender, with an emersion blender or small food processor until well blended, using a basting brush, coat the sides of the tube/bundt pan well being sure to coat all creases and grooves, don’t for get the bottom and tube. The lightly but evenly, dust the coated pan with flour and set aside.

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Note: The large old fashioned “White Flying Saucer” Patty pan is the variety-style-type I am speaking of and working with in this article; there are other variety-style-type of patty pan squash in the garden but these are my favorite for this cake

For the purpose of grating raw for cakes and breads, the skin does not have to be pealed, but if you prefer to do so , the skin is easiest to work with when the skin is White, lightly-green/blue-tinted or palest-palest yellow. As the squash gets older and its skin darkens the patty pan squash will become as hard, or harder than, butternut squash to peal. (Note: When the skin is this tuff is when they are best for baking stuffed, or roasted.)

with a whisk, combine the following in a medium bowl, then set aside

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons of wheat germ,

1teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon of Sea salt.

Using a stand mixer, beat together (or electric hand mixer)

3 eggs,

blend then next three ingredients in small bowl and slowly add to eggs while beating, :

1 cup organic (or regular white) sugar and 1 cup dark or light brown sugar

1teaspoon of dry ginger,

1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg

add the following to egg-sugar-spice mixture

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Beat till smooth then turn off the mixer and let rest 5 minutes.

Beat again at low-medium till the mixture turns light in color, about 1 min

With the mixer on low(stir), add the flour mixture slowly and turn to 2(medium)

beat 1 min.

then with the mixer on stir low, fold in the following:

Add them one at a time, and give at least 15 seconds between the additions to allow the beaters to “extract” moisture from the squash and fruits into the batter.. this is what makes it so moist!

1 1/2 cups of pealed, grated patty pan squash

2 med-large winter banana apples,(or other semi-sweet apple you like)

1 cup of raisins.

1/2 a cup of chopped pecans, (optional)

pour into 2-medim sized prepared tube/bundt or 1 large prepared tube/bundt pan or into large muffin bundts . What ever pan you choose should be no more than 1/2 to 2/3rds full of the batter.

Bake for about 50 min, ( smaller sized pans may need as little as 30 min ) till a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake in several places come out clean and the cake is a med-dark gold-ish brown

To un-mold the Cake(s):

let cake(s) cool in pan for at least 10 minutes ( if they can sit till they are completely cooled it is better) . Give the cake a bit of a giggle in the pan to be sure it is loosed from the sides, if needed take a very thin spatula and run it along the sides of the cake gently to loosen form the pan, then invert it onto a plate lined with wax or parchment paper or onto a wire cooling rack placed over a foil lined pan.

Topping Glaze:

1 and 1/2 cup Apricot-pineapple preserves

3 tablespoons Star Thistle honey

1 tablespoon Vanilla extract

Powdered sugar

Heat the preserves till they are liquid again, add the honey and the vanilla and stir well together. Brush this on to the entire surface of the cake, pushing the preserved fruit pieces to the too to adorn the top. Don’t forget to coat the center. Let this sit for about 5 min then sprinkle with the powered sugar.

To Freeze

If you want to make this ahead and freeze, once you have glazed and sprinkled your cake, cover loosely with waxed or parchment paper and set flat in the freezer till completely frozen. Them wrap 1^st with plastic cling wrap, then foil, then freezer paper to protect.

This cake freezes well for up to 60 days ( at least I have never had one sit any longer in my freezer to find out if it is still good being frozen longer. )

To defrost,

completely unwrap the frozen cake and place it on a cake plate lined with parchment paper about 24 hours before you want to serve it. You may need to re-dust it with powdered sugar.

Patty Pan Squash aka:Flying saucer squash:aka Scallop Squash

The patty pan ( the non pumpkin squash in this photo) is among my favorites.

Patty pan is a diverse summer squash in terms of both variety and culinary uses.

Some will tell you the smaller have better flavor while the large are juicer and have less if any seeds. And any who have tried them will tell you thier blossoms are as yummy as any squash blossom in the garden.

My personal preference is the Early White Bush Scallop squash which reportedly can be traced back to 1591. This variety can produce multiple fruits up to 6 or 7 inches across and up to three inches deep each, on compact bush type plants. You can begin to harvest them at about 2 to 2.5 inches across, prep and freeze them to be baked up in the winter months.

These will be a beautiful and interesting addition to the garden and a yummy addition table again next fall and winter.