Succulents and More

Drowning in leaves

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 03:53:41 +0200

Fall is a special time of year. Trees turning all kinds of color, what a beautiful sight that is.

Our neighbor’s massive London plane tree

But pretty soon the pretty leaves begin to fall – first a few, then a few hundred, then countless thousand. And somehow most of them end up in our garden, getting stuck in the center of agaves and aloes and swallowing up smaller plants almost entirely.

See for yourself.

I could have posted just a few photos to illustrate my point, but what would be the fun in that? Why limit yourself to one or two images when you can have a dozen or more! Plus, taking pictures of the annual leafageddon is the first step towards actually cleaning them up.

Agave sebastiana and Malephora crocea

Grevillea ‘Scarlet Sprite’ and Mangave ‘Permanent Wave’

Rainbow hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus rigidissimus ssp. rubrispinus)

Echinocereus rigidissimus ssp. rubrispinus

This Aloe ‘Apache’ is almost completely buried, just the inflorescence sticking out

Agave zebra and Mangave ‘Sponge Paint’

Agave pelona

Agave shawii × isthmensis

Agave ‘Ripple Effect’, illustrating why it’s important to remove the debris from the center before it becomes a soggy mess the next time it rains

Dwarf Mount Whitney form of Opuntia basilaris, playing Where’s Waldo

Speaking of cleanup, I was going to wait until our neighbor’s massive London plane tree has shed most of its leaves, but it’s probably best to tackle leaf removal in successive stages. There’s little rain in the forecast, so now’s the time to get stuck in. Rain would pack down the leaves and other accumulated debris, raising the potential of rot. So come Saturday, I’ll don my sturdy gauntlet gloves and scoop handfuls of leaves out of poky plants. At least it’s good exercise!

The prettiest Chinese pistache tree in our neighborhood, most likely a male. Contrary to what we’d specified, our Chinese pistache tree ended up being a female, producing tons of berries but sorely lacking in the leaf color department.

Unsung heroes in our garden

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 03:27:40 +0200

Most posts about our garden feature plants that attract attention – the stars and divas, you might say. But there are plenty of others that are less visible. They aren’t less pretty or less valuable, they just play a quieter role. They may not take center stage, but they would be sorely missed if they weren’t there.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to shine the spotlight on some of these unsung heroes and express my appreciation for their steadfastness and dependability.

Many of these quiet characters are groundcovers – succulents, more often than not, but not exclusively.

Echeveria minima

I love echeverias, but many of them, especially the fancier hybrids, don’t do well in our hot summers. Through trial and experimentation, I’ve found a few that do. This includes Echeveria minima, a beautiful small species that slowly forms dense mats.

Echeveria minima

A larger form of Echeveria minima on the right

I also have a few echeverias whose tags have gotten lost. This includes the clump on the left in the photo above and the two plants below.

Echeveria whose tags have gotten lost

Next to these echeverias is a small cluster of Deuterocohnia brevifolia, a terrestrial bromeliad native to Argentina and Bolivia. Over time, it forms large mats or mounds (check out this massive sphere at Grow Nursery in Cambria, California).

Deuterocohnia brevifolia

Here’s a wider view of these echeverias and the deuterocohnia:

Wider view of the echeverias and deuterocohnia above

Below are a few other clumping or mounding succulents that add interest to areas that would otherwise be bare. Some produce spectacular but short-lived flowers, but they look good even without them.

Sedum adolphii ‘Firestorm’ (bottom), with Ceratozamia hildae behind it

Dudleya anomala × attenuata

Cephalophyllum alstonii ‘Red Spike’ has Day-Glo magenta flowers in the spring

Dudleya virens ssp. hassei (left), Dyckia choristaminea (right)

Ruschia lineolata ‘Nana’ produces white and pink-striped flowers in the spring

Dymondia margaretae has become a popular turf substitute because it does tolerate at least some foot traffic. I once tried to use it as a replacement for the small lawn we had in the backyard, but it failed to thrive in what is a mostly shady area. However, it is thriving in this spot (and a few others) in the front yard, slowly extending into the walkway:

Dymondia margaretae

I’m a big fan of ferns, but most species require a much moister situation than I’m able to provide. There are quite a few xeric ferns, but for reasons unknown to me they’re virtually unavailable in the nursery trade. I do have one, a Cochise scaly cloak fern (Astrolepis cochisensis) from Arizona, that has done extremely well in a sunny spot that gets very little water:

Astrolepis cochisensis, rare in cultivation. I’d have a dozen of them if I could find them!

I fell in love with dogweed (Thymophylla sp.) when I first saw it at Jeremy Spath’s Hidden Agave Ranch in San Diego County. I later got seed from Greg Starr in Tucson, Arizona and spread it all over the front yard.

Dogweed (Thymophylla pentachaeta)

It turns out that Jeremy has Thymophylla tenuiloba and I have Thymophylla pentachaeta, but both species look very similar, forming cheery blobs of yellow that flower almost year round. This is a short-lived perennial, and I remove it when it begins to look unkempt. It reseeds, so we always have new plants popping up, like the volunteer on the left in the photo above.

Crassothona capensis, which goes by the common names little pickles and ruby necklace, also provides pops of color most of the year. The large clump you see below started out as a cutting from my friend Kyle’s garden:

Little pickles (Crassothonna capensis)

The clump is large enough now to divide, so this time next year, I’ll have Crassothonna capensis in three or for other places.

Crassothonna capensis

Some unsung heroes are upright succulents like the aeoniums, ‘Gollum’ jade plant (Crassula ovata ‘Gollum’) and Elephant bush (Portulacaria afra) below:

‘Gollum’ jade plant (Crassula ovata ‘Gollum’) and aeoniums

Elephant bush (Portulacaria afra)

In addition, we have two ‘Blue Waves’ jade plants in the hottest and driest spot of the sidewalk bed. They shrivel up in the summer but promptly plump when we the fall rains return:

‘Blue Waves’ jade plant (Crassula arborescens ssp. undulatifolia ‘Blue Waves’)

One of the biggest succulent success story this past year has been an upright form of Curio ficoides (previously Senecio ficoides) sold under the cultivar names ‘Mount Everest’ and ‘Skyscraper’. Both names refer to the same plant. Unlike the species, which flops over when the stems reach a certain height, this cultivar remains vertical, even in shadier situations:

Curio ficoides ‘Mount Everest’ or ‘Skyscraper’ growing in partial shade

Curio ficoides ‘Mount Everest’ or ‘Skyscraper’ growing in full sun

I started out with two quart-sized plants and have several large clumps now. Plus, I’ve given away cuttings to several friends. This truly is a pass-along plant.

(Curio ficoides ‘Mount Everest’ or ‘Skyscraper’)

Lest you think all the unsung heroes in our garden are succulents, here are some non-succulent examples:

Blue ranger (Leucophyllum zygophyllum), its silvery leaves lighting up a corner outside the front yard fence

Salvia ‘Marine Blue’ has countless violet-blue flowers at this time of year

In late winter, I’ll give it a severe haircut, and it will retreat into the background until it flowers again next fall

Prostrate California sagebrush (Artemisia californica ‘Canyon Gray’) softens the transition to the sidewalk. It looks good even half-covered by sycamore leaves from next door.

Lomandra longifolia ‘Breeze’ has finally reached a size where it needs to be cut back. I love the contrast between the saturated green of its thin leaves and the steely blue Encephalartos horridus in the Corten container next to it.

The last example I want to show is another cycad, a Dioon edule ‘Palma Sola’ from Mexico. It anchors the mounded bed next to the front door, injecting a quiet note of color in what is a fairly shady spot. It’s a truly beautiful plant; I don’t show it off often enough.

Dioon edule ‘Palma Sola’

There are plenty more unsung heroes in our garden, but this is a good start.

What are the unsung heroes in your garden?

Rescuing a Kosmik Kaktus painted succulent

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 20:03:33 +0200

If you've been to a home improvement store like The Home Depot or Lowe's in the last year or two, you've probably seen painted succulents on display in the garden center:

“Nature perfect succulents,” says the sign in the photo above. And they would be – if they weren't painted.

My disdain for this marketing gimmick is no secret. I would never have bought one if I hadn't spotted these sad characters languish on the clearance rack at my local Lowe's:

They were neglected, unloved, and 50% off.

I decided to rescue the bright blue one in the front row for a little experiment: Is it possible to remove the paint and, if not, will the plant be able to outgrow it?

These painted succulents are part of Altman Plants' Kosmik Kaktus line, “Boldly Going Where No Plant Has Gone Before.” That's a slogan worthy of a registered trademark!

The sign you see in the photo below sheds some light on the paint: “Kosmik Kaktus plants get their otherworldly look from colors specially formulated for plant life. The artificial coloring does not harm the plants and they will grow out of it in time. New growth will normally emerge as green or golden yellow. Easy to care for with just a sunny window and a light drink every few weeks.”

The exact formulation of this paint is not publicly known, but it is permanent. I have a hard time understanding how the paint could not impair the plant's ability to photosynthesize, in spite of what the sign says. Quite possibly the only way to survive this ordeal is for the plant to grow new leaves as quickly as possible.

My plant is a haworthia of some kind, or more likely a haworthiopsis. The label doesn't give an ID, but it does make this wonderful promise: “As I grow I form a Kosmik halo showing my true colors.” Oh, I should also mention that my “colorful coating” may cause cancer and reproductive harm.

The paint was not only on the leaves of my plant, there was also a light dusting of it on the soil – if you can call the crummy peat mix “soil.”

Luckily, the “soil” fell away immediately after I took the plant out of the pot, exposing a healthy-looking root:

Here's my blue velvet beauty repotted in fresh succulent mix:

I tried to scratch off some the paint. It's possible, but the paint doesn't come off easily. In addition, scratching might damage the epidermis.

Instead of removing as much of the paint as possible, my initial idea, I'll wait to see if the plant survives long enough to produce new healthy leaves. Look for an update next year.

In the meantime, I spotted this at Lowe's:

Could caged succulents be the latest trend?

At least they're not painted.

P.S. Lest you wonder why painted succulents continue to be sold, enough people must buy them. From a marketing perspective, Kosmik Kaktus is genius.

Now for something different: Massonia pustulata

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 01:31:50 +0200

The Cape Floristic Region at the southern tip of South Africa is home to an astonishing diversity of plant life, including nearly 1200 species of bulbs. We’re all familiar with amaryllis, freesia, gladiolus, crocosmia, chasmanthe, watsonia, and sparaxis, to name just a few. But there are many others that are just as beautiful albeit much less common in cultivation. Some, like lachenalia and ferraria, are becoming more available (check Annie’s Annuals’ bulb selection, for example). Others are largely relegated to the realm of collectors, who are more likely to call them “geophytes” instead of “bulbs.”

I’m not a collector, but I do pick up interesting bulbs when I see them for sale. One of them is Massonia pustulata. I have two; one I bought at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden a few years ago, and the other at the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society winter sale in February 2022. The larger of the two flowered last December:

Massonia pustulata, December 2022

The flower emerges from between the two leaves and resembles the head of a shaving brush:

The species name, pustulata, means blistered. It’s fitting, seeing how the leaves have small, raised bumps that look like pimples or, well, pustules. In spite of the name, they’re quite pleasing to the touch.

As you can see in the photos above, there was only one plant in the pot last December. The leaves disappeared in late spring, and the pot appeared empty over the summer into fall. Now look what we have this year: three plants!

Massonia pustulata, November 2023

I like Massonia pustulata, but I’m afraid it might get lost if I planted it out in the garden – it’s simply too small. That’s why I decided to put it in a nicer container, together with the other Massonia pustulata I got in San Diego. I’ll display the pot in a prominent spot where I can follow their progress up to flowering and beyond.

I bought the pot at the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society‘s Spring Sale a few years ago. It was made by member Richard Withers.

As I alluded to earlier, Massonia pustulata is a winter grower and goes dormant in the summer. In other words, its growth cycle matches the rainfall pattern in our Mediterranean climate. I leave my Massonia pustulata exposed to the elements all year. In the winter, they get whatever rain there is, and in the summer, they stay completely dry.

In Massonia pustulata‘s native habitat, nighttime temperatures do drop below freezing for short periods of time, but if you live in a harsher climate – anything below zone 9 – I’d keep it in a greenhouse or another spot where it’s protected from the cold.

I do have other South African bulbs planted out in the garden. I’ll share photos as they begin to bloom.

Time to Preen

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 19:31:33 +0200

This fall, we’ve had rain on three separate occasions thus far, totally just a smidge over 1". That isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s enough for this to happen:

Front yard a few blocks away

Yep, weeds are sprouting enthusiastically, and it’s just the beginning.

In our front yard a few days ago

I admit, shamefacedly, that I let things get out of control this past spring:

April 2023

I ended up spending a lot of time pulling weeds when I could have prevented them (or at least most of them) in the first place.

This year I will be more proactive. I’ve had great results using a product called Preen Extended Control in cactus pots, and I plan on applying it on a larger scale to prevent weeds from sprouting in other areas where they aren’t wanted. Which, technically, is everywhere since they’re never wanted, haha.

Preen is a pre-emergent herbicide that prevents seeds from germinating. It’s not selective – it works on flower seeds just as effectively as it does on weed seeds. Weed suppression is achieved using corn gluten meal, a byproduct of corn milling. Depending on the product (Preen Extended Control, regular Preen, or Preen Natural), the amount of corn gluten meal ranges from 98% to 100% percent. Preen Natural is 100% corn gluten meal, regular Preen adds one herbicide (trifluralin) and Preen Extended Control two (trifluralin and isoxaben).

Corn gluten meal is harmless (it’s also used in animal feed) and quite effective at suppressing weeds. It technically doesn’t prevent weeds from germinating, but it stops the germinating seeds from forming roots. The end result is the same. Here is a more in-depth discussion of corn meal gluten as a weed preventer.

The difference between the three Preen products is how often they need to be applied: Preen Natural (100% corn gluten meal) needs to be applied once a month, regular Preen (containing trifluralin) every three months. Preen Extended Control (containing two herbicides) is good for six months.

I don’t want to go into the complex issues surrounding the use of herbicides. Whether you use them or not is a personal decision. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t use herbicides, because an ideal world wouldn’t have weeds in the first place.

Some people find weeding therapeutic. For me, it’s my least favorite chore. Because I want as little work as possible, I use Preen Extended Control. I’m aware that it may be harmful to the environment, like any weed control product. I use as little of it as I can to keep my garden reasonably weed-free. Because I really don’t want to see this again:

Early November garden update

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 19:32:52 +0200

When I’m away from home, I constantly wonder what’s going on in the garden. And when I get back, one of the first things I do is to determine what might have changed since during my absence. I returned from Germany on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning I checked out the garden even before I had coffee. Most of what I found was as expected, but there were some surprises, too. Let’s take a look.

Most of the leaves on our Agave ‘Blue Glow’ are growing in an orderly fashion, but these two are at each other’s throat:

Agave ‘Blue Glow’

A few months ago, I redid the area where our Agave bovicornuta had been. As you may remember, I removed it after it had flowered and died, reclaiming a nice-sized piece of real estate. To the right of this area is the last remaining bamboo in our garden, the clumping Bambusa chungii ‘Barbellata’. Imagine my surprise when I saw this:

A new bamboo culm emerging from under the newly planted Agave bovicornuta ‘Holstein’, a variegated variety of the cow horn agave!

That, of course, won’t do.

In fact, there are a couple of dozen newly emerging culms. Some are in the right place, others – like that one above and the one below – are not. Fortunately, new culms are very easy to snap off; most of the time, a good kick is all it takes. Of course there’s no guarantee that next year’s culms won’t appear in the same place, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. As I mentioned earlier, this is our last remaining bamboo, and I don’t want to remove it because it provides vital protection for the tender plants in the bed next to the front door – and it looks great.

On a more positive note, my largest and oldest Aloe lukeana is flowering for the first time (my smaller A. lukeana is also pushing an inflorescence):

Aloe lukeana

The flowers are spectacular. The wait has definitely been worth it.

Aloe lukeana

Aloe suprafoliata isn’t far behind:

Ghostly blue Aloe suprafoliata

And Aloe ‘Moonglow’ is working on inflorescences, too:

Aloe ‘Moonglow’, one of three in the sidewalk bed

Two mangaves are flowering in the front yard. The inflorescence of Mangave ‘Night Owl’ is leaning too far over the sidewalk...

Mangave ‘Night Owl’ in flower

...so I cut it off.

The other flowering mangave is Mangave ‘Sponge Paint’. Fortunately, its inflorescence isn’t in the way:

Mangave ‘Sponge Paint’ in flower

A few flowers of a different kind:

Salvia ‘Marine Blue’ with stunning blue flowers

Gomphrena ‘Strawberry Fields’ is a huge surprise. This is a seedling from a plant that grew here years ago. I don’t know why it took so long for the seed to germinate, but I’m not complaining. I love the pops of red.

Flowers are nice, but so are leaves:

With the cooler weather, Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’ is finally back to a symmetrical rosette. During the hottest part of the summer, the outer leaves had folded inward to protect the central growing point.

Giant sea squill (Drimia maritima) is pushing leaves. They’ll persist until late spring, then die, giving way to flowers in late summer.

Abutilon palmeri, a Southern California native, has exploded this year, producing hundreds upon hundreds of orange flowers. It’ll get a radical trim in late winter.

The citrus season is getting closer:

The Meyer lemon in the front yard has good crop this year, and it’s flowering again

Valencia oranges in the backyard

Pachypodium geayi has enjoyed a sunny spot all summer but it’ll spend the winter on the porch, up against the house, since it’s too tender to be left out in the open:

Pachypodium geayi

Tylecodon is a genus of winter-growing succulents from southern Africa. The name is an anagram of Cotyledon, the genus they belonged to until 1978. I have several tylecodons, and they’ve done well over the years, requiring no frost or rain protection:

Tylecodon × dinteri, a natural hybrid of Tylecodon wallichii and Tylecodon paniculatus

The parents of T. × dinteri above: Tylecodon wallichii (top) and Tylecodon paniculatus (bottom)

More winter growers waking up from their long summer sleep:

Dioscorea hemicrypta, a vine-forming caudiciform from South Africa. I’ve killed its better-known, and arguably more attractive, cousin Dioscorea elephantipes multiple times, either by over- or underwatering. These summer-dormant caudiciforms are tricky, because they rot easily if you water them when they’re not actively growing.

Many winter-growing South African bulbs are pushing leaves. This is Lachenalia aloides var. quadricolor.

Massonia pustulata, a bulb from the Western Cape of South Africa

Veltheimia capensis seedlings, year 3. I’ll put them in individual pots in late winter.

Mature Veltheimia capensis along the sidewalk. Soon they’ll look like this.

Arguably the biggest thing that happened during my absence was this mature Queen Victoria agave (Agave victoriae-reginae) showing up at the foot of our driveway:

It turns out it was a gift from a neighbor, who had owned it for 20+ years. She wasn’t able to take care of it any longer and thought it would be a good addition to our garden. I think it’s still in its original nursery pot!

It’ll go in the redone bed where Agave bovicornuta had been – where the stray bamboo culm appeared while I was gone. I’ll post a photo after I’m done.

Hello and goodbye from Germany

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 11:52:16 +0200

I’m in Germany to help move my mother into a care home. Just as she’s been house-bound for many months, I’ve been house-bound, too, taking care of her while we’re waiting for her move-in date. In a very real sense, I’ve been living in her ever shrinking world, literally seeing only what there is to see within a few hundred meters of her house – the distance she can cover on her walker.

I don’t intend for this to be a sad post – more an exploration of what there is right in front of us when that’s all we get to see.

The village church is visible from the front stoop of my mother’s house:

On a sunny day

On a cloudy, misty day

This is the sight I’ve photographed more than any other: the neighbor’s 18th century farm house across the street. It’s the one constant in my mother’s life because she can see it from her living room and kitchen windows.

Late-blooming cosmos (left) and Jerusalem artichokes going to seed (right)

White cosmos

After dusk

Early evening, with sunflowers

Sunny day, with my mother’s Jerusalem artichokes

Sunflowers on sturdy stems

Food for the birds in the winter

Gloomy day

Sunflowers on the table cloth in the kitchen

One of several orchids in my mother’s kitchen window. An old friend of hers took this one home. The others are up for grabs, too, as are all her houseplants.

Hostas and sedums in front of the farm house across the street

Roses doing their best to hang on for a little while longer

Geraniums still going strong in the window boxes of another farm house nearby

Tree pollarded to within an inch of its life in the churchyard up the street

My favorite sight

The foliage of this grapevine is so red...

...it’s almost blinding

Succulent sightings have been few, beyond what’s in my mother’s living room window. Here’s my mother’s Consolea rubescens silhouetted against the gray sky:

Another Consolea rubescens and a Cleistocactus straussii:

Mammillaria sighting at the local Aldi supermarket:

The only outdoor cactus sighting:

I’ll be back in sunny California, among my succulents, in less than a week. It’ll be hard to say goodbye to my mother, but life has to go on.

Cactus seedlings and a lot more: catching up with Justin Thiel

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:14:58 +0200

A couple of weeks ago, fellow plant nerd Kyle and I visited our friend Justin in the East Bay. Needless to say I took a few photos of Justin’s garden. I mean, how could I not? He has an amazing selection of succulents, many of them growing in miniature rock landscapes he created himself.

Click here to see my other posts about Justin’s garden.

Above and below are prime examples of Justin’s rockscapes. The plants are tucked into small pockets between the rocks, which results in superb drainage. And it looks great, too.

Agave utahensis var. eborispina

Above and below: cross between Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ and Agave titanota, created by Nick Deinhart. These two plants are from the same seed batch, but they look very different. This often happens with hybrids.

Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ × Agave titanota

Justin’s front yard is home to some exceptional agaves:

Agave montana. Agaves don’t get better than this!

Agave montana

Agave horrida

Agave applanata, the standard form (the variegated cultivar ‘Cream Spike’ is far more common)

Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’. Quite possibly the most perfect specimen I’ve ever seen.

Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’

Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’. Seriously, this is one good-looking specimen!

Even the spiders in Justin’s garden are beautiful.

Ferocactus rectispinus with its last flower of the year

Ferocactus rectispinus

Variegated Ferocactus

Ferocactus latispinus, easily recognized by its wide central spines and the deep purple flowers

Outrageously colorful specimen of Aloe vanbalenii in the backyard. Who needs flowers when you have leaves this outstanding!

Of one of a handful of wooden planter boxes Justin built in the backyard. They’re home to a large variety of cacti, aloes, mesembs, and other succulents.

Another Agave utahensis var. eborispina

Notocactus roseoluteus

Euphorbia sp. and Agave peglerae

Agave albopilosa

Aloe 'Pink Blush'× polyphylla and a clump of perfect Sempervivum

Nice clump of Stomatium, a night-blooming mesemb (aka “ice plant”) from South Africa

Justin has a new greenhouse where he keeps his seedlings as well as a small selection of potted succulents:

Southern African landscape in a bowl: Aloe erinacea and Lithops

Agave utahensis var. eborispina grown from seed Justin and I collected on our trip to Nevada last year

Agave utahensis var. nevadensis seedlings, also from habitat seed

Cross between Mangave ‘Silver Fox’ and Agave parrasana, from plants that flowered in Justin’s front yard last year. All the plants you see above are from the same seed batch. The variability is astounding.

To me, this baby combines the best of both parents

Stenocactus and Echinocereus seedlings

Leuchtenbergia principis seedlings, unmistakable even at this size

Opuntia aurea seedlings with exceptionally long hypocotyls

The hypocotyl is the stem between the cotyledons (the two embryonic leaves on either side of the cactus body) and the roots

Also, this happened while we were at Justin’s:

Annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023

In case you were wondering: Justin is growing many of these seedlings for sale at next year’s San Francisco Cactus & Succulent Society Show & Sale, to be held in mid-June.

Lizard on cactus: ants at work

Sun, 22 Oct 2023 09:45:43 +0200

Last year, I planted a lace hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus reichenbachii) with snow-white spines. It's still pretty small but it's grown a good amount. With its spectacular spines, it stands out and invariably attracts attention. Not just from humans, apparently, but also from the ubiquitous western fence lizards. Last week, one of them – a juvenile, from the looks of it – got stuck and died. At least that's what I surmised when I saw this:

When I spotted it, ants had already been busy at work.

The next day, there was little left:

And the day after, just the skeleton of the lizard:

Fast forward a couple of days, and the skeleton is gone, too, but another baby lizard has climbed onto the cactus. I don't know what makes it so attractive to lizards. Maybe the white spines?

Fortunately, this lizard didn't get stuck.

Seeing a small army of ants consuming a dead lizard might be a queasy-making sight for some people, but it's simply the cycle of life in action.

Mid-October succulent flowers

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 20:02:22 +0200

In spite of daytime highs in the high 80s and low 90s, fall is definitely here. Summer-growing succulents have slowed way down in preparation for winter, and compared to spring and summer, there’s very little in bloom in the succulent realm. But there’s always something, as you’ll see below.

Coryphantha retusa

Coryphantha retusa is a small cactus from Mexico with dense golden spines. I got two of them in last year’s fall plant sale at the Huntington, and this one flowered in early October:

Coryphantha retusa

Ferocactus herrerae

Ferocactus herrerae is closely related to Ferocactus wislizeni, the common Arizona fishhook barrel, but as the body of the cactus ages, it takes on a pronounced twist. Mine flowers quite profusely from summer into fall. The flower you see below is last one of the year, and quite possibly the most perfect:

Ferocactus herrerae flower; the yellow “pineapples” above it are immature fruits from earlier flowers

Ferocactus herrerae

Ariocarpus fissuratus var. hintonii

Ariocarpus are among the most collected cacti. I’ve long resisted the temptation, considering how slow-growing (and expensive) ariocarpus are. Last year, I had the opportunity to buy an Ariocarpus fissuratus var. hintonii at a price that was simply too good to pass up. Not everybody likes the warty look, but I’ve warmed up to it. To my delight, my specimen produced a flower recently. Even more surprisingly: the flower lasted almost a week! That’s a lot longer than the cactus flowers I’m used to – echinopsis flowers, for example, last a day, maybe two at the most.

Ariocarpus fissuratus var. hintonii flower, day 1

Day 4

Day 6 (last day the flower opened)

Conophytum bilobum

Conophytums are small to tiny succulents from South Africa and Namibia that are much beloved – possibly because you can have a large collection in a small space. As with ariocarpus above, I long resisted the temptation to own conophytums, but I was recently given a small Conophytum bilobum as a gift and it promptly flowered:

Lithops lesliei

Few succulents are as frustrating as lithops. I’ve certainly had my fair share of experiences with them – each time ending in failure. A few months ago, lithops expert Peter Beiersdorfer gave presentation to the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society. Newly emboldened, I decided to dip a toe into the water one more time and bought a couple of lithops from Peter. I was promptly rewarded with two flowers:

I’ll have a separate post about lithops once I feel I have a better grasp of what they want and need.

Faucaria tigrina

Faucaria tigrina, or tiger jaws, is a member of the ice plant family (Aizoaceae) and, unlike lithops, very easy to grow. As long as you protect it from temperatures in the low 20°F, it’s almost bulletproof. I didn’t own any tiger jaws for the longest time – maybe because they’re so readily available. However, when I was in San Diego County this past February, I bought one for $0.75 at OASIS Water-Efficient Gardens, Altman Plants’ retail outlet. Without any doing on my part, it has thrived and is flowering now:

Many of the flowers you see in this post aren’t necessarily spectacular, but at this time of year. I’ll gladly take even “simple” flowers.

Plant theft comment: what do you think?

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 17:21:28 +0200

On January 18, 2023, I wrote a post about two agaves being stolen from our front yard. At the time, I was both mad and sad – and worried it might happen again. Fortunately, it hasn't. I did install a security camera, which may or may not have had a deterrent effect.

Quite a few readers left comments on my original post. All of them were sympathetic and supportive. Until October 11 when this arrived:

This is what the comment says:

“Your hostile language, and that of most respondents, is what is making your nation so divisive. Yes people shouldn't steal plants but I suggest it was taken by a fellow succulent lover like yourself, who is probably looking after it and perhaps even propagating from it, rather than 'pond scum'. It is interesting that you define yourself as a 'good person' which assumes you have divided your world up into good people, like yourself and bad people that you need to protect your smug little world from with CCTV etc. Little spirit of generosity for wider humanity being shown here. To state the obvious – we are all in it together – a bit of give and take and empathy make the trip easier for all and sweating the small stuff will only cause unnecessary stress.”

I had to read the comment twice to absorb it all. First I thought this was meant as a joke, but I don't think so. My second thought was, maybe I did overreact, they're just plants.

But no. This goes beyond just plants. In this person's world, it appears to be OK to steal things as long as you “look after” them. So, anything I see I can simply take as long as I appreciate it? Where does it end though? Can I take somebody's pet as long as I care for it? Can I steal somebody's car if I promise to service it regularly? How far does this “bit of give and take” go?

I'm still taken aback by this kind of attitude. What do you think?

Losing another large agave

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 18:49:24 +0200

This summer, I removed two agaves, Agave bovicornuta and Agave shrevei var. matapensis × Agave guadalajarana. They had flowered and were dying. Bittersweet, but the ultimate fate of most agave species.

It’s one thing taking out an agave that has come to the end of its life span. It’s something else entirely when an agave (a large one to boot) croaks seemingly from one day to the next.

A few weeks ago, I noticed something was amiss with Agave gentryi ‘Jaws’ in the sidewalk strip:

The leaves had begun to fold in on themselves in a rather extreme way:

And black liquid was coming out of the center:

Black stuff oozing out of any plant is never a good sign.

Even worse, I was able to rock the entire agave back and forth with just one hand. Friends who stopped by during my open garden for the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society confirmed what I already knew: It was a goner.

Removing ‘Jaws’ was easy: I was able to pull the entire rosette to the curb with nothing but my two hands. There it is, waiting for yard waste pickup next week:

To be honest, I had already been toying with the idea of removing ‘Jaws’ to make room for other plants. But I hadn’t decided yet. Now I didn’t have to because the decision was made for me.

Next, I cut off the leaves sticking out too far into the sidewalk and the street. Stella wasn’t quite sure what to make of it:

A closer look revealed extensive rot:

My initial fear had been death by agave snout weevil. It’s not common in Northern California (yet), but there have been several cases right here in Davis. The symptoms are very similar to what our ‘Jaws’ presented.

However, after removing the rosette, I saw that the soil was completely drenched. There were no signs of snout weevils. I was puzzled by what could have caused this, but then I noticed that the moisture had come from under the fence – in other words, from the backyard. This is what I found there:

The stump you see in the photo above is from our Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ that had fallen over last January. The water was coming from under it. I quickly identified the irrigation line involved and turned it off. (Being able to control the sprinkler valves from an app on my phone is a wonderful thing.)

We’re going to have the acacia stump ground out in the next week or two, and then I’ll dig up the area to check the PVC pipes for damage. I hate irrigation issues, especially when digging is involved. This must be a recent issue, otherwise I would have noticed this leak earlier.

Back to the sidewalk strip. See the silver-leaved subshrub in front of ‘Jaws’?

We had received an official complaint from the City of Davis that this plant (and another one) were encroaching into the sidewalk so I had to hack it way back. Not a pretty sight afterwards:

As much as I loved this Helichrysum thianschanicum ‘Icicles’, it had simply gotten too large and would constantly need to be trimmed. I took a deep breath, got my Root Slayer, and dug it up, too.

In an effort to build up the spot a bit, I dumped several bags of soil and 40 pounds of crushed basalt I had lying around:

That’s as far as I’ve come. Now I need to decide what to plant there. I have several landscape-sized aloes that really need to go in the ground, Aloe munchii and Aloe ‘Superman’ (A. cameronii × white-flowering A. ferox). Maybe they’ll live here now. I’ll take my time until I know for sure.

Front yard walkthrough, September 30, 2023

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 03:04:26 +0200

Last Saturday I had an open garden for members for the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society. It was well attended – the weather was perfect for an outdoor event – and I even met some people who had joined the club only recently.

Since the garden was nice and tidy, I decided to document it in this post. There are lots of photos so let’s get started.

This is what you see as you walk from the driveway into the front garden

These three ponytail palms (Beaucarnea recurvata) were tiny when I planted them. In hindsight, I wish I’d separated them (they were all the same pot) and planted only one. Still, it provides an element of surprise as you step into the garden.

Bed next to the front door, anchored by Aloe vaombe

Smaller agaves and cacti (and even a xeric fern, Astrolepis cochisensis) in the front

This trio of containers planted with echeverias is new. I’m not totally sold yet, but I’ll let the echeverias get bigger before I decide whether to keep this arrangement.

I’m even experimenting with a carunculated echeveria from the clearance table at OASIS Water Efficient Gardens in Escondido, CA

View from the front patio

Rack with potted cacti; Agave ‘Desert Love’ on the right

View from the opposite direction

Off to the side of the patio

Potted Bromelia pinguin ‘Que Será’ on the left, with volunteer Mexican tulip poppies (Hunnemannia fumariifolia) encroaching into the path

Hechtias and other bromeliads on the left, sago palm (Cycas revoluta) in the back

The larger of the two succulent mounds in the center of the front garden

Looking west

Looking south

Yucca queretaroensis (or, more likely, a natural hybrid between Y. queretaroensis and Y. filifera) and Agave ‘Blue Glow’

This Corten raised bed is one of the newest additions to the garden. It’s a raised-bed kit from Edge Right.

Potted mangaves

The oldest and largest ferocactus in the garden, Ferocactus herrerae. The low-growing yellow-flowering plant you see in multiple places is called dogweed (Thymophylla pentachaeta).

The largest mangave in the garden, ×Mangave ‘Iron Man’. It looks a lot like its agave parent, Agave montana.

I have no recollection of ever planting these purple asters, but I like them. They’ve been flowering for weeks. If I planted them, they’re most likely Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Purple Dome’ from a UC Davis Arboretum plant sale.

Aloidendron ramosissimum on the right

This spot used to be occupied by Agave shrevei var. matapensis × Agave guadalajarana. I removed it after it had flowered.

The new plants are much more compact and better suited for such a small space

More dogweed

Agave × leopoldii, supposedly a cross between Agave filifera and the closely related Agave schidigera, but significantly smaller than either parent

The red-flowering plant is a total surprise. It’s Gomphrena haageana ‘Strawberry Fields’. I planted one here years ago and it died after flowering (it’s a tender perennial often grown as an annual), but it clearly reseeded.

The agave is one of Jeremy Spath’s hybrids, Agave (potatorum ‘Spawn’ × isthmensis) × shawii

The white rain lilies (Zephyranthes candida) have naturalized in several spots. They flower often, but at unpredictable intervals.

The oldest of my two Aloe lukeana is flowering for the first time

Potted Fouquieria macdougalii, with Acacia aphylla behind it

Similar colors, but different textures

The larger succulent mound

Dudleyas, mangaves, agaves, ferocactus, hechtias, even a cycad – a crazy mish-mash of plants, but that’s just how I like it

Two hechtias and a (purple) deuterocohnia hybrid

Hechtia argentea

The area on the right is where the massive Agave bovicornuta used to be before it flowered and died (watch a video of me removing the carcass here)

I brought in a ton of well-draining soil and 1,400 pounds of rocks

It’s become my favorite area in the garden

The plants are still small, especially the many Echinopsis hybrids

Same area, late-afternoon sun (I wasn’t able to choose which of these two photos to include)

On the left, a variegated Agave bovicornuta. It should stay significantly smaller than its green sibling was. In the pot, a young Dioon merolae.

Outside the fence, the replanted “Bamboo Hill”

Alternate view

The tall aloe on the top right is Aloe Excelsa that had rotted out on me. I removed the rotted section and re-rooted it in pure pumice.

Only one bamboo left now, Bambusa chungii ‘Barbellata’

Damianita daisy (Chrysactinia mexicana) at the top, Yucca angustissima at the bottom

My favorite texture contrast

Acacia aphylla (top), Grevillea rosmarinifolia ‘Red Sprite’ (bottom)

×Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’

Lots of aloes here

Corten planter with ×Mangave ‘Queen for the Day’

×Mangave ‘Queen for the Day’

The yellow flowers on the left are actually the spent flowers of ‘Harmony’ kangaroo paws, the only properly tall kangaroo paws I’ve had any luck with. They contrast beautifully with Senecio ficoides ‘Skyscraper’ (aka ‘Mount Everest’) along the fence.

Ferocactus rectispinus with 8" spines

Leucadendron ‘Ebony’ on the left, lotsa aloes on the right

Agave zebra, ×Mangave ‘Sponge Paint’...

... now flowering

Agave mitis ‘Chocolate Edge’ from Brian Kemble

This area is fairly new. Mostly aloes, but also a few cacti.

Agave gentryi ‘Jaws’ in the middle. Something’s wrong with it; the leaves have started to curl up, and the whole plant seems loose. I’ll remove it soon.

Yucca linearifolia, ×Mangave ‘Aztec King’, ×Mangave ‘Night Owl’ (flowering), ×Mangave ‘Pineapple Punch’, Aloe marlothii × ortholopha

‘Ruth Bancroft’ manzanita on the right

Agave parrasana × colorata, Aloe bulbillifera hybrid, Agave ‘Ripple Effect’, Aloe zubb × marlothii

This poor Aloidendron ‘Hercules’ has been swallowed up by our massive vitex tree (Vitex agnus-castus)

Lots of blue foliage here

Aloe ‘Moonglow’, Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’, Agave parryi var. truncata, Agave ovatifolia

This silver shrub/tree...

...was one of the most talked about plant of my open garden. It’s a Eucalyptus macrocarpa.

Aloe ‘Erik the Red’

Aloe spectabilis × vaombe (top), Yucca schidigera ‘Durango Delight’ (bottom). If this revision of the Agave schidigera complex holds, its new name is Agave sororum.

And finally, a flowering Agave parrasana in the strip between our driveway and our neighbor’s. The flower stalk will remain like this until spring. When it gets warm again, the inflorescence will continue to develop, and the actually flowers will come out.

Because the video the Green Acres crew filmed in July was so well received, I decided to do a video walkthrough of the same areas you saw in the photos above. It’s over 9 minutes long and entirely lacking in production values or special effects, but it shows you the entire front garden in context.

Ruth Bancroft Garden visit, September 2023

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 21:51:14 +0200

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Kyle and I stopped at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek for a long overdue visit. The timing was perfect because the garden looked stunning. As we all know, this doesn’t just happen as if by magic – it’s the result of the hard work and dedication of the RBG’s garden crew and volunteers. Kudos to them for all they do. Too often, their efforts are taken for granted.

On that note, let’s dive in. This is a photo-heavy post so get comfy in your chair/couch/bed or wherever you may be reading this.

Spectacular Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’ right inside the entrance

This bed, one of the newer ones, has become one of my favorites. I’d be so thrilled if this were in my own garden.

This marvelous blob of green is Casuarina ‘Cousin It’, a prostrate form of the Australian swamp oak. In spite of the cultivar name, it’s unrelated to Acacia ‘Cousin Itt’ (with two t’s).

Agave utahensis var. eborispina growing in a crevice between two rocks. The yellow flowers on the left are desert marigolds (Baileya multiradiata).

Agave franzosinii is truly massive, especially compared to Agave parryi var. truncata on the left

I want to say this is Agave colorata, but in a world-class botanical garden like the RBG it’s dangerous to guess

Eucalyptus macrocarpa with its unruly trunks

These agave teeth are serious

St. Catherine’s lace (Eriogonum giganteum), one of the largest California buckwheats

This agave is in the California/Baja California section. Maybe a form of Agave sebastiana?

Cardón (Pachycereus pringlei) is to Baja California what the saguaro is to the Sonoran Desert

Dudleya brittonii

Dudleya pulverulenta in its summer dormancy

Our Lord’s candle (Hesperoyucca whipplei) bottom left, Boojum tree (Fouquieria columnaris) top left

Agave ovatifolia pushing a flower stalk; on the right: Furcraea macdougallii

Same Agave ovatifolia from the other direction

The RBG’s very own Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia). Clearly it doesn’t know that it’s supposed to grow upright.

Another Agave ovatifolia (left), and the very special Ruth Bancroft manzanita hybrid (Arctostaphylos)

Massive Aloidendron ‘Hercules’

A handful of spiral aloes (Aloe polyphylla)

Aloe polyphylla is notoriously difficult to grow in areas with hot summers (like Walnut Creek and Davis)

Clearly, the curators, Brian Kemble and Walker Young, have cracked the code on how to keep Aloe polyphylla reasonably happy

I desperately want to have one in my garden, but I’ve killed too many, and they’re not cheap

Massive variegated Agave americana. For comparison, Kyle is 6 ft. 4 in. (193 cm).

Agave ovatifolia seems small!

Agave salmiana, another giant

Much smaller: Mangave ‘Blue Fountain’, created by curator Brian Kemble

Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’...

...one of several

The two Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’ at the top left have finishing blooming

The mother rosettes are dying...

...but pups are appearing to keep the cycle going

Euphorbia echinus, one of the euphorbia species from Morocco

Mystery agave, possibly involving Agave colorata

Agave parryi ssp. neomexicana ‘Rabid Dog’

Cleistocactus straussii (top left), Deuterocohnia brevifolia (bottom left), and unidentified Mexican cycad

Opuntia gomei ‘Old Mexico’

Mass planting of Mammillaria geminispina

Agave impressa

Agave nickelsiae

Agave victoriae-reginae

Mangave ‘Tooth Fairy’

Dudleya pachyphytum

The leaves on this Agave franzosinii were neatly folded under...

...maybe to protect the core from excessive sun exposure?

Just behind the wall you see in the next-to-last photo is the RBG’s excellent nursery, always worth a stop. On this visit, I got an Aloe tomentosa positively bursting out of its 1-gallon container and an Anigozanthos ‘Tequila Sunrise’, a tall kangaroo paw with orange flowers (none of those stunted dwarf paws for me).

I’ve been to the Ruth Bancroft Garden so many times that I automatically assume every succulent lover in Northern California has been there a time or two. Not so. I still run into people who haven’t even heard of it. If you know somebody who hasn’t been, do them a favor and take them for a visit!

Address: 1552 Bancroft Rd, Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9 am to 4 pm (closed on Mondays)

Don't miss: massive UC Davis Arboretum plant sale on September 30, 2023

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 21:58:21 +0200

The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is one of the great treasures of the Sacramento area. It’s seamlessly integrated into the campus and is open 24/7 – no fixed hours and no entrance fees. It’s the perfect place to go for a stroll, run, walk the dog, take a picnic. Because of that, it’s used as much by the public as by the students.

Near the western end of the Arboretum is the Arboretum Teaching Nursery. That’s where staff, students, and community volunteers grow plants both for the Arboretum collections and for the wildly popular plant sales.

Typically, there are six plant sales a year: three in the spring and three in the fall. The first sale of the season will be this coming Saturday, September 30, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first two hours are for members only; the public can shop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Members not only get in early, they also get a 10% discount on all plant purchases. You can join online or in person at the door.

Last week, nursery manager Taylor Lewis walked us volunteers through the sales area, and I took a slew of photos to give you an idea of what to expect at the sale. My pictures are just a small snapshot of the plants that will be available. For example, there’s a huge variety of California natives, both shrubs and perennials, that I didn’t photograph. Ditto for shade plants. Check out the online inventory to see what there is – and to make your own shopping list. This year, there are three inventory selections: interactive online inventory with photos, PDF, or Microsoft Excel.

Plants that caught my eye, in no particular order or priority, starting with shrubs:

Duranta erecta ‘Sapphire Showers’

Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Heavenly Cloud’

Leucophyllum frutescens ‘White Cloud’

Leucophyllum zygophyllum

Leucadendron salignum ‘Red Tulip’

Hard to photograph well, but beautiful in person: Acacia stenophylla (left) and Melaleuca elliptica (right)

Dwarf abutilons: Abutilon ‘Patio Lantern Passion’ (left) and Abutilon ‘Lucky Lantern Yellow’ (right)

The salvia selection is so ridiculously large, we volunteers constantly make jokes about it. According to the inventory, there are 67 different varieties, 2367 individual plants.

Just a small cross section of the salvia inventory

Beach salvia (labeled as Salvia aurea, current botanical name is Salvia africana-lutea)

Mealycup sage (Salvia farinacea)

There’s a huge selection of perennials, both for sun and shade:

A personal fave of mine, billy buttons (Pycnosorus globosus, formerly Craspedia globosa)

Blue milkweed or tweedia (Oxypetalum coeruleum)...

...with its oddball seed pods

‘Blue Glow’ globe thistle (Echinops bannaticus ‘Blue Glow’)

Brazilian plume (Justicia carnea) and variegated abutilon (Abutilon ‘Savitzii’)

Allium ‘Lavender Bubbles’, the plant featured on this season’s plant sales banner

Lomandra longifolia ‘Arctic Frost’

Lomandra longifolia ‘Platinum Beauty’ (top), Hebe speciosa ‘Variegata’ (bottom)

Variegated Australian fuchsia (Correa ‘Wyn’s Wonder’)

Miscellaneous odds and ends:

Who knew there were so many wildly colored ajugas!

Ajuga reptans ‘Princess Leia’

The best name in the sale: Sinningia ‘Invasion Force’

Yellow rain lily (Zephyranthes flavissima)

Reddish pink rain lily (Zephyranthes ‘Heart Throb’)

White rain lilies (Zephyranthes candida)

Bat-faced cuphea (Cuphea llavea)

Of course, there are succulents. Many succulents. Succulents of every description. For instance, there are 18 varieties of echeverias (667 plants), 21 varieties of sedums and sedum hybrids (774 plants), 20 varieties of mangaves (907 plants). Not to mention agaves, aloes, etc. etc. Most are in 3-inch pots priced at a very reasonable $7.50.

Lots of echeverias: 18 different varieties, 667 individual plants as per inventory

Echeveria ‘Giant Blue’

Echeveria ‘Purple Pearl’

Echeveria ‘Chili Limon’

If you like mangaves, you’re in luck: 20 different varieties, 907 individual plants.

Mangave ‘Purple People Easter’ (top), Mangave ‘Navajo Princess’ (bottom)

Mangave ‘Racing Stripes’ (top) Mangave ‘Pineapple Express’ (bottom)

Mangave ‘Pineapple Punch’ (top), Mangave ‘Falling Waters’ (bottom)

Probably the most coveted mangave of them all, Mangave ‘Praying Hands’

Mangave ‘Praying Hands’

Among the 11 varieties of agaves on offer, I found this to be the most intriguing because of its striking markings and diminutive mature size:

Agave toumeyana

A few dasylirions and nolinas, including Dasylirion acrotrichum (not in the inventory, but out on the sales floor):

Dasylirion acrotrichum

Eight aloe varieties, including...

Aloe rubroviolacea, rarely seen in nurseries – nice plants in 2-gallon pots for $20

Aloe × spinosissima, both in 3-inch and 5-gallon pots (I know, quite a jump in size)

Sold as Aloe striata, but clearly a hybrid between Aloe striata and Aloe maculata (pure striata would have no spots on the leaves and no teeth along the leaf margins)

This is the kind plant sale that is worth the drive, even if you live an hour or two away. The inventory contains plants that you literally won’t find anywhere else in Northern California. And the selection is massive: 800+ different taxa, 31,000+ individual plants. Of course, I’m a bit biased because I volunteer at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery and am an enthusiastic shopper myself.

If you can’t make it to the sale on September 30, there’ll be two more this fall: October 21 and November 4. For more information, go to the Arboretum’s plant sale page.

Note: In your preferred navigation platform, enter 1046 Garrod Drive as the destination. This will get you close to the action. The best place to park is the animal clinic parking lot across from the Nursery. There’ll be plenty of signs and volunteers to direct you.

A Berkeley Hills garden paradise (part 2)

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 00:21:18 +0200

Part 1 of our tour of Ben’s garden in the Berkeley Hills ended with a photo of Ben standing in front of the beautiful bamboo you see below:

Walking up the stairs, the first thing I noticed – after tearing myself away from the bamboo – were three trees in tall urns, two banksias and one Cussonia paniculata:

The vertical effect is fantastic. As is the color of the wall. The stone art on the wall is by Glasgow stonemason Moray Henderson.

Sobralia virginalis, a large terrestrial orchid from South America:

On our way to the top of the hill, I stopped frequently to take in the views:

Haitian metal art inlaid and Ancestral Pueblo pottery shards in the concrete walkway:

Another octopus sighting:

Potted Dudleya virens ssp. hassei:

Poky yucca and its shadow:

San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachinoi) and Leucadendron ‘Ebony’:

Aloidendron ‘Hercules’:

Apart from the plants and the views, the rock work done by Ignacio Medina was my favorite feature:

Every rock had to be hauled up the slope and then cut to size. I can’t even begin to imagine what a back-breaking labor that must have been. But the result is spectacular.

One of several seating areas integrated into the rock wall, with flagstone squares as backrest:

A few outstanding plants among the rocks:

Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’

Yucca rostrata

Agave parryi var. truncata

Aeoniums, agaves, yuccas, palm trees...

Even a fan aloe (Kumara plicatilis)

Ben’s lot isn’t huge, about 10,000 sq.ft....

...but the dense plantings make it look much larger

Native oaks provide high shade:

Another flagstone-backed seating area:

Now we’re at the top of the hillside:

Agave ‘Blue Flame’

Views of the house:

There’s good stuff higher up in the trees, too:

Monkey tail cactus (Cleistocactus winteri ssp. colademonis)

Staghorn fern (Platycerium sp.)

The airy foliage is from an Acacia cognata

At the top, Ben planted a living cholla fence to keep people (and coyotes) out. It also acts as a fire retardant.

Eve’s needle cactus (Austrocylindropuntia subulata)

Austrocylindropuntia are the South American cousins of the chollas native to the southwestern US and northern Mexico.

Austrocylindropuntia subulata flowers

Moving down from level from the very top of the property:

The gate you see on the left in the next photo leads towards the front of the hill:

Lots of yuccas

Soehrensia formosa

Tall (6 ft.) weathervane

Garbage cans hidden behind a flagstone wall

View of the same wall from the front

As Ben was showing us around his garden paradise, he repeatedly emphasized that much of the credit goes to his landscaper, Ignacio Medina. He and his crew did most of the back-breaking work terracing the hillside, building the hardscape, and getting many of the larger plants in the ground. If readers in the Bay Area need a reliable landscape contractor, Ignacio can be contacted at (510) 898-8271. He lives in Richmond and works primarily in the East Bay.

Much of the plant material in Ben’s garden came from Cactus Jungle in Berkeley (co-owner Hap Hollibaugh has been a mentor for all things plant-related) and the Ruth Bancroft Garden Nursery in Walnut Creek. Other sources were the Dry Garden in Oakland, the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, and East Bay Nursery in Berkeley. More recently, Ben has begun to add Australian natives from Waltzing Matilija, my friend Troy McGregor’s nursery in Pittsburg.

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 21:11:00 +0200

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit a very special garden in the Berkeley Hills. Owner Ben, who follows my blog, had extended an invitation to drop by, and I gladly took him up on it. Based on the location and some photos Ben had emailed me, my expectations were high, but the reality far exceeded them. You’ll see why in this post and in part 2 to follow later this week (I took so many pictures, I had to spread them out over two posts.)

Ben and his wife bought the property in the late 1990s. The original house had been destroyed in the 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm, like 2,800 other single-family dwellings. The house on Ben’s property was rebuilt, but the two properties next door weren’t.

When Ben and his wife bought the property, there wasn’t much landscaping, just a patio area behind the house. The steep hillside beyond was an expanse of weeds. Ben knew that making a garden here wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, but he persisted. By a stroke of luck, Ben befriended Hap Hollibaugh at Cactus Jungle in Berkeley and found a landscape contractor who was as dedicated to the project as Ben, Ignacio Medina. Over the years, they became good friends, and Ignacio still does the maintenance today.

Ben’s house on the left, vacant lots on the right. You can see how steep the hillside is.

Let’s start at the front of the house. I immediately spotted two square pots with Yucca ’Blue Boy’ near the front door:

Yucca ’Blue Boy’

A large bowl planted with a golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) and Echeveria ’Imbricata’ is nearby:

At the bottom of the steps, a square planter with four Mexican fence post cacti (Lophocereus marginatus) and yellow, orange, and green crassulas:

On top of the lower retaining wall (photo above and below) sits a row of flagstone squares bolted together to form a striking architectural accent. As you’ll see, this feature is repeated in several places: on the other side of the house to hide the garbage cans, and in the back garden as part of the seating areas.

Before we explore the actual garden, let’s take a look at the balcony/terrace in the front of the house:

This is a fantastic place to enjoy the views towards the South Bay. If I lived here, this would be my favorite hangout.

This is what I call a two million dollar view!

Ceramic owls shipped from Portugal by @studiobongardceramics

Haitian metal-art octopus (like this) inlaid in a concrete-top table

A pair of golden barrels with Hesperaloe parviflora

Planting area next to the garage, with a curved flagstone wall hiding the garbage cans:

Landscaped hillside beyond:

Aloes, agaves, cacti, and even a leucadendron and a dioon

Looking up, towards the top of the hillside, as we walk around the side of the house into the back garden:

One of several Abyssinian bananas (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’)

Beautifully shaped manzanita (Arctostaphylos sp.) above a stone wall:

Ben has tucked a variety of aeoniums straight into the rock wall to mimic how they grow naturally in the Canary Islands.

I’ve always lived on flat land. Maybe that’s why I’m so crazy about gardening on a hillside property, and the myriad opportunities to plant up.

That dragon tree (Dracaena draco) is the icing on the cake

The patio behind the house is one of the few flat areas on the property:

The planting scheme here is largely tropical. The mild Berkeley climate (virtually frost-free) allows Ben to grow plants that would struggle elsewhere (like in in my garden).

This ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) is over 50 years old. Ben’s wife bought it as a houseplant when she was in junior high school. It spent many years traversing the Midwest confined in a pot until it was finally set free in the ground here in California.

Ben and his wife commissioned this mural by their friend, Laguna Pueblo artist Marla Allison, because they were tired of staring at the siding of the house when sitting on the patio furniture (see below).

This side of the house is protected from the hot sun, creating a perfect microclimate for tender tropicals and bromeliads:

Neoregelias so perfect you might think they’re fake (they’re not):

Doesn’t this look like it could be in an upscale architectural magazine?

Detail of the retaining wall behind the patio furniture:

Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’ and Beaucarnea stricta are cool, but take a look at that rock work! You’ll see much more of it in part 2 of this post.

Ben (and one of his dogs) at the base of the steps leading up the terraced hillside:

Ben is an active gardener who constantly adds and subtracts, and yet the garden as a whole looks wonderfully mature. What’s key is to let the trees and shrubs grow into adulthood because they form the backbone of the garden. As such, they remain constant fixtures while other plants come and go.

If you like what you’ve seen so far, there’s plenty more to look forward to in part 2 of this post. Here’s a teaser:

6 gardening tools I wouldn't want to be without

Sat, 16 Sep 2023 09:30:00 +0200

Unlike some gardeners, I don’t have a large collection of tools. But what I do have gets put to good use. Here are the six tools I use the most:

Root Slayer shovel

As you may remember from this post, the handle on my original Root Slayer cracked recently, but the manufacturer, Radius Garden, replaced it under their lifetime warranty.

Lifetime warranty aside, the Root Slayer (I have model 22011) has been my favorite shovel since I got it in 2017. I use it for everything from removing plants to digging holes. The rip-saw teeth along the sides of the shovel blade are very sharp and slice through roots like a knife through butter (well, almost). If I ever got shipwrecked on an island, that’s the one tool I’d want to have with me.

Long tweezers

It’s a cruel twist of irony or a bad cosmic joke, but spiky plants are a magnet for debris. If you’ve ever tried to pull dry leaves or other detritus from the rosette of an agave, you know of which I speak. Attempting to do it with your hands, even gloved, almost always results in pain.

My go-to tool for cleaning up agaves, cacti, etc. are long tweezers. I have a selection of different sizes but find myself using the 12" tweezers the most. If that’s not enough, they make them even longer; the longer ones are sometimes sold as aquarium or reptile-feeding tools.

Tweezers come in straight and curved versions. I prefer straight, but if you’re not sure, you can get a set with both.

Corona extendable-handle weeder

Until recently, I used long tweezers (see above) to pull weeds around or under spiky plants. When I visited echinopsis grower Brent Wigand a few months ago, his wife showed me her tool of choice: this extendable-handle weeder from Corona. Stick the fork on the business end into the weed, turn it a few times, and then pull. And if you need extra reach (from 18" to 32"), twist the handle and pull. It’s brilliantly simple.

How come it took me so long to hear about it?

Kuhn Rikon kitchen snips

I’ve used who knows how many snips and pruners over the years. Most of them work great for a while until they gunk up, become dull, – or simply don’t work that great anymore. Regular cleaning and maintenance (i.e. sharpening) would help, of course, but I have a hard time actually doing it.

A couple of years ago, a friend gave me what she said were poultry shears (!), and they’ve turned out to be the best all-purpose snipping and pruning tool I’ve ever had.

I finally did some research, and what I have are the Classic Kitchen Snips by Swiss kitchenware manufacturer Kuhn Rikon. Apparently, they cut bones and meat as easily as small branches. More importantly, the blades are self-sharpening. Clearly, that’s the reason why mine are working as well now as they did when I first got them.

My snips are Granny apple green; the latest incarnation is red (as in the photo on the right).

Electric pruning shears

My Kuhn Rikon snips are great for light-duty cutting and trimming and do the job 75% of the time. But obviously they aren’t suitable for pruning shrubs or small tree branches. In the past, I used bypass pruners and loppers. They’re work perfectly well, of course, but hand and wrist fatigue are never far away.

The solution: electric pruners. I initially resisted buying yet another power tool, but after using it for a couple of months, I’m a convert.

I got a no-name model with good reviews from Amazon, and it’s been perfect. It came with two batteries so I can quickly swap when one runs out of juice. My wife is a bit uncomfortable around it – it does make a pretty menacing sound and could easily take off a finger – but it chomps through branches up to 1.2 inches.

Another where-have-you-been-all-my-life tool!

Reciprocating saw

Speaking of power tools: My go-to tool for thicker branches, bamboo culms, agave leaves and carcasses, and the like is a reciprocating saw. (I sometimes refer to it as Sawzall, but that’s a registered trademark of Milwaukee Electric Tool and only refers to their products.)

I used to have a cordless DEWALT reciprocating saw, but the battery was always dead when I needed it. Buying an extra battery wouldn’t have made financial sense since I don’t use the saw all that often. Now I have this corded model by DEWALT. Admittedly, dragging a cord around (usually in combination with an extension cord) can be a bit cumbersome, but I’ll never run out of power.

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I’d love to hear which tools you use the most. Please leave a comment below. I bet I’ll find a future favorite tool I never knew existed!

Mangave ‘Black Widow’, a new Steve Super hybrid

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 02:07:06 +0200

The majority of mangaves you find in retail nurseries come from Walters Gardens and are sold under their Mad About Mangave brand. In addition, you might come across a couple of mangaves from Altman Plants at Lowe’s or The Home Depot (like ‘Barney’ and ‘Tequila Fire’).

But there’s quite a bit of mangave breeding going on away from the commercial mainstream. Backyard growers and hobbyists have begun to make their own hybrids, either creating entirely new crosses or building on existing ones. Many mangaves flower at relatively young age so there’s plenty of opportunity to use them as pollen or seed parents.

For example, Brian Kemble, the curator of the Ruth Bancroft Garden, has created several new mangaves based on his own manfreda hybrids. You can see them planted out in the garden, including this ×Mangave ‘Blue Fountain’. Nick Deinhart, known primarily for his aloe hybrids, has made some striking crosses involving ×Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ and Agave titanota. My friend Justin Thiel recently made his own hybrid from ×Mangave ‘Silver Fox’ and Agave parrasana, demonstrating that even hobbyists can do it. And earlier this year I bought several mangaves from unknown breeders at succulent shows.

Another grower who’s gotten in on the game is Steve Super, based on California’s Central Coast. He carries a wide variety of plants in his nursery, not just succulents, and sells them at events in the San Luis Obispo area as well as on his website, SteveSuperGardens.com. Steve recently sent me a beautiful new mangave he calls ‘Black Widow’. I’m excited because it’s a very dark purple and promises to stay on the small side. Take a look!

Who doesn’t love getting plant mail?

There’s nothing quite like opening a box with plants. Usually the first thing you see is the packaging material. This time I got stickers, too!

The excitement is building...

And here it is

×Mangave ‘Black Widow’

What a perfect little jewel

I put it in a pot for now so it can bulk up some more before it goes in the ground

‘Black Widow’ is a cross between ×Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ and Agave nizandensis. The latter is a rarely seen species from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It may seem like an odd choice, but Walters Gardens has also used Agave nizandensis in recent hybrids like ‘Center of Attention’, ‘Shadow Waltz’, ‘Blazing Saddles’, ‘Desert Dawn’, and ‘Frosted Elegance’. Its primary contribution is the central stripe you see in all these crosses even though sometimes it’s quite faint.

Here’s Steve Super’s “official” portrait of ×Mangave ‘Black Widow’:

If you want to get your own ‘Black Widow’, keep an eye on Steve’s website or contact him via email.

More recent repottings

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 00:11:09 +0200

In my previous post, Tentacle pot hechtia swap-out, I replaced the plant in my Tentacle Pot. This post chronicles more repottings I’ve done recently.

Dyckia disentanglement

Like puppies or kittens, plants don’t stay small forever. Often, what starts out cute quickly becomes less so. Many of the spiky plants I love not only grow in size, they also multiply in number. Case in point: the Dyckia floribunda ‘La Rioja’ you see below. It’s a stunning plant, so silver it looks like it’s made of metal. It was totally manageable when I first got it:

Dyckia floribunda ‘La Rioja’ in 2018

Fast forward five years. This is what you get when the owner falls down on the job and doesn’t thin the tangle occasionally:

To say this terracotta pot is overgrown would be an understatement. But there’s a quick fix: Break up the clump, keep the nicest plants, and toss the rest.

The bottom of the root ball. The roots were desiccated so I simply tore them off.

What’s left after detangling the mess

And potted up

I’ll keep this one and give away the others

Totem pole up-potting

Cacti never cease to amaze me—especially their ability to survive (and continue to grow, albeit slowly) in ridiculously small containers. This totem pole cactus (monstrose form of Lophocereus schottii) is a prime example. I can’t even remember where I originally got it or when, but it had remained in its original 3" plastic nursery pot the entire time.

Big surprise when I removed the pot: The roots hadn’t even filled it all the way!

It’ll be much happier in its new spot, right next to a sibling

Yucca rhizome containment

Last summer, our Yucca gloriosa ‘Bright Star’ flowered and the rosette split into multiple heads. This is not a look I wanted (I think it looks messy), so I removed the yucca and the suckers it had already produced. But apparently, you can’t get rid of ‘Bright Star’ so easily. Any piece of rhizome left in the ground seems to generate new babies:

Three offsets emerging from a piece of rhizome; my new Root Slayer dug them up quickly

Here’s the biggest one; I saved it and replanted it (see below)

I also saved these pieces of rhizome; it looks like new pups are beginning to emerge

Here’s the replanted ‘Bright Star’ offset

Just yesterday I discovered a couple more offsets sprouting from yet more pieces of rhizome still in ground. I dug them up and carefully checked the soil for rhizome remnants. I think I got them all this time.

If there’s any lesson to be learned, it’s this: Be sure to plant yuccas in their forever home. They may not go willingly (or entirely) if and when you kick them out! (This goes for suckering agaves, too: Just today I found four more small pups from an Agave weberi ‘Arizona Star’ I removed TWO YEARS AGO!)