Cactus Blog 

Go on a Native Garden Tour of the Palos Verde Peninsula and beyond.

(T)he eighth annual Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour, April 9 and 10… is a self-guided tour of gardens from Sylmar to Long Beach and from Monrovia to Venice to Santa Monica, including a number of gardens in the South Bay.

While this may be the mother of all garden tours by the vastness of properties on display, it’s not your grandmother’s garden tour with tea and crumpets.

My grandmother never served tea and crumpets during a garden tour. Had she had a garden that was on a tour of Brookline gardens, she would probably have served her famous chopped liver.

The garden of Anne O’Brien of Torrance will showcase shade natives, including plants for habitat, fragrance and cut bouquets, during the Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour.

Here’s the gardens my grandmother took me to.

It’s finally spring here.

And in the deserts of California too. From Desert-USA down in Anza-Borrego.

The Sacramento Bee has a nice review, not too many pictures though.

High winds, torrents of rain and slippery bridges couldn’t keep them away.

Thousands of gardeners from across Northern California braved this week’s wild weather to see spectacular one-of-a-kind displays – and shop for rare plants and artful accessories – at the 26th annual San Francisco Flower and Garden Show

I suppose if I had braved the weather to get to the Garden Show I too would have started my review with a comment on the horrid weather. But I didn’t. And this week it’s sunny (spring-like) indeed.

Arizona State University students created a display of succulents for the San Francisco show. DEBBIE ARRINGTON/darrington@nullsacbee.com

Nice Pachycereuses the Arizonans have there. They are from Mexico you know. I wonder why they didn’t pick a native Arizona cactus?

On my day off.

Another California Lilac in bloom.

Ceanothus gloriosus is a very short, wide spreading deer-resistant bee-attracting plant. To 12″ high, but 6 to 8 feet wide. The smaller native bees really go to town around these. I wonder why they call it the Pt. Reyes Ceanothus?

Pt. Reyes National Seashore is beautiful. Almost as Beautiful as the Cape Cod National Seashore.

The first of the Garden Show reviews.

Googly-eyed Cactus by Sproutopia at the SF Garden Show, via Far Out Flora with Sproutopia’s Dinosaurs via Garden Wise Guy.

Focusing on the structures from Garden Porn, including the succulent wall panel shed.

I’ll update as more blogs post their reviews, so let me know as they appear.

Today’s Weather report for Northern California: Spring!

Ceanothus “Anchor Bay”

This holly-leafed Ceanothus will get about 2ft. tall and spread fairly wide. I like to say around 6ft., but if you leave it be it can go 8ft. But you shouldn’t let it go totally wild, you know. A little pruning helps.

All of the holly-leafed Ceanothuses are deer resistent. Most of the Ceanothuses are in bloom around about now. Floral scented flowers!

The Euphorbia-naming contest Friday was a lot of fun, don’t you think?

Here’s another variegated spurge that we have but this one’s name is better than the last one’s, so no contest today. Sorry.

Euphorbia “Silver Swan”

It’s still kind of stupid, but not the end of the world.

Anigozanthos “Tequila Sunrise” is very orange. Here we see the beautiful colorful paws not yet open. Still sunny out for the photo though. Imagine that! Stupid rain.

I noticed this odd looking browning patch on one of my cacti shortly after I had purchased it. I’m not sure if it’s part of a natural process or if it’s a sign of an unhealthy cactus. Could you shed any light on this? I’ve felt the spot with my finger, and it has a different texture to the rest of the cactus, and it seems almost like a callus of some kind (can Cacti get calluses?). The spot is tougher and more rigid than the rest of the cactus, so I’m just a little concerned. The woman at the store advised me to water it every 2 weeks and give it all purpose fertilizer ever 7-8 weeks, but neglected to tell me the last time either of these had been done while the cactus was in the store, though I promptly watered the cactus when I discovered the soil to be dry as a bone, so I’m thinking that lack of fertilizer may be the cause.

Am I right or entirely missing the mark?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Andrew

Euphorbia “Ascot Rainbow” is one of the Euphorbia x martinii hybrids, and a patented one at that (PP21401).

I don’t know how this one got past Hap since he doesn’t like for us to carry the variegated spurges.

I also don’t know what the name “Ascot Rainbow” means. I don’t see any ascots here, and I don’t see no stinkin’ rainbow.

Personally, I would like to call this one, “Prim Morning” but then I’m an idiot. Sounds like a contest time! Best new name for this patented variegated spurge wins something! If you’re local, a really nice water wand. If you’re not local, how about a box of biodegradeable kitchen bags? Or if you prefer, a Cactus Pup.

More info about it if you care to keep digging before coming up with a better name.

Are you going to the Garden Show this week? It is stormy out, I know, so if you’re not here’s a video recap. Lot’s of succulents this year, again.

The overview is pretty nice, even if the music is overblown.

Anigozanthos “Yellow Gem”

I love the closeups of these little open paws. They’re very pretty even when the blooms are not open as they stay very colorful for quite awhile. And then they pop open and POW, kangaroo paw punch in the nose.

It’s a good thing I stock up on photos when it’s sunny out, because it’s not sunny out at all right now. Very stormy. Today is a good day to come by the nursery and get lots of personal service since I don’t suspect there’ll be too many people braving the storms.

My final pictures from the recent New York trip are from the Natural History Museum’s Butterfly House. Everyone loves a Butterfly House, it turns out, including the teenage nephews.

These pretty pictures don’t have a lot to do with this blog, except the butterflies are all sitting on plants. And one of the plants is the Jatropha integerrima, a Central American succulent shrub with pretty red flowers. Good stuff.

I couldn’t capture any of the blue butterflies with my cell phone camera – for some reason blues are harder than oranges. But click through at the end for a special moth photo.

One more shot after the break… (more…)

Hello,
Thank you for your informative website!

I have a question that I hope you can help with.

I have one cereus monstrose cactus that I have raised from a pup over the last 4 years and is doing very well. It is a deep green blue color and grows quickly. I was finally able to find what I thought was another beautiful specimen from a local Las Vegas grower.

The plant did seem a bit yellow, so I thought it needed some fertilizer and re-potting.

Unfortunately, when I removed it from it’s soggy sand in a plastic pot, I found it had no root system, but in fact was a large cutting that had been plopped in a pot. There was about 1/2 inch deep of slightly mushy and slimy surface across the entire cut with 2 earthworms living in it, like a slightly rotted apple.

I sliced off about another 1/2 inch above the wet part, across the entire cut, and dipped it in rooting hormone and am leaving it to dry and hopefully callous indoors where it is warm and bright. Is this the correct way to deal with this? I really want to save and eventually plant this gorgeous thing. The cutting is about 12″ tall with a couple of branches. Any suggestions?

Thanks so much!!!!!
Laurie

Laurie,
I am sorry to hear you ended up getting a plant that was not yet fully established, if the rot continues to spread you should consider returning it to the grower, I would be mortified and embarrassed if an un-rooted plant made it on to the sales floor!

You have done the right things so far. You can dip or spray the cut part with regular 3% hydrogen-peroxide, which works as a disinfectant as well as encourages the callus to form faster. Watch the cut area for discoloration and if the rot seems to be coming back you will need to cut higher and start over. After the callus is well formed, which usually takes a couple of weeks (but the peroxide can speed that up) replant in fresh dryish cactus soil and place somewhere warm and bright. Roots should form over the next few months since it is supposedly spring. Do not water for several weeks and then give it a sparing drink. After a month you can give it a real drink and then let it dry out completely before watering again.

Good luck and take care,
Hap

[More back and forth about Miracle Grow and such after the break…]

(more…)

Blogs that caught my eye today include:

All Andrew’s Plants has new pitchers growing on his Nepenthes. We always like to see new pitchers growing. And it seems there are new pitchers on Far Out Flora‘s Nepenthes too! Carnivorous tidings!

Bamboo and More is quietly enjoying the rainy weather through a lens.

The Pitcher Plant Project also has some new carnivorous pitchers growing, but these are the other type of Pitcher Plant, the Sarracenias.

From KPHO CBS-5 we have a photo of a mountain lion on a saguaro.

Nice! Shall we have a caption contest?

Carol sends in this question, made sad by the forces of evil at PG&E,

I have some burrow tails and some echeveria. Three times I’ve tried to root individual “leaves” that have broken off in mishaps [latest was a romp by a PG&E crew through my garden], but have been a dismal failure.

Would you have any advice for me? I’d appreciate it very much.

Carol

Carol,

Leaf cuttings of sedum and echeveria are usually successful if taken in late spring to early summer, but are trickier in fall and winter without providing bottom heat and supplemental light. We usually stick the leaves in barely moist cactus soil at a 45 degree angle, with the node-tips buried just enough to keep them in place. Then we put them in a cold frame or in the greenhouse in bright but filtered light for about six months. We only start watering when they develop roots. Once there are little plants forming we will give a light fertilizer and some liquid kelp to boost their growth and then move them outside under 30% shade for another couple of months before moving them up to their own pots.

I hope that helps. Good luck and take care,

Hap

[Editor’s Note: That sounds complicated, but often people just toss these leaf cuttings into their garden and wait to see what comes up. It doesn’t take a huge success rate for there to be a few new plants from sedums. Peter]

Lewisia cotyledon “Sunset Strain”

Lewisia longipetala “Plum”

Containers of succulent plants, by WIG Nursery in Burnaby, at the entrance of the BC Home & Garden Show. Photograph by: Les Bazso, PNG

And a green roof too:

A green garden shed by Beneath Your Feet, Maple Ridge. Photograph by: Les Bazso, PNG

They’re going to add some stuff to the Town Center and I thought you should read it here first.

A Carefree resident… will add cactuses, agave, succulents and boulders. “We really want to make it spectacular,” he said.

In the quiet seaside town of Tweed Heads,

The 1300 square metre garden will sit atop the Serene Living apartment complex for over 55s.

Do they not have a word for Seniors, like “Seniors”?

More than 2000 plants will be grown in the garden including… 10 types of exotic succulents and palms.

By exotic I assume they mean sedums and sempervivums.

Raised food gardens will also be planted

Delicious!

Artist’s impression of the overall view of rooftop garden oasis

I can see the beach from there! I can fly!

Kalanchoe pumila

Low shrubby succulent with sprawling stems to 18″. The real interest is in the dusted scalloped leaves – purple under a white dusting. Will make a great hanging basket. And then there are these pretty purple flowers, small but profuse. Did I say purple? I meant pink. Wait, no, that’s more like a puce, or maybe a lavender. Magenta? Cerise?

Hardy to 28F is generally good enough for Berkeley.

They’ve lifted the taboo on cactus and succulent in your garden in India? I didn’t even know there had been a taboo.

(Cacti and succulents) are no more a taboo and could be judiciously used in landscape…. Shed the fear and use cacti and succulents in your garden. There is nothing vaastu related in these plants. These are the most beautiful creations of God.

Of course, they also recommend,

Using them with small statues and toys make them more attractive.

I see the neighbor’s Ceanothus is in bloom. And the Aeonium “Schwartzkopf” has grown a lot this winter.

Pelargonium x hortum cv ‘Vancouver Centennial’ has stunning foliage that outshine those simple orange flowers. Hardy around these parts too.