Cactus Blog Archives

Succulent Wall Panels


succulent_wall_detail

It’s a closeup, a detail even, from one of our own custom Succulent Wall Panels. 

We make them! Right here in the Berkeley California workshop we call a Cactus Jungle.

How do we make them? Well we start with the finest of recycled wood boards and make a box! 4 sides and a back, with a wire mesh front. The material inside is green moss, i.e. sphagnum moss, with a backing of rock wool. That’s it! No soil, never no way.

So then you lay the completed box flat on a table and poke the moss with a pointy stick, or a pencil if you prefer, to generate a small hole that you can stick a succulent cutting into. Lots of succulent cuttings. Sedums, Crassulas and Sempervivums work well. An occasional Echeveria but not too many.

Make sure the cuttings are healed over by letting it dry for a few days before sticking it in the box. So this may be a multi-day process.

Then you let the box sit in a warm sunny location for 4-8 weeks until the cuttings have rooted into the boxes.

We also use greening pins to help hold the succulents in place, because we do have to transport the boxes to our greenhouse to root, and then back again, but you don’t need to use greening pins if you don’t want to. However, after the box is fully rooted and you want to hang it up on a wall, then you might want to check to see if any of the succulents have been less than fully rooted at that point at which time you may want to use some greening pins yourself to help keep the loose succulents from falling out.

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Aeoniums


Winter growing Aeoniums are really starting to look fresh, especially in the California winter sunshine. And by winter I mean 55F.

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Aeonium “Ballerina” is very shade tolerant. The leaves are a bit sticky. Well,  maybe more than a bit.

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Aeonium “Whippet” is our own low growing cultivar. Fast to branch, it will grow 30″ tall. And very colorful right now too. That’s what it’s good for!

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Brighamia insignis – Olulu


 

brighamia insignis

It’s my best shot yet of a Brighamia insignis flower! And there are 2! Plus a bud as a bonus. A bonus bud? From Hawaii? Indeed.

Here’s what the whole plant looks like.

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Naked Calyx Cactus


gymnocalycium_eurypleurum

Nice cactus! I wonder what the flower will look like?

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Gymnocalycium eurypleurum was only recently described, in 1979. Before that was it unknown? I don’t know. But it’s from Paraguay, so maybe it was known to some for years and only recently discovered by others who chose to publish its description. I should look it up in my catalog of the Journals of Cactus Science. If only I had one of those.

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Cactus Lights


The famed Ethel Chocolate Cactus Lighting has begun and will be lighting the cactus nightly through the holidays.

The Las Vegas Review Journal published a picture of the people with 3D glasses marvelling at all the pretty cactus that have been lit up for the holidays and they don’t show the cactus.

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Visitors Sienna Tobler, 10, left, and Katie Kriey, 7 use 3D glasses to admire the lights as Mary Ann O’Reilly looks on during the 20th annual Holiday Cactus Lighting at Ethel M Chocolates Cactus Garden on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. The three-acre garden features more than half a million lights decorating cactus of all types. The lighted gardens are scheduled to be open nightly until Jan. 1. (David Becker/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Interesting! Still, it is an interesting sight if you can get to Vegas before they turn the lights out for the new year.

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Cactus Cookies


Denise shares a recipe.

I have made frosting by mixing a few tablespoons of fresh-squeezed prickly pear juice into confectioner’s sugar. It makes a nice magenta-colored glaze when dribbled over oatmeal or sugar cookies and has that subtle flavor.

Sounds easy and delicious.

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Cactus Furniture


2-standing-light-by-studio-swine

I see the famed Studio Swine has a standing lamp that is somewhat cactus-like but is not called a cactus lamp.

cactus table

However the same collection, the Sao Paolo Collection, does in fact include a cactus table that is called the “Cactus Table” so you know they had cacti on the mind when they designed the cactus lamp that is not a “Cactus Lamp.”

In case you were wondering those table bases are Cereus.

Thanks to Carole for passing this along to her favorite Cactus Blog.

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Succulent Terrarium


Heather got one of our more creative Succulent Terrariums recently and shared a shot of it in it’s new habitat, her bathroom, on instagram.

Succulent Terrarium

Nice! I like that you can see the backside of the terrarium in the mirror.

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Old Golden Barrel Cactus


Our biggest specimen cactus at the nursery has been sold. Off to Mill Valley!

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Echinocactus grusonii multi-barrel was over 60 years old. We rescued it from a heritage garden in San Jose that was going to be bulldozed and we’ve been growing it for 7 years.

Old!

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Flannel Bush


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Fremontodendron “California Glory”
Flannel Bush
California hybrid
Evergreen shrub

Sun: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water: Summer-drought
Size: 15ft. to 20ft. max.

Unbelievable spray of yellow flowers in Spring. Rounded shrub with dark green lobed leaves. Saucer-shaped buttercup yellow give an unbelievable showing in spring. Will espalier well. Hardy to 20F.

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Cigar Plant


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Cuphea “Strybing Sunset” has orange cigar-shaped flowers. It seems to like to bloom a very long time. All year long? Maybe!

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Lithops Researched


Now researchers have discovered how the partially subterranean “Living Stones” still manage to harvest enough sunlight while avoiding drying out in the parched landscape, according to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

I’ll need to read the whole article and study. Not right now of course, I’m busy at work. Later. Yeah.

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Lithops lesliei ssp. venteri

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Yellow Kangaroo Paws


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Anigozanthos “Bush Dawn” has yellow Kangaroo Paw Flowers.

Yellow Kangaroo Paw
Native to Australia
Evergreen Perennial

Sun: Full Sun
Water: Low
Size: 4 to 6 feet tall

Clumps of grass-like foliage hold huge spikes of fuzzy yellow tubular flowers all spring through fall. Hardy to 25F.

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SoCal Cactus


Winter growing cactus and succulents that will grow in the Southern California winters are being featured next week.

“Winter Growers”
Presented by Tom Glavich

Tom Glavich will give us a presentation of the Winter growers from three Mediterranean regions around the world, South Africa, the Mediterranean coast and islands, and the coast of California and Northern Mexico. Cultivation and growing conditions are discussed along with pictures of old friends and rarely seen rarities.

The San Gabriel Valley Cactus & Succulent Society November 14 at 7:30 pm Ayers Hall, Los Angeles County Arboretum, Arcadia

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Can You Help With an ID?


Hello Cactus Jungle!

I started out life living next to a Echeveria Dondo. Alas, my plant mate did not survive being abandoned as an office cubicle plant. I believe that I am 3 or 4 years old from the tag that came from my plantmate.

I have gone through many neglectful owners but my story does have a happy ending. I have found a plant guardian that is now dedicated to taking care of me! I have even grown 3 inches under her watchful eye. She wants to take care of me the best she can, but she knows nothing about me.

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Can you please help tell what I am and what I need to be at my max levels of happy? Thanks!

McMullen the Mystery Plant
Sent by Christina L.

Christina,

I’m not sure what exactly type of plant McMullen is, but it is probably a Kalanchoe that wants more light. However, it could be a vining succulent like a Dischidia or Hoya too, but probably not.

I’ll post the picture to the blog and see if anyone comes up with an idea.

Peter

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Pitcher Plants


Sarracenia Judith Hindle2

I see our Sarracenia “Judith Hindles” have gotten very very red for fall.

Sarracenia Judith Hindle1

Do you like it better with the blue sky background?

Sarracenia Cobra Nest

Bonus “Cobra Nest” is also very red. Maybe not quite as red.

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Coral Fire


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That Aloe is on fire! Aloe “Coral Fire” that is.

 

 

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

 

It’s cold out this morning

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Living Walls


Hi there,

Attached are photos of the living wall we created using plants from your nursery. Thanks for being so helpful!

Living Wall

Best,
Josh and Deys

Wow! Nice job. Another picture of this Living Wall after the break. (more…)

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Astrophytums


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Astrophytum capricorne is known as the Monks Hood.

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Astrophytum ornatum is the well known Bishops Cap.

Or is it vice-versa? Hard to know. Cactus are such mysterious creatures. But we do know the A. ornatum will grow to 3 feet tall, while the much less common A. capricorne will stay below 12″.

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Dragon Bell


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I love our cast iron dragon bell! But we’ve only sold one of them all year! I wonder why?

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Poison Ivy


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Anne came in costume to work today, as Poison Ivy.

Awesome!

She’s the only one. We’re so lame.

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