Cactus Blog 

Our latest soil in our Ultra Soil collection is also Anne’s first new product. It’s our Carnivorous Plant Blend. You know you want some. We’ll even ship it if you ask.

Thanks, Anne!

My god these are some darling little flowers. Buttercups! Buttercups for everyone!

Ranunculus californicus
California Buttercup

California Native
Herbaceous Perennial

Sun: Full to Partial Sun
Water: Low to Moderate
Size: 2 feet

Sprawling perennial. Common to chapparal and woodlands. Grows well in clay soils. Semi-deciduous in summer. Hardy to 10F.

My eyes are hurting from the cuteness of the Buttercup flowers.

Aloe africana

Single stemmed to 12ft., solitary rosette with marginal spines. Hardy to 25F.

The common name in South Africa for this lovely tree aloe is Uitenhagse-aalwyn. The bloom stalks on top of these 10-12ft. trees will get an additional 8 feet taller. Impressive! They’re found in a small part of the Gamtoos River Valley east to Port Alfred, particularly the Uitenhage District, hence the common name. Lowland, it grows coastally.

The Gamtoos River Valley is… so peaceful, so serene, so close to nature,  its hard to believe that Port Elizabeth`s Green Acres Shopping Centre is only 55km away!

These aren’t as small as the very Tiny Terrariums I posted recently. But almost as small.

San Pablo Ave., Oakland

SUCCULENT WREATHS!

Online: shop.cactusjungle.com
or Call: 510 558.8650

Succulent Trough
Jones Street, Berkeley

It was a cloudy day so I amped up the colors a bit. Very colorful!

At the beach in Pacifica

Whippets play rough

Whippets Run Fast

Actually these are the Tiny Terrariums. The mini terrariums are 50% bigger!

I’m passing along this email I received.

I have a healthy, beautiful five foot Cereus Monstrose cactus that I am trying to find a home for. I have had him since 1996. I am moving to Minnesota and can’t take him with me. I have been getting advice from you regarding the cactus for years.

You have a blog with people that love cacti, so I was hoping you can find a home for him. Can you help Me? Photo attached.

Thanks,
Jan

Looks big!

Dendromecon harfordii – Island Bush Poppy
California Native
Perennial Shrub

Sun: Full to Part Sun
Water: Low
Size: 6 feet

Moderately-fast growing, evergreen poppy native to the Channel Islands.  Bright yellow, 3″ flowers in spring and summer.  Low water once established.  Hardy to 20F.

We forget the name of this little gem that just flowered this week!

Sent from iPaula

Paula,

There should be a label on the pot inside the clay pot. But it is Hoodia gordonii. And that’s a very big flower!

Peter

Heterotheca villosa
California Native
Herbaceous Perennial

Sun: Full Sun
Water: Low
Size: 1ft

Low growing native perennial with grey-green leaves and hairy stems. Bright yellow flowers in summer. Makes a great groundcover for dry areas! Hardy to below 0F.

Urginea maritima has giant summer bloom stalks. The leaves won’t come ’til fall, but for now you can enjoy a 3 to 4 ft. bloom stalk that I can’t fit in the picture with the bulb. Here’s a closeup of the blooms way up high above the bulb.

Hi Peter,
I just had my Dr. Seuss repotted, and he doesn’t look so great. I chopped back all his dead hair, he was quite lush before, but had out grown his pot. He’s about 5.5 feet tall from base of trunk. We potted him in a sandy mix of soil. He has gotten all this new growth, and the flowers since he was potted. I’m not sure how much water he needs, in old pot he was doing good with twice a week. Also, do you know his technical name? Can’t seem to find anything about him online.

Also, he’s getting a couple extra hours of sun each day in the new location. More afternoon sun than before.

Thanks!
Barbra

Barbra,
It is a Coreopsis gigantea. It’s a California native from the Channel Islands and the coastal cliffs of SoCal, so it is a winter grower and goes dormant in the summer, often loosing most of it’s leaves. In your large pot I would recommend watering well once every week or two and letting it dry out well before re-watering. Being a summer dormant plant too much water in the summer can cause rot and disease issues. It should perk up and take off this fall and look great again by Thanksgiving.

Peter

Whippet at Rest

Armeria maritima “Alba”
California Native
Groundcover Perennial

Sun: Full/Partial Sun
Water: Low
Size: 10-12″

Prefers coastal, sunny location or partial sun inland, but can handle most conditions. Fully drought-tolerant only at coast. White pom-poms will reach up 12″. Can handle sandy soils or clay. Hardy to below 0F.

From the Spalding Guardian and the Lincolnshire Free Press we find out that Moulton will be hosting a Cactus Talk. Nice!

Before we get further into the details of this story, I just want to appreciate all those names. Spalding, Lincolnshire and Moulding. I mean Moulton.

Spalding is a lovely and scenic town “in the peaceful South Lincolnshire Fens”

with acres of sky and sunsets, (Spalding) is a town that has to be seen to be believed!

Here, see this picture to see what they’re talking about. So scenic! I recommend staying the night at The Beeches. And so scenic, too! Why, it’s in a converted barn! Now that’s what the cactus and succulent society is all about.

Back to the event.

Spalding Cactus and Succulent Society is hosting a talk by speaker Graham Charles on Favourite Plants in Habitat and Culture at its meeting at Moulton Community Centre on Friday (7pm).

The society meets on the third Friday of every month with a programme of interesting talks about plants, environment and wildlife. Everyone is welcome, refreshments are available, and admission is free.

I will promise to be there tomorrow night if I am anywhere near Moulton. How about you? I don’t yet have my reservation at The Beeches. And where will you be staying?

HELP
I bought this beauty a month ago, now seeming healthy leaves are falling off. I’m in Sacramento, hasn’t been that hot, it’s getting bright light, but not direct sun, heat here 70-90. Is this dormancy? Is it too hot?

Still looks healthy on top yellow flower, it’s the two smaller bottom flowers that are lighter that the leaves are falling. Are they just too sensitive to heat? suggestions appreciated. It’s the nicest one I have.
Rick

Rick,
Aeoniums are winter growers and do go dormant in the summer, losing bottom leaves. However usually those leaves dry up first before falling off. I suspect that with dormancy and the difference in climate between Berkeley and Sacramento that more leaves have dropped off in response. The plant looks like it should be fine. Do not respond to this with extra water. Keep it in a cooler shady location for now. You won’t see new growth until November or so when it comes out of dormancy.
Peter

The process is secret. Don’t look too closely or you’ll be stealing our patented processes.

Finished! Very sophisticated. And a very good price, if I do say so myself. And I do. Say so myself.

The LA Times likes a cactus garden in Malibu, and publishes 18 separate photos! At least 3 of these are overtly artsy, especially the one with the 2 blue bottles (Photo #7, by Ricardo DeAratanha). It is a very strange choice for a newspaper to publish non-informative photographs, no matter how artistically composed and arranged.

But interesting!

When Kamm moved into the two-story, 1960s home on the hillside bluff overlooking the Malibu Colony, the 100-foot-long terrace had not a single plant. Because he had a severe brown thumb and had never cared for a garden in his life, he began buying cactuses and succulents: “the biggest, cheapest, least troublesome thing I could plant,” he said.

Apparently Seniors should be eating more Prickly Pear Fruit. So much so, that Senior Living has declared August’s fruit of the month to be…

Cactus Pear
By Sunrise Senior Living

The cactus pear also contains some nutrients that promote healthy senior living. According to the Mayo Clinic, researchers and doctors have said that the fruit may be able to decrease blood sugar levels for individuals who have Type 2 diabetes, and it’s also been known to treat high cholesterol and obesity.

The next time you head to a farmer’s market or a Latin grocery store, keep an eye out for these fruits.

Well, if you’re a senior who needs your cactus pear fix, I know Berkeley Bowl has some in stock right now, or you can come by Cactus Jungle and get some plants and plant them in the ground and wait til next year to get some delicious fruit of your own.

Click through to the article to find out how to properly prepare the prickly pears.

They were practically rioting in Montana yesterday for the cactus.

A night-blooming cactus causes quite a buzz Friday morning in the Floriculture Building at the Western Montana Fair after two large blossoms appeared on the plant overnight.

Wow! Click through for the picture. There are 2 blooms on this particular cactus, so you know it was twice the excitement.

We have a really great crop of Sempervivums this summer. So gorgeous. Check it out!

“Commander Hay”

“Silverine”

“Carmen”

“Red Beauty”

More after the break! Follow me…. (more…)

Here are a couple of Kalanchoe flowers that were hard to photograph. I did the best I could and I think I captured their tiny little petals fairly well. However the chartreuse colors below were particularly difficult.

Kalanchoe eriophylla has soft grey fuzzy leaves.

Kalanchoe orgyalis has leathery brown leaves.

Each year on Labor Day weekend, the Huntington has a succulent plants symposium with five or six speakers covering a wide range of succulent plant topics. Included in the price of admission are a continental breakfast, lunch (that’s always very tasty), admission to the gardens especially to see the desert conservatory, the chance to purchase plants (including ISI releases). Optionally, you can have dinner there. All attendees are welcome to the after-dinner talk.

Here is the info from the Huntington website:

Succulent Plants Symposium
Aug. 31 (Saturday)
9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Gideon Smith of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) discusses aloes of southern Africa in the keynote address at this years symposium. Other speakers include Root Gorelick of Carleton University, Ottowa, and Panayoti Kelaidis of the Denver Botanic Garden. $75 including lunch. (Optional dinner an additional $25.) Registration: 626-405-3504. Botanical Center, Ahmanson Room