Encelia californica, also known as the California Brittlebush. You can extend the bloom season by deadheading religiously. The shrubs will get hundreds of flower heads at the same time. It is a daisy, or sunflower, or aster, depending on if you prefer to call the Asteraceae Family the Aster, Sunflower or Daisy Family. I usually call it the Daisy family since the flowers are all, clearly, daisy flowers.
It will survive most Berkeley winters, but is short lived regardless, so mix it in with your ceanothuses and your echeverias for maximum effect.
Hi there,
I was hoping to stop by this weekend to purchase several succulents and I was hoping to ask for some advice. I’m going to endeavor to build a frame of sorts for the succulents, so that I might hang them on the garden fence, like a picture. I was wondering if you all had ever tried it, since it appears to be something that the whole world and their aunt’s seem to be talking about!
If you have, might you have any advice as to how to build it, what materials to use, or if you know of a tutorial I might be able to work through?
Thanks very much for your time and I’m looking forward to stopping by the shop Saturday morning!
Kate
Kate,
We do make them and it’s a bit complicated. We use L-shaped wood and miter the corners to create a box with a lip to attach a piece of hardware cloth or plastic netting to the underside of the lip. Then we fill with green moss up front and rock wool at the back. A piece of rigid plastic on the back holds it all in place. Then we take succulent cuttings and stick them through the mesh and lay flat for 2 to 3 months for the cuttings to root. Like This!
The other options are premade wall systems that can take soil, of which we carry 2 different types.
Bowiea volubilis in bloom. These are very small, hard to see and hard to photograph. You can see the lumpy discolored mass below that is the bulb. Exciting!
I got this little cactus in February and finally repotted it today, two months later, since it’s now spring. While I was chipping off the peat stuff from the store, I noticed this odd crack in the bottom, as though the plant had maybe been overwatered sometime before I got it (it would have to be before I got it because it hasn’t gotten any water at all so far with me), but I’m scared it might be something bad. As you can see from the second picture, the top is still nice and green, and even has a bud, which has been there since it was at the store. So it looks fine when planted. This plant is only about an inch across, by the way.
It looks like whatever damage the plant had from the propagator was healed over when you got it. If the top picture is after you replanted it, it will be fine. Wait a week after repotting and then it’s time to start watering.
The western wing of the winter garden glasshouse at Dunedin Botanic Garden is home to a weird and wonderful selection of intriguing succulents…. you might see a party of bizarre creatures reminiscent of desert-dwelling starfish, statuesque aliens with fearsome spines, and zig-zagging worms from an Escher painting.
This Chiranthodendron x Fremontodendron hybrid is interesting. It’s a 15ft. shrub with stunning flowers. Far Out Flora got their photo of this plant up before me. How about that!
Like many of the Aloes (although interestingly not the very branchy A. plicatilis) A. striata blooms stalks are multi-branched and the branching gets more structurally interesting as the plant gets older. These are among the most common looking of the aloe blooms – orange tubular. Hummingbirds are grateful for you having planted one in your back yard.
Hi,
My wife and I were at Cactus Jungle yesterday and spoke to a gentleman there about the scabby bark that’s developed all over our Enchinocereus grandiflora. He suggested we send pictures so that you might be able to diagnose the problem from afar. We live up on Cedar Street near Cedar-Rose Park, so if push came to shove, we could probably also bring it down — but it’s a big plant in a big pot.
Some info: the pot was on south-facing steps in full sun for about two years, but we’ve since moved it into a shady spot. The scab formed before we moved it, but moving it doesn’t seem to have prevented the scab from continuing to form on new growth at the top of the plant or on the pups.
Thanks!
Leif
Leif,
I’m sorry I don’t have better news. I don’t know what caused this problem, but I could guess either it has a virus or it got sprayed with a chemical and got burned. It could have been overspray while spraying a neighboring plant even, since it was in full sun before. Currently it has mealy bugs, which can take over when a plant is sick.
There’s nothing we can do at this point if the plant has a virus as it has progressed too far. However if it was caused by a chemical burn then at best you might see new green growth out of the top as the plant heals. If you want to give it a try to save it you will need to kill the mealy bugs; use neem oil while the plant is in shade. Eventually all the scabs will bark over (turn to bark) and then you may see new growth from the tips.
Peter
This California Lilac is endemic to California. There are many cultivars and Hybrids from this, but the original Blue Blossom has a very soft blue flower. In habitat it has been known to grow about 20 feet tall, but in local gardens it stays under 12ft. generally.
The small native bees can live off these flowers. But be warned – the deer like these soft green leaves too.
Lupinus albifrons is a very pretty California lupine. The silver foliage is pretty year round while these two-toned flowers are pretty all spring long.
Mammillaria perbella is like an amoeba – it divides. And then it divides again. Nifty! We can see the two major lobes are dividing again into what will be four lobes. Sometimes they do a trick and divide into three lobes. Would that be called trivide?
Q. If plants were considered “people” like corporations are considered to be “people,” which plant or tree do you think would find the most tax loopholes to pay the least amount of taxes?
A. It’s hard to squeeze anything out of a cactus.
Did you get your taxes in on time? Or did you have your cacti handle it all for you?
They have succulents there, but alongside a Pork Festival.
(W)hen I heard about North Hollywood hosting a flea market in walking distance, I was elated. But I was hesitant when I heard it would be combined with a food truck fest…. I was worried that the popular mobile feeders would deter customers away from the local vendors.
…I smelled grilled pork in the air…
And… the booths were empty. Artists and vendor owners smiled at each passing customer, waiting for a sale… I stopped to take a few shots of miniature succulents….
I heard a dance number starting as I walked toward the succulent booth again. Only a few were missing. I picked four, each small enough to fit in the center of my palm. They would be low maintenance. They just needed to be placed in a spot with consistent sunlight, I was told. When I left, it started to rain.
Hi
We have a healthy Echinocactus grusonii of about fourty years age. It has been in the same pot for about the last thirty years. It is growing up into a cylinder rather than being a ball shape. Any thoughts on this? I am wondering if it is to do with the shape of the pot (it is about a 6 inch/15cm cube). The cactus (we call it spiny norman) is about 5 inches diameter and 10 inches tall.
Jean-Pierre
Jean-Pierre,
Congratulations! E. grusonii’s that survive to 40 then tend to go vertical! They’re called “Barrel” cactus because eventually they take on the shape of a barrel, rather than staying a ball shape.
Barrel Cactus with a barrel shape:
Photo of a barrel:
However, I would recommend a larger pot after all this time. But be careful repotting, you don’t want it to go into shock.
Hello.
I was hoping you could help me out. I planted a succulent garden last year, not realizing how quickly some of the plants would grow. It was cute before, now it is an overgrown mess, and the inhabitants are encroaching on each other. I don’t know what to do (dig up and relocate whole plants, take cuttings, or just run away?) or when to do it.
Any information is helpful.
Thanks,
Holly
Actually, that’s a pretty nice photo of a garden with successful succulents. I wouldn’t touch it, but then some people do prefer a neater garden. I wonder what Hap has to say?
Holly,
Your plants do look happy! You can prune them back or dig and relocate if you like. Spring is always a good time as long as we are not due for rain for at least a few days, succulents need dry weather and dry soil after trauma (cutting back or transplanting) so don’t water after transplanting or pruning. The bright green rosette plant and the dark burgundy plant are both Aeoniums, native to the Canary Islands which has the same rain cycle we do so are winter growers. They will be going dormant for the summer so keep in mind if you want tor transplant or prune and root the cuttings you will need to do that by mid May. You should keep in mind that since they go dormant they will loose some leaves in summer (this is normal and don’t over water thinking they are thirsty) and so they will “shrink” in size over the summer and take up less space. The two pale lavender plants are a Graptopetalum and a Graptoveria which both summer growers. So you should see them taking off over the next few months. If you want you could leave them to “battle it out” and let them grow together in more wild tangle or prune and relocate to keep more negative space around them to keep it tidy. Both aesthetics are valid, so it is more a personal choice at what look you want for your garden.
Parodia rutilans from Uruguay is generally solitary, and only a few inches tall. But the stunning pale yellow Parodia blooms with the bright red pistil is pretty much standard on all the Parodias, formerly known as Notocactus.
From the Desert Wildflower Report, we find there are Beavertails in bloom as reported by Rick and Margarita in “Lake Mead NRA between mileposts 7 & 8.”
Opuntia basilaris
Very vibrant colors.
I wonder what the mountains in the background are called? Do you think they’re called the Spotted French Peaks?
After some back and forth that I shan’t bother you with here, we start the conversation mid stream.
Hi thank you for such a quick response! I took some additional photos for you. Orange spots? Rust? I got this guy 3 years ago from a friend, never knew what it was until last year, i was fertilizing him every chance i had got all of last year as i wanted to see the flowers. Come to think of it the snails ate the ends of all the new growth, which were pretty long when they snails got to them, about 3feet long, so it stopped all growth and yet i was still fertilizing, so all of last year it didn’t grow. Maybe it held too much water, weight and fertilizer. Do your nursery grow these? and if so what are their needs? I cant really find any info on this special guy. I have him in morning sun to afternoon sun (3pm) here in California. and only water when dry, about how much longer until i can expect some blooms? Thank you so much for your help, you really helped me understand whats going on, i was about to whack it back and start over! (please ignore my sun burnt variegated fatsia! lol)
Warren
Warren,
That looks like a fungus (rust or similar) so you should treat with Neem Oil in a 2% solution, spray to the point of run-off and keep out of the sun for a day or two. Retreat after a week to ten days twice and that should take care of it. You should scatter some Sluggo around your plant, snails and slugs will eat the blooms before they can open! I have one of these in a large hanging basket in the back of our greenhouse where it is doing it’s best “to take over the world”. I treat it like a standard jungle cacti and grow in an orchid/jungle cactus mix and water about oce a week. I fertilize with a slow release cactus fertilizer once a year and hit it with bloom food (fish bone meal) in the fall and spring. You may be giving yours too much afternoon light, they like bright inderect sun in the afternoon. Think jungles and that they grow up with orchids on tree limbs sort of light. You will get lots of blooms if you treat it more like an orchid than a cactus.
Leucadendron “Pisa” is a vertically branched shrub that will get about 6ft. tall. Hardy down to the mid 20s, great for coastal gardens, and pretty as all get-out.
It’s pretty easy to prune the fresh branches if you need, though why you would want to deprive yourself of another cone flower is beyond my ken.
