It must be Spring! Rain!

Mammillaria compacticaulis

Such a tiny cactus usually will be multi-stemmed, but this small mammillaria is generally solitary. And yet it stays under 6″. While the flower colors are variable, we’ve had crops for 2 years in a row with the same flower color.

While these will bloom through the summer, we find that they throw out a few early flowers, sometimes even more than a few, when we have an early spring. And I do mean early.

Oh, and if you click the picture you’ll see the whole plant. All 2 bloody inches of the thing. Click away!

I’m sorry to be a bother but it seems after I bought an aloe ferox (in a 3 inch pot) from you two weeks ago, I’ve neglected to ask when it should be repotted and into what size of a pot? I can’t find a definitive answer anywhere. Thank you for you attention!

Most of our plants are good in the pot they cam in for about a year. With Aloes when the rosette is covering the top of the pot and making it hard to water it is time to repot. Of course it will grow faster in a larger pot, but it is easy to over water if you go too large, so it is better to keep the scale of the pot to the plant.

Take care,
Hap

And in case you were wondering, we have a beautiful crop of 1ga. Aloe ferox out now.

By the way, did you know that in the nursery trade gallon pots are not abbreviated 1ga. like normal people would do it, but #1, and #5 and so on. But I refuse to give in to the forces of evil and will continue my habit of abbreviating things normally. I’ll give out more secrets of the trade if you ask me.

I blogged this plant last week, but it was a cell phone photo. So here’s a portrait for you.

Oenothera caespitosa

They bloom through the night and are fading by morning. You can see this one was fading when I took the picture, but still pretty spectacular for a primrose. A California Native primrose, no less, ratty thing.

It’s the latest in succulent breeding technology.

Crassula “Morgan’s Beauty”

You can’t resist it’s charms, and neither can I. I gave up last week – and you? When did you succumb to that bastard of cuteness, that Crassula of comeliness, that pulchritudinous plant?

Not yet? What? WHAT!

Give in to the force, I tell you.

By the way, it’s a C. mesembryanthemoides x C. falcata hybrid and hardy down to about 25F and it has its own flickr page too.

I almost forgot to blog today.

Anyone have any idea what this giant aloe with the huge bloom sprays is?

Aeonium “Sunburst”

This is a very popular succulent. It grows 2 to 3 ft. tall, and the rosettes will get about 15″ across. As it’s from the Canary Islands, it’s a winter-growing succulent so it grows well in the Bay Area. Hardy down to around 25F, although you will see some leaf damage below 30F. More pink shows up in the leaves in full sun, but the yellow stays year-round. You can see the new branches peeking out from under that giant top rosette. If someone doesn’t buy this plant maybe we’ll have to pull it apart for starts.

I see that this same plant, maybe the exact individual, has been featured on Bamboo and More since Gerhard came by the nursery and took a bunch of pictures. Ever wondered what Cactus Jungle looked like and didn’t think our own pictures were enough to get a full idea? Then check out Gerhard’s post.

Crassula “Springtime”

Look, I said blogging would be slow this week so you may have to make do with pretty little pictures.

Enjoy!

Ferocactus glauca has mid-winter buds. I wonder why? Still, it will be months before we see blooms. I bet on June.

Pedilanthus bracteatus is a large member of this genus, as opposed to the much smaller Pedilanthus tithymaloides we featured late last year (and that made the Top Ten list too.)

Also known as one of the Candelilla plants in the Euphorbia family (Euphorbiaceae) from Mexico, it has the classic poisonous Euphorbia sap and an outer waxy coating that can be used to make candles. (That is why they call it candelilla, isn’t it?)

I’m just guessing here too but the other common name, Slipper Plant, refers to the shape of the flowers, right? They do look like they might be somewhat reminiscent of slippers or something…

Let’s see what the rest of the plant looks like, shall we? Read More…

Aloe gariepensis snake head

And here we see the blooms are open and the giant thick bloom stalk is fascinating too.

It’s from the Northern Cape of South Africa and is high enough in altitude that it sometimes gets frost, so we are golden here in the Bay Area where we also sometimes get frost.

The Gariep River is more commonly known as the Orange River and is the longest river in South Africa.

While found near the river, this particular aloe is from the drier regions, above the river.

The time has come, my friend, for last year’s top ten list. And just in time, too! Let’s get on with the program.

10. Pachypodium brevicaule
These little beauties didn’t last long in the rare plant room at the nursery. They will eventually grow HUGE! Up to 10″ across, some say. Yellow flowers are a plus.

9. Eulophia petersii
Desert orchids, what more could you want? We sold through the crop pretty quickly, and so now we’re working on the next crop. Hopefully we will be able to keep these going for years to come and will bring out a few new plants every spring.

8. Echeveria elegans whould probably be higher on the list since it’s soooo popular with everyone. But there’s not a snowball’s chance that I will raise it higher on the list. Enjoy it here. 8 is pretty good too.

7. Adenium somalense
These were not very popular with the kids this year, what with the high prices and the ready availability of lower-priced desert roses like the very similar A. obesum. Some people just don’t appreciate rarity of variation.

6. Aloe polyphylla
These were like bonkers this year! Everyone wanted one. Now we’re out of all but the largest sizes. I wonder if Hap’s working on a new crop yet?

5. Pedilanthus tithymaloides
Devil’s Backbone plant for you, please.

4. Delosperma echinatum
These originally came in #9, but then the common name moved them up to #4. What was that common name? Spiny Pickles. So you see why.

3. Echeveria “Violet Queen”
My favorite of our new Echeverias this year, and yet it did not reach #1. I must not have as much say in this process as I thought. Maybe I could demand a recount.

2. Sedum “Blue Spruce”
What the… Why is this one on the list, even all the way up at #2? This is a travesty. I reject this entirely. Who’s in charge here? Dammit.

And not to put too fine a point on it, but the number Top Ten Succulent of 2011 is… Read More…

Nananthus x Aloinopsis

Hybrid produces flower. Film at 11.

Family stuff intruded at the end of 2011 so I am late with the Top Ten Lists. I threw in some old photos last week to pass the time, but now I’m buckling down and getting them set up. I may only do 2 of these, but then I may be lying to you too.

Up first, 10 Cactus, all of them Top Cactus, from last year.

10. Rebutia fabrisii
We always try to bring out different mini blooming barrel cactus every year, and this was the year for this one. A nice orange-red color to contrast with all the other rebutias with orange or red flowers. I wonder what we’ll have for you this year?

9. Parodia magnifica
Another small cactus but this one has yellow flowers! Our crop last year was really pretty. It’s a plant we’ve been growing for ever, but these had a little bit extra last year. (And no, I’m not talking about mealy bugs).

8. Echinopsis spachiana
We’ve carried a lot of Echinopsis hybrids, usually not named, but this one with the giant white flowers is a pretty nice species all on its own.

7. Echinopsis, unnamed cultivar
This was my favorite flower color from the Echinopsis hybrids of last year.

6. Tunilla erectoclada
We’ve had these incorrectly named for years. Now they’re fixed. These are some of the most dangerous of tiny little cacti. As the French would say, ne touche pas!

5. Denmoza rhodacantha
I love these barrel cacti with the weird tubular flowers, clearly indicating they’re related to the Cleistocacti and the Oreocereuses.

4. Mammillaria perbella
We always have a lot of different Mammillarias hanging around, some of which we still haven’t gotten around to identifying, but this is one of the most satisfying of the Mammillarias, so welcome to our Top Ten List!

3. Espostoa melanostele
We used to only have a few giant specimens of these yellow-spined plants from South America, but now we have more and smaller too. On the smaller plants the yellow spines kind of look fake. Nice!

2. Ferocactus emoryi
This is a reliable bloomer for us, reliably producing seed too. And yet, last year the blooms were just a little bit prettier, a little bit more special. The bees loved the too, so you know they’re good.

And the Top Cactus of 2011 is…

Wait for it…

Read More…

Pachypodium geayi

This photo was taken before 2004. I know this because it has no date associated with the file. I would guess it is one of the very first pictures I took for Cactus Jungle which would mean 2001-2. You can see some elements of my current style in the old picture. I wish I had a larger version to share.

Mammillaria bocasana

Spiny AND bloomful – a double treat. I took this picture three years ago, so you know it’s a classic.

Coryphantha ottonis

We first brought out these adorable little spiny barrels in October of aught-nine. They’ve been in stock ever since. I guess that means it hasn’t been featured in our monthly email since then. That’s what happens when something is so successful it doesn’t go out of stock.

This Euphorbia horrida was photographed almost exactly one year ago. That’s very exciting!

Fouquieria splendens

This Ocotillo was leafed out this past fall. It bloomed too.

My, my… this Aeonium “Kiwi” picture was taken by me around 7 years ago. That’s a long time we’ve been carrying these little beauties. Sometimes we call them Aeonium “Tricolor” but I think they’re all the same plant.

This Pachyphytum longifolium is almost 2 years older now, as this picture was taken in February of ’10. I wonder how big it’s grown in that time? If you were the person who purchased this particular plant from us, send along a photo of its progress!

The Echeveria “Berkeley” crop really came out fine last winter and we’ve had a steady supply since then. Good job, propagators!

Aeonium simsii was also from June of this year. It must have been a very pretty month.

Sempervivum “Lavender and Old Lace” from June, back when we had them in both 3″ and 1 gallon sizes. They don’t last long, so we haven’t had any since then. Maybe by spring our next crop will be ready.

This Aloe ferox was in bloom last month, and is still in bloom right now if you come by and check it out.

And thus concludes my rerun day. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Another pretty Kalanchoe. Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi was in bloom like this now 3 years ago. 3 years!! I wonder if it’s still in bloom?

A four-petaled Kalanchoe pumila. These are tiny flowers that bloom on and off throughout the year. This one was from March of 2011. That’s last year!

This Protea “Pink Ice” was blooming back in the Fall of 2009. It’s so pretty I use it for the title image on our Perennials page.

This native Abutilon palmeri was blooming in August of 2010. That was a very long time ago. I love these Indian Mallows. They’re one of my favorites.