Pedilanthus tithymaloides is also known as the Zig-Zag Plant for obvious reasons, but did you know that another name for it is the Devil’s Backbone? Maybe because it’s poisonous?

It’s in the Euphorbia family (Euphorbiaceae) and recently some have tried to eliminate the entire genus of Pedilanthus and move all the poor unattended species into Euphorbia proper. But that will not work with me! The Euphorbia genus is already large enough that it doesn’t need to completely subsume this nice Caribbean species too.

We find these to be semi-hardy here in Northern California if you have it in a protected spot. Generally that means it’s hardy to about 32F. Indoor it’s prone to spider mites, so I recommend keeping it dry. But then it grows outdoor in hotter and more humid locations, so clearly I don’t know enough about this species. All I know is what I’ve seen with my own two eyes – spider mites indoors! Fewer spider mites when kept dry.

As for sun – they do best with very bright all day light, and some direct morning sun. But they can handle a full day blast of hot sun too, although I recommend afternoon shade if it’s getting over 95F regularly where you live. Why do I recommend this? After all, I don’t live where it gets that hot. It just seems like the right thing to do for a plant that grows prettiest without afternoon sun here at the coast.

The mini Phalaenopsises are getting smaller every year. Tiny pots. But lots of blooms.

Late afternoon sun in the winter is different than the sun any other time of the year. Look, see what I mean?

Faucaria felina

Deeper shadows, darker colors, yellower hues, with bright edges as the sun spews across the tips of the plant.

The blooms are almost open.

I predict the first hummingbirds will find open blooms by next Tuesday.

They should be in full bloom just in time this year.

I wonder what color the flower will be?

These took Hap a lot of work to get those damn tiny plants inside those narrow-throated glass vessels.

Good job, Hap!

We’re working hard getting the last mixed pots and fancy little terrariums put together before Black Friday. It’s a lot of little pots everywhere.

Pleiospilos bolusii

Jatropha mcvaughey

Back when we first started the Cactus Blog, I started photographing succulents. It’s been 9 years now, and you can probably tell that my style has changed since back then.

This is the first group of photos I took for the blog and website.

Aloe “Green Gold”

These were not very high-res back then. (I’ve had a few camera changes over the years.) At least they were digital.

Euphorbia suzannae ssp. bupleurifolia

We haven’t had that one at the store in a few years. I must have sold the parent stock when Hap wasn’t looking.

Ceraria pygmae

Nice! We still have a couple of these in the house growing. Eventually Hap may take a cutting or two to sell.

Adenium obesum never go out of style.

Euphorbia pubiglans

Now this last one we have a large parent plant that we’ve been growing nice and big for years and finally this summer we took a bunch of cuttings. But they still haven’t rooted yet! I’m hoping that we have them ready for sale in the spring. I wonder if the parent plant we have is the same as this individual I photographed 9 years ago? Probably not.

The Ocotillos are leafing out so pretty!

Fouquieria diguetii

Fouquieria formosa

Fouquieria splendens has very fresh new little leaflets!

Delosperma lavisiae

We’ve been gathering some of our low-growing plants together in one location, adding the 1gallon size to the mix, and calling it our Groundcover Section.

The prettiest of all the Echeverias is undoubtedly Echeveria alpina.

You cannot deny this – you know it to be true. Others may be interesting, or have bigger blooms or be more unusual or more coveted, but none are prettier.

Echeveria “Bluebird” comes close.

What makes a succulent a Halloween Succulent? Why, it’s the gravestone sitting next to the Tillandsia in the the terrarium. And the ghostly figure of Rikki reflected in the glass while she’s holding the terrarium up for me to photograph.

Desert Rose, also known as Adenium obesum, is a nice little flowering shrub in the Oleander family (Apocynaceae), more commonly called the Dogbane family for some reason, from the nether regions of the Sahara Desert, and thereabouts.

They like a lot of sun and a lot of heat. We tend to grow them in normal indoor Berkeley conditions, in a sunny window, but not particularly hot, so they tend to be less leafy for us, and grow a lot slower too. But they are still very reliable bloomers, even into and through the winter.

Colors vary, and some people name the differently-colored-flower-cultivars so that people can collect them all. But we don’t. I consider it natural variation.

We have new grafted Euphorbia lactea crests all grown up now. 3 colors! 3 styles! 3 pretty pictures!

I support all 3, but this one is the better.

Rats.

Ornithogalum caudatum

Mestoklema tuberosum is a South African tree-like caudiciform mesemb. It has these swollen tuberous roots that are tightly bound together forming a nice thick caudex. The flowers are variable – our other specimen out has reddish flowers.

Urginea maritima has a spectacular 6ft. tall bloom stalk. That makes it hard to photograph. You can see the flowers, and you can see the caudiciform bulb at the base too.

Here’s another picture showing the whole extreme thing.

And from Wikipedia we have a lovely and informative botanical illustration.

Hap took the photo last week for a customer. Has a certain artsy feel to it, a je ne c’est quoi. A pas-de-deux, aux trois.

A late blooming Echinopsis chamaecereus.

Ferocactus emoryi is also known as the Coville’s Barrel Cactus because it’s also known as F. covillei. I suppose it’s also called Emory’s Barrel Cactus too just to even things out.

Found in the gravelly hillside washes of Arizona, these will grow to  a beautiful 4 to 5 feet tall, eventually.

The emoryi species name was first published for this cactus 150 years ago, but originally considered to be part of the Echinocactus genus. I don’t know why; those flowers are indubitably Ferocactus-ian (Ferocactus-esque?).

Apparently in Mexico it’s one of the barrels known as Bisnaga, or more specifically Biznaga-barril de Emory.

Hydnophytum formicarum in bloom and with ripe fruit. We better collect those seeds ASAP! Hap better be prepared to provide them a lot of humidity as soon as he picks them.

This is the famed Ant Plant from the jungles of Malaysia or thereabouts. It’s an epiphyte, so it doesn’t need a whole lot of soil nor does it need a whole lot of direct sunlight.

The ants that colonize  the caudex enter only at the base. They leave behind nutrients in exchange for their home in the hollows.

Wanna see the caudex too? Follow me…. Read More…

Agave titanota is a very toothy agave. Brown spined. From Oaxaca, Mexico. Generally solitary, but we’ll get a few pups off the big ones. They get about 24-30″ across.

How unusual!

Echeveria pulv-Oliver in full bloom is very pretty. These small pots also get quite a few flowers, but you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a full size shrub of these simply coated in the bright orange flowers all at once.

Jovibarba heuffelii

The genus Jovibarba translates to the Beard of Jupiter for some stupid reason. Stupid Latin.

Anyway, these are a fantastic species of Hens and Chicks very closely related to the Sempervivums in the Crassulaceae family, found exclusively in the mountains of Southeastern Europe. And in gardens all around the world too. I like these flowers a lot more than most Sempervivum flowers, which are generally icky.

Stupid and icky all in one little blog post! I must be 12 years old!

Late flowering Echinocereus grandiflora with bees. Hap took the picture a couple days ago, just before the plant sold.

Aechmea fasciata

The classic vase-shaped bromeliad from Brazil. It’s semi-hardy here if you have a protected spot but we prefer not to worry and so we keep them indoor.

I don’t really have much to add to that stunning display of pink red purple and blue, so I’ll just let the picture speak for itself.