Senecio cylindricus

Nothing particularly special about this plant, I just like the composition of the photo. It looks like a portrait of the individual plant.

Echeveria elegans

This plant looks rather generic to me. Similar to a lot of other Echeverias, old-fashioned, straight-forward. But people love it! We can’t grow enough of it.

It’s hardy to 25F and can take your high wind location, not that there are any Echeverias that can’t handle wind since they’re so low to the ground. Moderate to full sun is best.

And when you talk to your plants, this species likes to hear about the old days, back when you were a kid and first learning to dig in the earth and you planted carrot seeds; when you would come back a couple weeks later and dig them up to see if you had carrots yet but you didn’t so you had to plant new seeds and start over; and how the hose didn’t reach quite far enough so you asked your dad for a longer hose but instead he gave you the watering can and told you to fill it up and walk it over. But you were clever – you got out the lawn sprinkler and turned it on and it reached far enough to water the carrots but you left it on overnight and boy was your dad pissed. But that’s OK because later that summer you dug up the carrots and they grew for you – just for you! and they were even more delicious than the carrots in the refrigerator in the plastic bag.

That’s what this succulent wants to hear you tell it. It likes that story.

Aeonium “Velour”

There are so many named Aeonium varieties and colors and hybrids and slight variations depending on the amount of sun that I’m hoping we have the right name for this one.

Our source for the name is this book by Rudolf Schulz.

No Grumpy Cactus (Restaurant) for Dedham (MA).

This seems like an important function for this here Cactus Blog to perform for you. To let you know when restaurants with the word cactus in their names fail.

Let me know what other businesses with the word cactus in their name you would like to know about after they fail. It’s a service I will be happy to perform. Probably not on a daily basis, but maybe a monthly feature?

Here, have a photo of a Devil’s Backbone!

Pedilanthus tithymaloides variegata

Calandrinia grandiflora

These are a pretty reliable bloomer for us. So reliable, that I’ve probably posted pictures before. I wonder how many times I’ve blogged this plant in bloom? Probably once or twice before, so I don’t think I need to write anything about it all. Nothing! All you have to do is using the search box on the right and search for a previous post for this plant. Here let me do it for you. Click here to see the results.

Awesome!

Ferocactus gracilis coloratus

Closeup:

And finally here’s a supercloseup of the bee showing hordes of pollen recovery by the bee. The hive will be pleased! Read More…

Oxalis vulcanicola

Hey! If you’re paying close attention to this blog then you realize I already featured this plant last year and the year before that too. It must be a pretty reliable bloomer for me to keep photographing it year after year and posting it here for you to enjoy. Maybe it’s a sign that you should grow it too and enjoy it year round in your own home.

Jus’ sayin’.

Plus it’s vibrant.

And I just happen to have a bloom photo of a Parodia magnifica hanging around waiting to be used today.

Euphorbia leucodendron

Echeveria setosa is a small fuzzy succulent from Mexico. It’s been hybridized often with other echeverias and related plants to get cute fuzzy varieties. Everyone loves a fuzzy succulent. And those orange flowers!

Here’s the fuzzy succulent part.

Now that’s what we pay our big bucks for when we go looking for fuzzy.

I want to give all my wonderful regular readers a special treat, but most of you don’t live near here so I’m stuck. No delicious cactus margaritas for you! Maybe a pretty photo will help?

Delosperma echinatum is also known as the Spiny Pickles of the succulent world. I would prefer to call them Hairy Pickles but that would be wrong.

Enjoy!

Achillea “Red Velvet” not only has these astonishingly true red inflorescences, but the color is also long lasting. Usually we like to take yarrow blooms and dry them before the color has faded too far and they can preserve a lighter shade, but these will maintain this deep red color for months at a time.

They are totally cold hardy all the way down to Zone 4. If you know how cold that is, then you should be thrilled you can get this much color where you live.

They are deer resistant and attractive to butterflies, per the usual yarrow standards. These get around 2 feet tall.

We always like to mix some Achillea colors into any of our meadow gardens. They look grassy-like amidst the ornamental grasses until they stop popping up these bloom stalks and then they look like wildflowers which they are around these parts of Northern California.

Neoregelia in bloom.

Lot of common names for this one. Keith got a good shot of the little frazzly blooms.

Here’s the rest of the plant. Here it is in habitat.

So the sun came out and here’s a couple more cactus flowers for today only.

It may not be sunny but the summer blooms, and late spring blooms, are opening anyway.

Photos via cell phone so I can’t vouch for them.

A true night blooming Cereus from Argentina.

Cereus spegazzini

It’s hard to photograph them in the sunshine since they only bloom at night. But this one was still open the next morning when I got in to the store so I quickly snapped this shot before it was too late. Hence the lack of my standard black backdrop and since we’re a morning fog kind of location there was also a lack of brilliant sun.

Asclepias subulata is Hap’s new favorite perennial. These are very cold hardy (down to 20F) and need only a little water through the summer dry season. They’ll get 4 to 5ft. tall and will attract the usual complement of butterflies and bees and even some birds too.

Native to California as well as Arizona and Nevada and down into Baja too. It will get leaves, but they don’t last long.

These are classically inclined to be complementary with a very dry cactus garden, so go ahead and plan it out that way.

Now this one is special.

Pachypodium rosulatum var. drakei is much skinier and taller than the standard P. rosulatum, although it will also get a large 12″ +/- caudex too. It’s from Drake. Actually it’s from Madagascar like so many of the best Pachypodiums. We don’t like to let these get below 45F in the winter, and if they lose their leaves, which they can, then water no more than every 6 weeks. During the hot growth periods we drench them every 1-2 weeks.

…is Pachypodium rosulatum with the sulphur yellow petals.

Just wait ’til tomorrow’s Pachypodium bloom photo! Very exciting!

The Echinopsis spachiana bloom took longer to open than expected.

Pachypodium eburneum is new to us this year, and here we have succeeded in capturing the rare act of flowering. Well, not so rare since it happens reliably every year or so I’ve been told.

Echinopsis caught in the moment just before the flower opens.

Hoya kerrii

Pretty plant, pretty flowers. Since these photos come from my cell phone I took two hoping one of them would be decent. Waddaya think?

Parodia rutilans ssp. roseiflora

There are some short-lived pink flowers from this plant and then these amazing rose and gold colored flowers you see here. It’s a variable flower. Also, I made up the name myself. There was a plant previously named Notocactus roseiflora (or roseiflorus) with these flowers but it was renamed Parodia rutilans but there’s already a Parodia rutilans with standard Parodia yellow flowers. So I combined the names to create this one. Yay for me!

The flowers really are those colors.

Parodia ottonis has been a reliable bloomer for us over the years. Hardy yellow flowers on a small globular base.

Found throughout South America, it is generally solitary when young and when it starts to branch it can become a nice clump. The purplish color comes in winter and can stick around through the summer if given enough sun. If you prefer the green color you can give it some afternoon shade and that should green it up nicely.

These used to be called Notocactus but the DNA research is in and…. Parodia! Anderson supports the Parodia designation, but many cactus nurseries are still using Notocactus, so I guess the final jury is still out on this terrible question.