For a cactus only 1 inch across.

Rebutia narvaecense

Parodia crassigibba

Is that a stigma on a pistil I see? It’s very red, indeed. And what about those anthers on the stamen? So covered in pollen you could just sneeze. The bees are aflame with passion.

I have no idea what I’m talking about. These people seem to know their peduncles from their sepals.

Parodia crassigibba

Do you want to know what the inside of the flower looks like? The stamens and the pistils? The stigmas and anthers? Stay tuned tomorrow, same cactus channel, same cactus time. You won’t be disappointed.

Echinopsis huascha

3 ft. tall stems, with a profusion of reddish orange blooms every summer. I suppose in spring in Phoenix. On the other hand, they are already blooming here.

What a strange common name for a plant.

What a beautiful plant.

Dudleya attenuata, native to Southern Cal., but grows like it was meant to live in the Bay Area.

Parodia ottonis, formerly known as Notocactus acutus, more commonly N. ottonis.

The Huntington has this to say about this little gem:

(T)his is one of the most variable in the genus. It has a wide range in southern Brazil, Uruguay and adjacent Argentina. Most forms are globular, eventually branching to form clumps, with relatively sparse spination that does not hide the bright green epidermis.

I love it when they talk like that. And then they question the whole Parodia genus.

The notocacti have recently been combined with Parodia. This is supported by the DNA research of R. Nyffeler that reveals that Notocactus in the strict sense is closer to Parodia than it is to other segregate genera that are widely accepted as notocacti: Brasilicactus, Brasiliparodia, and Eriocactus. One is left with the choice of calling them all parodias or resurrecting the segregate genera; a third choice is simply to ignore the research and call them what you will.

Now that’s what I usually say!

Echinopsis chamaecereus

These come in many various shades of red and orange. Some nurseries will have named varieties, but not us. I find they vary so much and so naturally that names would ruin the fun for me. Except for this one. This one I’ve named “Pal Joey”.

Pachypodium rosulatum v. gracilis

Click the photo for the full context.

Cistus x. skanbergii

This evergreen hybrid from Mediterranean natives gets only 2 to 3 feet tall, and is, as usual for cactusblog plants, fully drought tolerant. But we’ve been having to do a bit of extra watering for the various cistuses in the windy weather we’ve been having, so go figure. Actually, they really just need to get into the ground. They’re not so good in pots long term.

They are deer and fire resistant, so that’s all good.

Lewisia cotyledon

According to the USDA website, it’s native to California and Oregon. We like to say it comes from rocky soils in the Siskiyou Mountains, also known as serpentine soils, a barren type of rocky soil that is poisonous to most other plants. The tuber is edible, though not delicious, hence it’s common name, “bitterroot”.

The USDA also had this to say about the lewisia:

Symbol:		LECO5
Group:		Dicot
Family:		Portulacaceae
Duration:		Perennial
Growth Habit:		Forb/herb
Native Status:		L48 N

Good to know.

Did I mention they have very pretty flowers? And if you dead-head them they will rebloom up to 6 times a year. We had one that sent out continuous new bloom spikes all year long. And then we dug it up and sold it.

If you let it set seed, then it won’t bloom again for the year.

I’m busy making greeting cards for the store this morning.

Here’s one of the photos I’m using. I’ve probably posted it before. Oh well, enjoy.

Echinopsis subdenudata

Kniphofia rooperi

Big shaggy leaves, but really it’s all about the blooms, as it is with all these aloe relatives. What sets this one apart is that the flowers are a fairly dense pyramid, unlike the regular red hot pokers you see everywhere. And they have both the yellow and the red together, in one fell swoop.

Also, they are from the East Cape unlike the red hots, which are not from the East Cape.

I wonder what East Cape it is they’re talking about? I’ve been to the east side of Cape Cod, but it’s not usually called the East Cape there, it’s usually called the Outer Cape, or the National Seashore. Really, they’re my favorite beaches in the whole world, those easterly beaches of Cape Cod, but then I’ve never seen any of these kniph’s over there, so it must be another East Cape they mean.

Probably not this one either.

Maybe this one.

Leucadendron discolor ‘Pom Pom’ is native to South Africa.

This evergreen shrub can take lower light levels than most of the leucadendrons and proteas, even as low as part shade. This one looks a lot like the proteas, getting aroung 6 ft. tall with these lovely yellow cone flowers, sometimes with some red. I recommend cutting these little beauties off and creating a flametipped arrangement for your dining room table that will last for weeks.

If not, then you better be out in your garden enjoying them, because they won’t last forever, and that’s a shame.

Leucadendron meridianum ‘More Silver’

Our first cone flower of the year. Some of the other leacadendrons and the proteas are all getting close. Any day now. Stay tuned. Although, sometimes they sell just before they bloom, and then I don’t get to take pictures. So maybe you shouldn’t stay tuned. Nahhh, go ahead, stay tuned…

Cistus x. purpureus are in bloom.

Cleistocactus hyalacanthus, aka C. jujuyensis

Did I mention that the hummingbirds like the cleistos? After all, these plants have a huge number of blooms in the spring and through the summer, plus a few blooms all year round. What more could a hummingbird want? Well, I suppose they could want a mate.

Mammillaria bocasana

Bristly cactus. Beautiful crown of flowers. Layer upon layer of crowns. If you look closely, you can see there was already a previous layer of blooms this year. Also, the small new stems at the base are getting bloom crowns. Now that’s impressive.

Lewisia longipetala “Peach”

I think these are called “Peach” because they are so sweet, they make me swoon.

Cleistocactus strausii

We love the profusion of tubular blooms on these tall, narrow columnar cacti. And so do the hummingbirds. Come see for yourself, the hummingbirds do their rounds about 11 am and 3 pm every day.

Echinocereus viridiflorus – which means, I believe, in botanical latin, -ish, “green flower”.

So this must be the green-flowered hedgehog cactus, as it were, that is, if I were to attach a common name to it, which I won’t, which is why I did not capitalize the potential common name, since it’s not a name I would use, and I feel better suggesting you not use it either, so to speak, if you catch my drift, my loyal reader, slogging through a run-on sentence, with many commas, as if you didn’t already know that.

Mammillaria lasiacantha

Very small clumping plants, lots of spines going every which way. Lots of small blooms popping up all summer long. More later.

These guys are very sensitive to too much winter rain, so they do better in a pot.

Echeveria lindsayana

A wonderful small clumping echeveria, very easy to grow, flowers profusely in spring. And the blooms generally seem to attract aphids, but this is not an aphid.

Shall we zoom in close to see? Read More…

Euphorbia x lomi “Salmon”

These giant bloomed hybrid euphorbias are something. They stand only 3 ft. tall and get these flowers in the spring if planted in the ground. However, indoors they will bloom all year long, and it’s a long year.

Ornithogalum caudatum

This is a winter-growing bulb that will grow to around 4″, and then start multiplying. And then it will bloom for you. These flowers look a lot like the albuca flowers.

Aloe plicatilis

I’m a “fan” of this aloe…. Ahhhh hahahahaha….

I feel like an idiot.

Aloe humilis

You can’t tell from this bloom picture, but this is a warty aloe. Not just toothy, certainly not spiny, just warty. And small, stemless and frost tolerant, too.

I could show you a picture of the rosette, or I can link to one.

Sarracenia leucophylla “Tarnok”

This is the bloom of a female plant. The male bloom is less showy. These frost-hardy, sunshine-loving, bog-ready pitchers can tower up to 3 ft. tall.

I wonder why people in the cactus business have an affinity for carnivorous plants?

Ceanothus “Joyce Coulter”

It’s one of the non-deer-resistant varieties. Fast growing, it will form a mounding shrub about 3 ft. high, but spreading wide. Loves sunny coastal gardens, as do we all.