The Big Stink

Stapelia hirsuta 

It's the time of year when temperatures cool and getting to spend time on the patio is again possible. It's also time for my 'S. hirsuta' to bloom. So far, it's had about eight flowers on it, but this one is the largest one to date. And it stinks! So much for enjoying my patio. The smell attracts flies and other insects that feast on carrion, and they then act as pollinators. As you can see, a fly has burrowed in the flower and is doing what it is supposed to do. I don't move the plant off the patio. I weigh the smell against being able to see the interesting flower, and the flower wins!

A White Agave

Agave angustifolia 

Agave angustifolia is a prolific producer of offshoots, or pups, as this mother plant demonstrates. Usually, the pups are similar in appearance to the mother plant with some minor variations, so when this pup came up last fall, I was quite surprised, and just assumed it was defective and would die quickly. However, it continued to grow but at a slower rate than expected. Mutants are not that uncommon, but seeing a mostly white pup is rare. It's sort of a white 'Black Sheep'. A standard Agave angustifolia 'marginata' has a narrow white stripe on each side of the leaves as you can see in the mother plant. The width of the stripe can vary from plant to plant. In the pup shown above, the leaves are mostly white with just a strip of green in the center.

In a few weeks I'll be separating this pup and will transplant into a large pot. It will be interesting to see the pups it will eventually produce.  

Agave victoriae-reginae

Finally, after three years, this Agave is now identifiable as Agave victoriae-reginae. This was another unidentified free offset from a local Cactus and Succulent Society meeting. It was tiny, in fact, even after three years it's only grown to six inches high and wide. I suspected that it was a Queen Victoria, but they seldom offset, so I wasn't positive. The first leaves did not have the typical white coloration. There is a variation called A. victoriae-reginae var. viridis without white but I had never run across one, so I just sat back and waited, and as time went on, Queen Victoria characteristics slowly but surely emerged.

This Agave species is one of the most popular of all the Agaves. They love full sun, but in our climate they need twice a month watering to do well. Although I'm glad this has turned out to be a Queen Victoria, I much prefer the Agave victoriae-reginae 'compacta', which I think is the most beautiful Agave of all. I stop by my old house occasionally and peek though the view fence just to check on that Agave that I left behind. It is now quite large and still perfect. Sigh....

Agave guiengola

Agave guiengola

Although very heat tolerant, this particular species of Agave prefers a bit of shade here in the low desert. It does not produce many leaves, and that makes it a flat, open type of Agave that will grow to about three feet tall and four feet wide. It produces offsets when young, but as it ages, offsets become fewer and fewer.

The only downside to this Agave species is that it is fairly frost tender, not faring well when the temperature dip below 25 degrees. We don't get many winter nights that low here, but all it takes is one time to cause some damage.

This plant was a tiny offset when I got it a few years ago at one of our local Cactus and Succulent Society meetings. It was on the "free" table and it included a note that it had been grown under a tree, so I thought I had the perfect spot for it. It has since been thriving in the shade of a Palo Verde tree. I really like its shape and color, so I hope it produces some offsets so I can start a few more here and there.  In looking more closely at this photo, I think I've spotted a pup peeking out from one of the leaves. I'll be checking first thing in the morning!

May Miscellany

My Vitex agnus-castus or Chaste Tree (a shrub at this point) really grew a lot this spring. It has been languishing in my landscape for the past four years, which didn't bother me because I want to keep it as a shrub because of its location. The heavy rains earlier this year probably caused this sudden growth spurt, so I'm thinking of changing the irrigation emitter to a larger Gallons Per Hour (GPH) size to help it along.

Agave ocahui var. ocahui

I acquired this Agave ocahui last spring and it's turning out to be one of my favorite Agaves. I like the color and shape of it, and the fact that it is solitary, so I won't have to worry about offshoots popping up all over. Many of my Agave species freely produce offshoots--especially Agave angustifolia, which I can't even give away. Even the Agave huachucensis (Fort Huachuca Agave) is putting out plenty of offshoots for the first time this year, as well as my one Desert Agave (Agave deserti).

We've had some strong breezes this past week, which knocked off most of the Desert Museum Palo Verde blossoms. I'm glad that most of them came down at once so I can get the "Blow and Go" guys over here to clean up all the spring debris. I've pulled up most all of the dried wildflowers, and hundreds of the overly abundant Desert Marigold and Brittlebush plants that overtook my garden this year. Our weather has been unusually mild, so I'm glad I got most everything done before our first 100 degree day.

All Green Tuesday

One of my earliest memories is being lifted up high so that I could pull lemons off a tree. Even at about 18 months old, I loved lemons--I'd take a bite, shudder and grimace, and take another bite! My parents even recorded it in a home movie--a long, long time ago! Although I grew up around citrus orchards and loved all varieties of citrus, I did not plant my own citrus trees until the 1980s. We had one grapefruit tree and the two of us ended up eating all 92 grapefruits one year--not letting a single one go to waste. Then, for twenty years, I didn't have any citrus trees in my garden, until I purchased a Dwarf Meyer Lemon last year. It is in a huge pot, and will stay there. Currently, it has 20 lemons on its spindly branches, which I've had to tie up because the lemons are actually too heavy for the trunk and branches. The lemons are slowly turning yellow and ripening and will probably be ready by December. I found a split lemon last week and rather than throw it out, I cut it open and tasted it. It had a slightly sweet taste, far less tangy than I expected, even though it was far from ripe.

Earlier this year I purchased a couple of these unidentified plants for $1.00 at a Dollar store while looking for some plastic containers. I know a lot about desert plants and can identify most of them, but I'm usually at a loss with other types of plants. Recently I learned that this plant (the second one dried up within days of purchase) is an African Violet. I've learned the hard way not to get water on the leaves, as they invariably die. It's hard to water without getting the leaves wet because the leaves are so low they touch the soil. It has yet to bloom. After I learned what kind of plant it is, I read about its care, and surprisingly, I had done all the right things--location, watering, etc. Except for using extra care in keeping the leaves dry!

Does anyone know the name of this succulent? This was another unlabeled plant I picked up last year. It's done very well in the house, so I will continue to keep it indoors, but would like to know its genera and species so that I can learn more about it. I can't find it in my succulent dictionary.

Update:

(My blog friend, Georg, a succulent expert from South Africa, has identified this plant as Haworthia cymbiformis var. umbraticola. Others suggested H. cooperi, and Georg says this is not too far from wrong, as the two species do mix where distributions overlap.)

Sansevieria trifasciata 'Moonshine'

This plant came to me as a free offshoot from our Cactus and Succulent Society monthly meeting, where folks bring in unwanted plants, offshoots and cuttings. It has done very well and has put out a number of offshoots of its own now, almost filling the large pot I have it in. This hybrid has become my favorite Sansevieria because of its wonderful coloration.

Blog Sabbatical Ends--I Think...

Rosa 'Queen Elizabeth'

Now that fall is definitely here, I've perked up a bit. The high temps just kept on and on, to the point I just needed a semi-long break from worrying and stressing about my garden and all the shrubs, cacti and and much of the ground cover that succumbed to the overly long, intensely hot summer that we had. The loss of my largest tree to monsoon winds put the finishing touch on the whole depressing period, so I decided to focus on other things for awhile--even giving up on blogging in the interim. Luckily, my hubby took up the slack and did routine garden chores for me. He has never minded the heat at all and can work outside for hours, even in mid-day.

They say that the value of a sabbatical is to revitalize enthusiasm for work, hobby or other pursuit, and though I'm not completely back into my former garden fervor, I think I'm getting there, just by "doing". Perhaps writing a blog post will speed the process. That's my plan, anyway.


When I saw the first fall bud on 'Queen Elizabeth', I was motivated to do the light fall pruning and fertilizing due for all my roses. I have the new mulch ready to spread after cleaning up all last year's stuff. Already I see new growth starting on all the bushes.

Huernia primulina

A surprise flower appeared on this Huernia, and the color is far better than it was when it bloomed in late June. Even though more colorful, it's not the most striking flower. When a plant has flowers that have a carrion smell (used to attract flies) they should at least have a knockout flower to make up for it!

This little baby had a birthday this month, and it is now four years old. I purchased a group of them at our Cactus and Succulent Society meeting silent auction. The seedlings were two years old when I got them and they were about the size of marbles, all in one container. The person that started them from seed always writes the date they sprout on the container, and that's how I know the exact birthday. It is now about the size of a miniature cupcake. I have about eight of these, all the same age. Six are still in pots, and they are actually larger than the two I planted in my garden, probably because the potted ones get supplemental water now and then. Even with my limited watering, the landscape baby barrels had to make do with rainfall, which has been really scarce this year.

Going, Going, Almost Gone

Agave stalk cuttings and Mesquite bean trash

Today my husband sawed off the 15 foot, drying stalk of the Agave Lophantha I chronicled in previous Bloomin' Tuesday posts in March and April. (Post 1) (Post 2) (Post 3) (Post 4) It had shrunk in diameter by about two-thirds as it dried, but had it not been cut, it would have stayed partially green for five or six more months. It was leaning badly, as you can see with the position of the stub in the photo below. It was time for it to go.

The dying process of this Agave has been going on for four months now, and it will be be late fall before it's dried completely. Before then, I'll have it removed.

And, a surprise that I didn't notice until today. A new pup has come up as a replacement, just as nature intended, close to the mother plant. It had remained partially hidden by the drying Agave leaves. I'll have a new Agave without having to move the irrigation emitter. It will take years to reach the size of the mother plant.

One Stinkin' Flower!

Huernia primulina

When I say one stinkin' flower, I mean it literally. I have only one bloom to show this week, and as it happens, it is a stinky one, and weird looking! The flower has a slight rotting flesh smell, which it uses to attract flies for pollination. It is one of the 60 species in the Huernia genus. 

Beautiful Blooms

My newest Echinopsis, a Schick hybrid called E. 'Shere Kahn', bloomed this past week. Later in the day, the flower faded to a beautiful pale coral orange.

Many buds have appeared on most of my other Schick and Harry Johnson hybrids. Looks like I won't be lacking in photos for blog posts for a few weeks!

Mammillaria spinosissima (Red Headed Irishman)

The flowers on this species of Mammillaria are large compared to the flowers of other Mammillaria species.

This Echinocereus pulchellus is still quite small and didn't grow much last summer. The flower is three times as large as the body of the cactus.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The Agave lophantha flower raceme that I've shown before has now begun to bloom, such as it were. I don't think you can call these little structures flowers. They are more like pollen covered stamens without petals. These began to open from the bottom of the stalk, so I lost my own bet that the blooms would start at the top of this raceme. The flowers have only opened on the bottom one-third of the raceme so far.

This Agave's impending death is now becoming obvious. The leaves are losing their color and becoming a bit flaccid. This process will take months.

Swaying in the Breeze

The inflorescence on my Agave lophantha stalk still hasn't bloomed. I showed the stalk's rapid growth to sixteen feet in previous posts, and assumed the flower buds would open as soon as the stalk stopped growing. For the past three weeks it has just been sitting there, soaking up the sun and swaying in the breeze. Maybe it's resting, just biding time before the finale.

Right down the street from my house is a different type of Agave stalk. This Agave vilmoreana stalk is covered with bulbils, or plantlets. These grow from a bud at the base of each flower. Each bulbil is a miniature clone of the parent plant. The bulbils can stay attached to the stalk for long periods and grow larger and larger. As time passes, the plantlets will fall off the stalk and some may take root. If someone wants to plant a bulbil, they can just pull it off the stalk and plant, rather than wait for it to fall off naturally. They come right off, but care must be taken to keep the whole bulbil intact so that roots can develop once planted. There must be hundreds of baby plantlets on this stalk!

Here is another neighborhood Agave with a different type of inflorescence called a raceme. Depending on the species, some start blooming from the top, and others from the bottom, as this one is doing. There are two other types of stalks. One is called a panicle, or candelabra, and the other is a spike.

I think my Agave raceme will start from the top. No particular reason for thinking that--it's just fun to speculate while I wait.

Blossoms, Birds and Bees

All my Palo Verde trees are just starting to bloom and the strong wind gusts are blowing the flowers everywhere. Usually, I have a golden carpet an inch thick around and under the trees all spring. This year, they are going to be all over my yard, and I'll have to have the blow-and-go guys over a couple of times to clean it up. If we get any rain when there is a lot of debris on the ground, it forms a hard crust that has to be raked up. I learned this lesson the hard way last year and had to peel away chunks of the crust from around all the cacti and succulents planted under the trees, and then clean up the plants as best as possible with tweezers and kabob skewers.

These coral colored Gasteria acinacifolia flowers remind me of flamingos for some reason. It's more than the color. Do you see any resemblance, or am I dreaming again?

Rosa 'Red Intrepid' has just started to bloom. It has suffered wind damage like all my other roses have this past week. The new leaves look like they've been through a threshing machine, and the flowers all have sun and wind burn. I have a lot of tattered roses on each bush. It is such a disappointment to see them all beat up like this, as this is our peak rose time here in the Phoenix area.

The flower stalk on this Coral Aloe is now a month old with no sign of wilt or drying. I really should have several more of this Aloe species, all planted in the same location. I think a display of multiple flower stalks like this would be quite striking. Maybe in the fall....

Rosa 'Gold Glow' is in a more protected area and has suffered less wind and sun damage. This flower opened Sunday after the strongest gusts passed through.

My one Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) shrub is in full bloom right now. Unfortunately, it doesn't look this good any other time of year. Most folks use Spanish Lavender in groupings or as border plants, but I like them one at a time. In this photo you can also see several Bush Morning Glories in bloom in the background. They are now a bit past their prime.

Bees are buzzing everywhere in my garden, enjoying the blooming Creosote bushes, Spanish Lavender and Palo Verde blossoms. So many bees are a welcome sight, and provide hope that the bee population is increasing after its decimation these past few years. I also have more birds this year, especially hummingbirds. However, one bird species that I wish would show up now and then is Gambel's Quail. I've never had one visit my garden, and I miss seeing them, usually with their babies, walking in a line behind the mother, with their little topknots bobbing. They were a common sight at my previous residence, and I blame the roaming neighbor cat for their non-appearance at my current residence.

'Green Ice' Acquisition

I said I wasn't going to get any more plants when I attended this season's garden shows and sales, but that resolution had lasted about 10 minutes when I saw this beautiful Gasteraloe 'Green Ice' succulent. It is a bigeneric hybrid of Gasteria and Aloe. I loved the fat, light green leaves with their random dark green markings, and the fact that I've never owned a Gasteraloe before.

This plant makes a good windowsill plant. It is slow growing, long lived and needs light shade, but can get some morning sun without damage. In the summer, it should receive enough water to keep the soil moist but not wet, and in the winter, it needs water only when the soil is completely dry. Who wouldn't want such an attractive, easy-care plant!

I liked this plant well enough to plant it in a fancy Mark Meridian pot, and I plan to keep it on my patio table year-round, unless there is a danger of frost. This Gasteraloe hybrid will turn to mush in frosty temperatures.

As April begins, most of the garden tours, shows and sales will be over for the season. If I make it through one more tour without more purchases, it will be a record. However, I did see several creative garden ideas that I'm going to try, and I added several plants to my wish list for fall sales.

Flowers Galore

Opuntia engelmannii

(Engelmann’s Prickly Pear)

My lone Engelmann's Prickly Pear is loaded with blooms, which are a darker gold than last year's. More blooms equal more fruits, so I will be able to try some new recipes later in the summer when the fruits ripen.

Citrus × meyeri
(Dwarf Meyer Lemon)

My new Meyer Lemon has about 40 little lemons on it. I'm going to cull out most of them so the tree can spend its energy getting established rather than producing fruit. It's hard for me to do this--but it is necessary. It will probably self-thin most of the fruit anyway, so I'm going to wait awhile longer to see how many drop on their own.

Rosa 'We Salute You'

A bloom so bright it almost hurts to look at it. My spring rose blooms are really big and bright right now. March and April are the best time for roses in our part of the country, and even now, this rose has some scorching on the petal margins as it has a southeast exposure.

Rosa 'Hello Dolly'

This rose has a southwest exposure, but so far, no petal scorching. I think it's because it receives some light afternoon shade from a nearby Palo Brea tree.

Echinocereus viridiflorus

(Nylon Hedgehog Cactus)

The greenish flowers on this new cactus are supposed to smell like lemon, but I can't detect any scent at all. It has a shallow root system, so it needs regular water in hotter months. Because of this, I'm going to keep it potted so I can water it easier. I really wonder why it's called Nylon Hedgehog. There is no information that I can find as to how it got this common name.

Eriosyce kunzei ‘multicolor’

I love the long lasting, florescent flowers of this small cactus. After the blooms wilt and dry, I will be repotting it into a clay pot.

Eschscholzia mexicana

This Mexican Poppy came compliments of the potted cactus that I purchased several years ago. I've been hoping it would reseed into my landscape, but so far, it's only multiplied in the pot. This Poppy is a close relative of the California Poppy, which does come up each spring in my garden. Actually, the Mexican Poppy is better suited to our hotter climate than the California Poppy. I should just buy some seeds instead of waiting for seeds from these few plants in the pot.

--------------------------------------------------------------

I've shown the amazing growth of this Agave lophantha for the previous two Bloomin' Tuesday posts. The stalk is now almost 16 feet tall, four-to-six feet taller than expected! It has grown so fast you can almost hear it growing, as they say about corn. From the looks of the flower buds, blooming should start late this week or early next week. When the flowers reach their blooming stage, the stalk should be fully grown. we've had strong winds the past two days, and this stalk is so strong it barely moved!






The outer sheath that originally protected the emerging buds has now begun to wilt, a sure sign that the flowers will bloom shortly. For folks interested in seeing the growth progress, see the photos toward the bottom in each of these two previous posts.

Post One

Post Two

Same old, Same old.

Other than a few Desert Marigolds, some shrubs and a Penstemon here and there, not a lot is blooming in my garden. In looking back on last year's posts, I had far more going on than I do this year. I think it's the difference in precipitation and temperature.

Bryophyllum 'Crenatodaigremontianum'

Eleven weeks after the stalks of this viviparous plant reached their maximum height and formed buds, the flowers finally opened. The little flowers and the stalks are a nice color, and no telling how long they will last considering how long they took to bloom! The leaves of this plant really look awful right now; yellow, flabby and browned at the margins. After doing some research, I learned that unlike most other succulents, this plant should not be allowed to dry out in winter as it will cause wilting of the leaves. I don't know if I can turn it around at this point. Even if it dies, there are hundreds of babies growing in the pot to replace it.

Larrea tridentata

This Creosote Bush has now achieved the look that I like. Of the four bushes I have on my property, this one receives the least water, so it looks far more natural than than the others, which are larger and more lush. Their roots are able to reach out and get water from nearby plants. I did not adjust the size of this photo so that you can click and see the dark rings on the gray branches. That's why I like it with fewer leaves.

Mostly Shrubs

Aloe sinkatana

I think I prefer Aloe flowers before they open because they look more precise and perfect. As they open, the flowers look wilted and discolored to me as they do here. Aloe sinkatana produces numerous offsets, so I have pots of this succulent all around my front and back patios. A. sinkatana is probably the best species of Aloe for this climate as it will take a full southern exposure.

Young Anna's Hummingbird

A young Anna's Hummingbird rested on a bare branch of a Chinese Elm tree in my front yard, after frantically gathering nectar from the Chuparosa shrub shown below. I liked this photo because of the sculptured branches against a bright blue sky.

Senna artemisioides

Feathery Cassia is the common name for this large shrub, which is now over five feet tall and wide. The fragrance is overwhelming. If you like it, it's marvelous, if you don't, it will drive you into the house!

Justicia californica

Chuparosa is a scraggly looking shrub that sometimes has leaves, and sometimes flowers, depending on the season. It has bloomed off an on all year, and right now it's really loaded. Some people don't like the scraggly look so they prune it into a neater shape. I like it scraggly.

Easy Going

Haworthia fasciata hybrid

Last year I wrote about purchasing a five dollar flat of fire-burned Haworthia plants that had belonged to one of our local Cactus and Succulent Society members who had been seriously burned in a house fire. Hundreds of plants had been rescued after months of neglect from the burned house property. These were then sold during the CACSS annual show and sale.

The plants I bought were really sad looking H. fasciata and H. limifolia hybrids. I had little hope that they would survive, having been scorched badly on one side, and partially knocked out of pots. They had not been watered in months. Well, I repotted them all, and now they all look great! In the photo above you can see some lingering evidence of the scorching on the lower leaves of this plant. It has clumped and grown considerably. I have about eight pots of H. fasciata hybrids now.

I thought they looked good in summer, but during the past two months, they've all really taken off and look their best. One of the reasons may be is that H. fasciata comes from the Eastern Cape of South Africa, and this species is a summer grower. Summer in South Africa is from mid-October to mid-February, so this succulent is currently in its growth phase.

H. fasciata cannot take frost, and does better in Phoenix with light shade in summer. I keep mine on the patio year round. It should be watered when dry. Too much water can result in root rot, however, the plant is easy to re-root. Just repot into new soil after removing the rotted roots and old soil. New roots will begin growing in a few weeks. I'm now glad to have this easy care species in my succulent collection.