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Showing posts from February, 2012

One Word Wednesday: Plum

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Three euphorbias that look like cacti

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Very few groups are as large and varied as the genus Euphorbia . According to Wikipedia there are more than 2,000 euphorbia species, comprising everything from annual weeds to trees. The genus also includes the many wood spurges ( Euphorbia characias , Euphorbia amygdaloides , etc.) and other familiar sights like the good old poinsettia ( Euphorbia pulcherrima ). Of particular interest to me are the succulent euphorbias, of which there are hundreds of species. I haven’t counted, but I’m sure I have upwards of 20 in my collection. I will do a more comprehensive post about them at a later date. Today I want to focus on three small euphorbias that look just like cacti although they are not related to the Cactaceae family (all cacti are native to the Americas while most succulent euphorbias are native to Africa). The fact that these two completely unrelated plant families look so similar is due to convergent evolution—the Wikipedia article on convergent evolution even uses the example of

Unusual container for an unusual cactus

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One of the plants I bought at Annie’s Annuals & Perennials last month was a strange little cactus from southern Chile called Maihuenia poeppigii (check out this post for more information). Maihuenia poeppigii (kudos to those of you you can pronounce it) At first I thought a handmade hypertufa container along the lines of what you see in the next photo would the most appropriate way to present it. I’ve never experimented with hypertufa before but I’ve been wanting to since reading this post on It’s Not Work It’s Gardening . Hypertufa is right at the top of my “want to do” list for this spring. Photo source: mygarden.lt Then, as I was going through my stock of plant containers in an attempt to organize and declutter, I came across this unusual looking creation. It’s not deep enough to be called a “pot,” so I’ll call it a “dish.”   I bought it from Stockton potter Steve Pate on a field trip with the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society (SCSS). While not pr

Whipping up a batch of succulent magic

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After exposing my tendency to amass plants in yesterday’s post , I decided to make productive use of my collection and whip up a couple of new succulent bowls. While this doesn’t reduce the number of plants I have, it makes maintenance easier because I don’t have to hand-water quite so many small pots which dry out very quickly in hot weather. Ingredients: Two bowls I had sitting around, a bunch of succulents, a bag of Black Gold Cactus Mix, and Osmocote Plus 6-month time release fertilizer for a bit of nutrition. Recipe: Fill bowls with soil, sprinkle in some fertilizer, add plants, done. I picked succulents with a variety of colors and textures To my own surprise, I ended up using all of these plants                                                                                                                                               I often make my own succulent mix ( read this post to find out how ) but I didn’t have any coir left so I decided to do the

Am I a plant hoarder?

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The other day I mentioned that a neighbor thought the pots lining the flagstone walkway to the front door looked really nice. While I appreciate her compliment, I think our front yard is beginning to resemble a cottage nursery. I’ve been buying too many plants since fall, and in the winter everything went into a holding pattern. I put pots wherever there was room, often stuffing them into nooks and crannies on the front porch or under the eaves. As warmer weather returned, I began to spread them out along the walkway so the plants could get much-needed sunshine. But I’m beginning to be bothered by how haphazard it all looks, meaning it’s time to do something about it. I may have crossed the line from gardener—somebody who buys plants based on actual need—to hoarder—somebody who likes to amass plants for no reason other than to have them. Actually, I prefer to call myself a “plant collector.” That sounds a tad more sophisticated than “hoarder.” Let me share some photos with you so