This month, I haven’t been able to dedicate as much time to the blog as I would have liked. I did take a bunch of photos, though, and I’d like to share them with you in a couple of “This and that” posts. This is part 1; part 2 will follow tomorrow.
Starting in the front yard, inside the fence:
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| Looking towards the front porch |
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| Hechtia argentea, dangerous but beautiful |
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| Mangave ‘Whale Shark’ from the other side |
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| One of my favorite views, from the larger succulent mound towards the smaller one |
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| Glowing gold: Echinopsis ‘June Noon’, with Agave titanota ‘Lion’s Mane’ in the front |
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| Few cacti look better backlit than Cleistocactus strausii |
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| I think this stem is sending me a message somehow |
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| Backlit Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi (a name I will never be able to spell without help) |
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| More backlit beauties: Ferocactus emoryi (left), spineless prostrate form of Cylindropuntia ramosissima in the middle, Parodia roseolutea on the right |
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| Lophocereus schottii ‘Woolly Rhino’ (left), Ferocactus emoryi (right) |
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| I planted 50 Argentine rain lily bulbs (Zephyranthes candida) about 10 years ago. They have multiplied so much that there are hundreds now. One day, all you see are the grassy leaves; the next day, there are a dozen cheerful white flowers. |
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| The leaves of this Yucca queretaroensis × filifera are now above eye level for most people after I removed a good 5" of leaves. Before, I told people not to walk that way for fear of them getting poked in the face. |
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| As this barrel cactus (Ferocactus herrerae) has grown, gravity has been pulling it forward. If it weren’t for a large rock propping it up, it would have long fallen over. |
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| Same cactus a couple of months ago, in full flower |
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| Mangave ‘Pineapple Punch’, one of three mangaves currently in the process of flowering |
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| A few more agaves that caught my eye, starting with Agave titanota × isthmensis (a Jeremy Spath hybrid) and continuing... |
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| ...with Agave chazaroi (ready to be moved into a larger pot)... |
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| ...Agave × romanii ‘Shadow Dancer’... |
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| ...and Agave victoriae-reginae (probably the prettiest form I’ve ever had) |
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| At the end of a long summer, I’m always happy to see dudleyas that manage to pull through looking no worse for the wear. This is Dudleya pachyphytum from Baja California. |
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Another Baja native, this fiercely armed cactus...
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...is aptly called creeping devil (Stenocereus eruca) because it crawls along on the ground. When Kyle made this box for me last year, it was just the right size. Look at it now!
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| The metal agave and sun had originally been attached to the house, but I didn’t want to hammer nails into the new siding, so I decided to mount them on the gate to the backyard |
More random goodness coming tomorrow!
© Gerhard Bock, 2025. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.
Loved the tour. There’s so much color, and your late summer shadow play is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see a blog post of a beautiful garden in a neighborhood, I often wonder about the way the garden fits among the surrounding homes. I guess I’d like to see a view of the approach to your house, a zoom out. Perhaps you’ve shown that before.
Great suggestion. I'll include some zoomed-out photos in my next post.
DeleteFantastic photos, I just posted my visit to you - and all of my photos were close in. *Gah, when will I learn to take wide shots?! I was so drawn in to individual plants. Gorgeous GORGEOUS!!!
ReplyDeleteMy natural inclination also is to focus on individual plants more than the big picture. It was so great seeing you on Saturday. I'm glad I could send some plants home with you.
DeleteThanks for the pictures as always! Are all your H. argentea clones? I have a few too but since they're all pups from the same "father", they are all male. Casually looking for a female, if you know where to get one!
ReplyDeleteMy argenteas aren't clones, but they're all male. The only female hechtia I have is an epigyna, but it doesn't want to hybridize with argentea--I tried in vain. I suppose they're simply incompatible.
DeleteYour garden is my dream, Gerhard! I love it all!
ReplyDeleteYou're so sweet, Nancy!
DeleteYour backlit photos make your specimens look even better - and they're fabulous to start with. I think I should look into top dressing for a couple of my succulent beds at some point too, as it does a marvelous job of spiffing things up.
ReplyDeleteI was delayed in receiving notice of this post as Thunderbird has suddenly decided to throw notices of your posts into my Junk file. I've instructed it not to do so but it sometimes takes awhile to change whatever algorithm it uses to make these calls. I should have checked when I read Tracy's post yesterday.