Even though I blog frequently, I have so many plants (surprise, surprise) that there are always some that fall through the cracks. This post is trying to remedy that. Here are 14 things I haven’t shown you before, or at least not in a long time.
❶
After many failures I have finally become the lithops whisperer. How? Simple: by ignoring them most of the year. Seriously, I don’t pay any attention to them (i.e. I don’t give them any water) until they start to flower. When they do, I water them until the flowers start to fade. Then I ignore them again for the next 10½ months. As I said: simple.
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| Lithops lesliei var. venteri |
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| Lithops salicola ‘Malachite’ |
❷ I’ve grown plenty of mangaves over the years. Fortunately, there are always new ones in the pipeline.
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| Mangave ‘American Masterpiece’, coming soon from Walters Gardens |
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| Mangave ‘Permanent Wave’, widely available now |
❸In an attempt to add some color for my
open garden last weekend I bought this ornamental pepper. It looked perfectly plump just ten days ago. Now it’s a wilted mess. Proof that even seemingly simple annuals are beyond me.
❹ I’m fairly conservative about garden art (forced discipline; I could easily go overboard). Here are a few pieces that caught my eye today.
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| Bottle tree inspired by what I saw in Austin, TX in 2018 |
❺
I’ve fallen hard for dryland ferns. They look great with succulents and grow in pretty much the same conditions. Many of them even take full sun. Downside: They’re inexplicably hard to find. I have to assume it’s because they’re difficult to propagate?
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| Wavy cloak fern (Cheilanthes sinuata) |
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| Wavy cloak fern (Cheilanthes sinuata) |
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| Bird’s foot cliff brake fern (Pellaea mucronata) |
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Aloe bloom season is just around the corner. I’m not a big fan of winter. In fact, aloe flowers are about the only thing that make it tolerable.
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| Aloe suprafoliata |
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| Aloe lukeana |
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My second favorite thing right now, after emerging aloe flowers, are bulbs coming up. Here’s one from South Africa.
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Veltheimia bracteata
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❽
Every post is better with some agaves in it. Here are some I’ve rarely, if ever, shown you.
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| Agave impressa |
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| Agave subsimplex |
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| Agave potatorum ‘Cherry Swizzle’ and Baileya multiradiata |
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Cussonia paniculata goes by the awkward common name cabbage tree. It doesn’t look cabbagey to me in the least, which is a good thing.
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| Cussonia paniculata ssp. sinuata |
➓
Not all cacti are fiercely armed. Some, like this Tephrocactus aoracanthus var. paeodiophilus, have papery spines that couldn’t hurt you if they tried.
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| Tephrocactus aoracanthus var. paediophilus |
⓫
Random sighting: crazy swoop-de-doo hechtia offset.
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| Hechtia roseana ‘Mr Freckles’ |
Multi-trunked
Euphorbia polygona ‘Snowflake’ clump looking happy in the ground after 10+ years confined to a pot.
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| Agave victoriae-reginae and Euphorbia polygona ‘Snowflake’ |
⓭I’ve posted photos of my beautiful but lethal
Bromelia pinguin ‘Qué será’ before (on the left below). It’s graceful form is mirrored by a 10+ year old
Boophone distacha, a South African bulb, now in full leaf.
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| Bromelia pinguin ‘Qué será’ and Boophone disticha |
⓮ Afternoon highs may still be in the 70s, but mornings definitely feel like fall. What’s more magical than a veil of mist?
Another week on daylight savings time. Once we switch back to standard time on November 2, the change of seasons will be impossible to ignore.
© Gerhard Bock, 2025. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.
I am going to try Lithops once more (already have at least 3 times) and do what you do! Are all your in pots? I love Mangave ‘American Masterpiece’, which reminds me of my Mangave 'Kaleidoscope'. I have the same thing happen with ornamental pepper and also Vinca. Someone told me it is a problem in the soil, which may actually come from the grower. Whatever, it is maddening. I would never even think of trying any fern here. It would be a recipe for disaster for me. I like winter, of course, and Aloes are the main reason why. Plus, I can stop running around with a hose all the time! I spy a Mike Cone pot! I don't think he makes them anymore. I have stopped growing anything like Bromelia because I am tired of being attacked by such plants (includes Hechtia!). I could say a lot more, but I'll stop! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI have a dryland fern native to the Waterman Mountains north of Tucson, Astrolepis cochicensis. It might do well for you. Check Arizona native plant nurseries.
DeleteMike Cone moved to our neck of the woods. He's still active--and he sells at the Sacramento CSS Show now. Finally I can buy his pots!
Thanks, Gerhard. I'll check that out. Glad to hear Mike Cone is still creating his beautiful pots!
DeleteI love this idea for a post and may have to copy you! Your lithops are lovely and your Pellaea mucronate is envy inducing! Mine has bulked up from when we bought it, but is still tiny compared, and the true test (our cool/cold wet winter) is ahead. I dread the time change! I have a speaking engagement in Salem on the evening of 5th and I'm not looking forward to driving home in the dark (rain?)...
ReplyDeleteEvery time I look at my Pellaea mucronata, I a) think of you, and b) wish I'd gotten another one at East Bay Wilds :-)
DeleteBut you can go back!
DeleteI will. And I'll look for Bommeria hispida, too.
DeleteThe misty photos!I Agave impressa! I brought home that agave from a Huntington plant sale in 2010 and can't remember when/how I lost it. Also put my Euphorb 'Snowflake' in the ground this year, we'll see how it likes it. I would love to make/find troughs for So. African bulbs like lachenalia and others. Maybe add some lithops! And as far as that chili pepper, the collapse might be the result of being taken off the artificial life support growers offer to get these plants fattened up and fruiting for fall sales -- that is unless you forgot to water the pot!
ReplyDeleteLachenalias are great. I just wish they'd be as commonly available in nurseries as, say, paperwhites!
DeleteArtificial life support, I think you've hit the nail on the head! I did water the pot.
Thanks for featuring amazing plants that not often (ever) get the spot light. Agave impressa is seriously gorgeous! Although I don't grow agaves, I developed a mental list of favorites over the years. This stunner jumped to the top of that list, leaving Queen Victoria behind.
ReplyDeleteAloe suprafoliata has a lovely powdery blue shade, so does Mangave ‘Permanent Wave’: they are so cool. I remember you lost a gorgeous, dark leaf mangave earlier this year. Were you able to replace it?
I see your palo verde lost all its leaves... it certainly adds to the moody, foggy sky.
Chavli
Mental list of favorites, I have so many (I have to break them down into smaller sublists, like agaves, aloes, etc., otherwise I'll forget).
DeleteThis was a great idea for a post. Your last misty photo is my favorite. 'American masterpiece' is grand! As is Agave impressa. I like what the crazy Hechtia is doing. I'm stopping myself from commenting on each photo lol.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely like the same kinds of plants :-)
Delete1. Love the pot the Tephrocactus is in.
ReplyDelete2. Ah ... Bromelia pinguin. The greenhouse at the local park has one, but it's unlabeled and I wondered what it was. Now I know. Thanks.
3. You only water your Lithops while they flower. But is that the only water they get all year, or do they get rain as well?
4. Love the picture with the mist. It obscures the nearby houses, so one could imagine that you're living by the ocean in northern California.
5. My guess is that the ornamental pepper was grown in peat moss (as many plants unfortunately are) and once that stuffdries,it's very difficult to re-wet it. The bright side is that ornamental peppers are easy togrow from the seeds inside the peppers. I used to have several pots of seed-grown ones, until I needed room for other plants on my balcony.
Lithops: They're outside under a bench, but it doesn't rain here from May to October so they're dry during their dormant season. I'll leave them outside in the rain until the flowers are all gone, then I'll move them in the greenhouse.
DeleteOcean: It would be so nice to live on the ocean, but I don't think I could grow cacti as easily as I can now.
Peppers: Yes, the growing medium looks like straight peat moss. Good suggestion re: growing net year's crop from seeds! Will do that. That way, I'll have more than just one pot.
Yes, the veil of mist is magical! I have a thing for ferns--of all kinds. The ones you've shared are nifty! And the names are fun, too. I've also often thought it would be fun to grow Lithops in a pot in the sunroom. Maybe I'll try it one of these days. They're so unique.
ReplyDeleteI'm convinced that the less you know (or worry) about lithops, the better your chances of growing them :-)
DeleteGreat post. I love all your plant closeups but those last 2 photos had me sighing at their sheer beauty. I didn't get an email message alerting me to this post either but just decided I should check in because I hadn't seen any activity in a few days - I check my spam mailbox 2x a day so I'm at a loss to explain where those emails are going.
ReplyDeleteIm really sorry. I have no idea how these notifications work. Sometimes inget them fir my own posts, sometimes I don't.
DeleteWow, Gerhard! What a wonderful post. The Agave impressa and 'Cherry Swizzle' are something else is the Euphorbia 'Snowflake'. My impression is that the dryland ferns are harder to cultivate. I was just out botanizing with some nursery folks over the weekend and we found Pellaea sp. and Pentagramma triangularis in northern CA. All three mentioned that they are hard to propagate and tend to die out over a year or two in most people's gardens. Sounds to me like we just don't know what they want. Could be a useful research project for someone over at the Hardy Fern Foundation. I am so happy it is finally fog season.
ReplyDelete