This and that: late September 2026

It’s official: Summer is over. The days are getting shorter, but to me, the most obvious sign of fall is the quality of the light: In the summer, the light is glaring and harsh. At this time of year, it’s noticeably warmer because the sun is lower in the sky.

I complain about the summer and the heat all the time during the summer, but at the cusp of fall, when summer is slipping away, I don’t want to let it go. Looking at the forecast for next week, it appears summer isn’t quite ready to fade away either: temperatures in the low to mid-90s for a solid week, starting tomorrow.

Sorry for the random introduction, but here’s the late-September edition of This and that.

BRUNSRYLLIS FLOWERING FOR THE FIRST TIME

No, “brunsryllis” isn’t a typo, nor is it a rare tropical disease. It’s a hybrid between two South African bulbs, Brunsvigia litoralis and Amaryllis belladonna. I’ve never seen a Brunsvigia litoralis in real life (it looks like this), but Amaryllis belladonna is the common naked lady.

The cross I have was made by Ken Blackford, whose San Diego garden I got to see in April 2025 (post here). It’s produced leaves in the winter for several years, but this is the first time it’s flowered. The flowers were definitely worth the wait.

×Brunsryllis (Brunsvigia littoralis crossed with Amaryllis belladonna) from Ken Blackford in San Diego, an expert grower and hybridizer of South African bulbs

The flower stalk looks so naked with no leaves around (they come later in the year after flowering is done)

×Brunsryllis flowers up close

LATE-SEASON CACTUS FLOWERS

Some of my echinopsis hybrids are now in their 5th or 6th wave of bloom since spring. Gotta love plants that don’t need much, yet produce flowers like these:

Echinopsis ‘Day Dream’

Echinopsis ‘Sleeping Beauty’

A FEW MORE RANDOM FLOWERS

I have no idea where this canna came from, but it’s welcome to live here. It’s a good 6 feet tall and produces flower after flower.

NOID canna in the strip between our house and our neighbor’s

A wider view of this area reveals more flowers:

Middle: Hechtia roseana ‘Mr Freckles’

The tall fluffy inflorescence belongs to Hechtia roseana ‘Mr Freckles’. It’s a regular bee magnet.

Hechtia roseana ‘Mr Freckles’

And to the right of the hechtia, a surprising sight:

Flower stalk from Agave parrasana ‘Globe’ × mitis ‘Nova’, a Nick Deinhart hybrid

A flower stalk from an agave hybrid created by Nick Deinhart, Agave parrasana ‘Globe’ × mitis ‘Nova’. It’s a beautiful plant (see here in January 2025), but it’s been swallowed up by the Mangave ‘Permanent Wave’ next to it. In fact, pretty much all you can see of it is the inflorescence rising above its vigorous neighbor:

Flower stalk from Agave parrasana ‘Globe’ × mitis ‘Nova’

Not every gardener likes a wild unruly look, but I let some plants do what they want, at least temporarily. This West Texas sage is one example. I like the way its rangy stems weave their way through the neighboring aloes, depositing pops of blue here and there:

West Texas sage (Salvia reptans)

Groundcovers are probably the most underappreciated plants in the garden. They bring so much to the table. The vignette below is a good example. The mangave is great, sure, but it looks even better combined with this creeping germander:

Gray creeping germander (Teucrium aroanium) in flower on the left, ×Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ × Agave oteroi, another great Nick Deinhart hybrid

Teucrium aroanium about as perfect as it gets

FIRST FALL ALOE BLOOM

Aloe flower season is still months away, but there are some early bloomers that give us a sneak peak of what’s to come. Here’s one of the first, a beautifully spotted Aloe labworana with an emerging inflorescence. The flowers will be yellow.

Aloe labworana with an emerging flower stalk

COOL NURSERY FIND

I haven’t been to nurseries much since late spring so there haven’t been many opportunities to discover cool things. But look what I found at Green Acres in Sacramento last week: a Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia). I don’t think I’ve ever seen one for sale at a regular nursery before. I don’t really need a Joshua tree, nor will I live long enough to see it mature (its growth rate is ½ inch to 3 inches a year). But that didn’t stop me, so now I have my own little one:

Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia)

For comparison, here are blooming-size Joshua tree specimens in northwestern Arizona near Jan Emming’s Destination: Forever Ranch where the Mojave and the Sonoran Desert meet:

Joshua trees in their native habitat in the Mojave Desert

TOO UNSIGHTLY TO BEAR?

I walk by this sight every day, and every day, I wonder how long I’ll be able to put up with it:

Aloe suprafoliata now

This sad thing is Aloe suprafoliata. It looked very different last December:

Aloe suprafoliata in December 2025

It was getting squished between the surrounding plants so in late spring, I decided to move it a few feet forward. Unfortunately, the leaves were so brittle, most of them broke. Now, after a long summer, what’s left is the sorry sight above. I’m tempted to dig it up and chuck it, but knowing what a beautiful plant it can be, I’m going to leave it in place through the winter in hopes it will recover.

SHORT AND TALL

This is another sight I walk by every day, and I don’t typically give it much thought. But yesterday I was struck by how comically small the ‘Hercules’ aloe looks next to the Yucca rostrata on the right. The aloe (actually a cross between Aloidendron ‘Hercules’ and Aloidendron barberae) will eventually reach 12 to 15 feet or more, potentially rising above the yucca, but it’s taking its sweet time to get there. Right now, it’s not even 4 feet.

Aloidendron ‘‘Hercules’ × dichotomum (i.e. ¾ A. dichotomum, ¼ A. barberae, for those of you keeping track) looking tiny next to...

...Yucca rostrata

RARELY SHOWN AGAVES

I try to showcase as many of the plants in the garden as possible, but there are some I seem to skip consistently. The corner of the L-shaped sidewalk bed — the 90-degree intersection where the two perpendicular sides meet — doesn’t get the attention it deserves. There are some nice plants there, especially Agave shawii on the right and Agave pelona in the center:

Agave pelona (center) and Agave shawii (right)

Of the three Agave pelona I have, this is the largest and most beautiful. Agave pelona is one of the slowest-growing agaves in my garden. It took 5+ years to get to where it is now, and it isn’t close to mature.

SEEDLINGS THAT RATS LOVE TO MOW DOWN

I’ve talked about our rat problem before. All year the buggers have been nibbling on succulents, usually cacti, but also lithops and even some agaves. The damage typically isn’t fatal, just cosmetic, but with slow-growing plants it takes years for them to outgrow it.

There’s something else beyond succulents the rats have been drawn to: seedlings from the hardy tapioca tree (Manihot grahamii) we used to have next to the house. We had it removed in the summer of 2024 and ended up redoing that area in January 2025. Two years later, we still have seedlings from the tapioca pop up. I’ve been potting them up to give away and to keep a few in pots around the garden (the leaves are spectacular). Except that rats mowed down every single one — not eaten, mind you, just chewed off above the soil line. I have no idea why. Fortunately, I found a few more seedlings recently. They’re now on the front porch table, hopefully safe from rats (I’ve never seen any rodent damage in the front yard).

Good news on the rat front: I’ve been diligent about keeping our electronic Rat Zapper trap baited inside the greenhouse and have caught 10 rats in the last three weeks.

Manihot grahamii seedlings; some are already producing the deeply lobed adult leaves I so love

SIGN OF THE SEASON

Another sure sign fall is here: the limes from the tree at the foot of the driveway are dropping and rolling into the gutter. Occasionally, we drive over one, and the smell is heavenly.

Limes in the gutter

STELLA

The days are still warm, but the nights are getting colder (it was 49°F when I got up this morning). Stella usually jumps up on the bed after I leave, and she appreciates being covered with a soft blanket. Hard to believe she was a street dog in Taiwan for the first six months of her life!

Stella comfy on our bed

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