Succulents and More™

The year is almost over, and it's high time for another × Mangave roundup. Previously, I attempted to list all mangave varieties in cultivation. This year, I'm going to focus only on the ones currently growing in our garden. In this post , I proclaimed 2018 to be the “Year of the Mangave.” Since then, the love children between two closely related succulent genera,  Agave and Manfreda , have become even more popular and are now on the verge of entering the mainstream. My original post  gives a comprehensive overview of the novel genus × Mangave . In a nutshell, mangaves have evolved from naturally occurring hybrids (such as 'Macho Mocha' and 'Rio Verde') to man-made novelties (the ever popular 'Bloodspot') to commercially viable ornamentals (the successful “Mad About Mangave” introductions by  Walters Gardens ). × Mangave  'Mission to Mars' (lower right) getting along very well will all kinds of plants in our front garden This development was ...

In a March 2018 post, I proclaimed 2018 to be the “Year of the Mangave.”  Sure, it was a rather self-important thing to do, but it did reflect the rapidly growing popularity of the love child between two closely related succulent genera: Agave and Manfreda . My original post  gives a comprehensive overview of the nothogenus × Mangave . I won't repeat all the details here, but in a nutshell, mangaves have evolved from naturally occurring hybrids (such as 'Macho Mocha' and 'Rio Verde') to man-made novelties (the ever popular 'Bloodspot') to commercially viable ornamentals (the successful “Mad About Mangave” introductions by  Walters Gardens ). ×Mangave 'Mayan Queen' in our front yard This evolution—“revolution” might actually be a better word—was largely driven by the pioneering hybridization work of Hans Hansen, Director of New Plant Development at Walters Gardens. If it hadn't been for Hans's neverending curiosity, innovativeness ...

In my recent rain in May post  I showed you a number of hechtias in my garden. That, in turn, reminded me that I still hadn't written about my visit with Mr. Hechtia, Andy Siekkinen, at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden last December—an oversight I'm remedying herewith. Andy is currently doing PhD research at Claremont Graduate University's Department of Botany, which is housed at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden . Andy's scientific focus is on the genus Hechtia ; using next-generation DNA sequencing, he's examining the relationships between the various  Hechtia species in order to reorganize the taxonomy of the genus from the ground up. His recent Master's thesis, Systematics of Hechtia (Hechtioideae): Insights in phylogenetics and plastome evolution in a non-model organism with Next Generation Sequencing , was the first major step in that direction. While I have a rudimentary understanding of phylogenetics (the study of evolutionary relationships among organi...

A couple of weeks ago I proclaimed 2018 to be the year of the mangave . This was based on the ever increasing number of hybrids becoming available in nurseries, and the growing popularity of these harmless half-siblings of the spiky agave. If you haven't seen the variety of leaf textures and colors offered by the latest crop of mangaves, check out my earlier post . I'm sure you'll find a few that you like even if you're not fond of agaves. A week after my mangave post, UPS delivered two mystery boxes to our doorstep. Guess what was inside? Box 1:

Agaves are great the way they are. But do you know what's even cooler? The love children from a hanky-panky between an agave and a manfreda! Manfredas are succulents with soft, floppy leaves, often with pronounced purple spots. I'm sure you've seen the cultivar with wavy-edged leaves called 'Chocolate Chip' ( here ). Some species in the genus Manfreda are quite hardy, especially especially Manfreda virginica and Manfreda maculosa , both native to the U.S. Now imagine combining the best qualities of both genera, manfredas and agaves. The result is bound to be special. As you look at the photos in this post, I'm sure you will agree. From what I was able to gather, the first recorded cross between a manfreda and agave was from seed legendary plantsman Carl Schoenfeld (the last owner of the now defunct Yucca Do Nursery in Texas) collected in Mexico. The seed came from a Manfreda variegata  but the seedlings clearly showed agave traits, most likely from Agave...