Succulents and More™

The Cape Floristic Region at the southern tip of South Africa is home to an astonishing diversity of plant life, including nearly 1200 species of bulbs. We’re all familiar with amaryllis, freesia, gladiolus, crocosmia, chasmanthe, watsonia, and sparaxis, to name just a few. But there are many others that are just as beautiful albeit much less common in cultivation. Some, like lachenalia and ferraria, are becoming more available (check Annie’s Annuals’ bulb selection , for example). Others are largely relegated to the realm of collectors, who are more likely to call them “geophytes” instead of “bulbs.” I’m not a collector, but I do pick up interesting bulbs when I see them for sale. One of them is Massonia pustulata. I have two; one I bought at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden a few years ago, and the other at the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society winter sale in February 2022. The larger of the two flowered last December: Massonia pustulata , December 2022 The flower emerges from...

A record-breaking rainfall in late October (about 6 inches over four days) followed by a warm November kickstarted this year's aloe flowering season. While it doesn't look like this yet... Long bed along the sidewalk, late February 2021 ...we are about two weeks ahead of where we usually are in early December.  Let's take a look at the aloes about to flower in our garden. Most of them are the usual suspects, but to my great delight, there are a few first-time bloomers as well. They're marked   ①    below. Aloe cameronii , one of a handful getting ready to flower Aloe 'Erik the Red' after I blasted the mealybugs  to kingdom come Aloe capitata  var. quartziticola , always a favorite. It's less purple than usual because it's being partially shaded by our × Mangave 'Kaleidoscope'. ①   Aloe chabaudii   was a gift from my friend Justin . It's blooming for the first time this winter. Aloe wickensii , arguably the most spectacular bloomer in our gar...

Time to take another look at the aloes blooming along the sidewalk. All too soon, this display—particularly generous this year—will be history.  The flower colors range from creamy yellows to rich reds. The yellows are courtesy of Aloe  'Moonglow' . There are three separate clumps now. All three came from my half of a 5-gallon can I originally split with a friend—pretty remarkable growth. I've started to give offsets to friends since for whatever reason 'Moonglow' is currently hard to find in retail nurseries. Aloe  'Moonglow' clump #1 I'm particularly excited about this aloe since it's the first time it has bloomed for me. It's a hybrid between  Aloe spectabilis  (related to  A. marlothii  but with vertical instead of horizontal inflorescences) and Aloe vaombe . The flowers give me vaombe  vibes while the leaves have the general shape of spectabilis . Aloe  'Erik the Red', one of the most spectacular larger hybrids on the market Aloe cap...