Succulents and More™

Instead of spending Easter Sunday doing the usual egg hunt, we decided to do something different this year: visit Alcatraz . A lot of other people had the same idea and the ferries to the island were packed. Luckily we had made reservations weeks ago and weren’t turned away like so many how showed up expecting to buy a ticket. This was my third visit to Alcatraz and I was looking forward to exploring the gardens because they had been restored since the last time I had been there. View of Alcatraz from the ferry

Finally I have some bamboo action to report—and lots of other plants are also waking up from their slumber after an unusually long spell of below-normal temperatures. Yesterday morning there was frost on the houses in the neighborhood! Hopefully the Easter bunny will not only bring us eggs (Swiss chocolate, please!) but also warmer temperatures. Bamboos first: At this time last year, our black and golden bamboos ( Phyllostachys nigra and Phyllostachys aurea ‘Koi’) were already pushing new shoots. Not so this year. However, there’s plenty of shooting going on elsewhere, as you can see below. Fargesia robusta Notice the new culms poking out above the bushy growth from previous years

Our climate is great for tomatoes, lavender, subtropical bamboos and of most cacti and succulents, but it sucks for those beloved harbingers of spring that once almost brought the Dutch economy to its knees : tulips. To get tulips to bloom at all, we need to chill them in the fridge or buy pre-chilled bulbs. Forget about them coming back the next year—our summer heat does them in. So it is with great envy that I look at photos of tulip fields in Holland or Washington State. Tulip field in the Netherlands Photo source: Wikipedia Tulip field in the Skagit Valley, Washington State Photo source: Wikipedia

Last November I bought a beautiful Yucca rostrata from Poot’s Cactus Nursery in Ripon, CA . No, it isn’t anywhere near as big as the one planted at the nursery: Yucca rostrata at Poot’s Cactus Nursery in Ripon, CA But it is the largest trunked specimen I was able to afford. Yucca rostrata with a 4-ft. trunk go for upwards of $500 in Northern California nurseries! My Yucca rostrata , 2 ft. tall in a 5-gallon container

This little cactus with spines the texture of steel wool ( Mammillaria camptotricha cv. marnier-lapostollei ) was one of my favorite purchases last summer. It bloomed almost right away and in general appeared to do well throughout the winter. It had been kept completely dry just like all the other cacti in my budding collection until I removed the covers in late February.   Mammillaria camptotricha cv. marnier-lapostollei The other day I was moving pots around and bumped into this little guy. I noticed right away something was wrong when its body practically toppled over. Not a good sign!

This weekend I finally got around to putting some of my recent plant purchases into pots I’ve been collecting. As pricey as some plants can be, nice pots are invariably even more expensive, so I always keep an eye out for interesting containers in garage sales or thrift stores.                                                                                                                        ...

I always look forward to Saturday when I have all day to putter around. I had all kinds of plans for today, including much-needed sweeping and weeding as well as some planting and repotting. But the weather decided not to cooperate so I’m stuck inside watching the rain fall. I keep telling myself that we do need the water but I still feel a bit stir-crazy. Lesser Mexican stonecrop ( Sedum confusum ) and soap aloe ( Aloe maculata ) I was able to sneak outside during a break in the rain to take some photos of plants in flower along the front yard perimeter. Most of them are yellow, a color I love in plants, offset by a purple Spanish lavender in full bloom. The other lavenders are still a bit behind.

The Sacramento Cactus & Succulent Society ’s 52nd Annual Cactus & Succulent Show will take place this year on Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6. If you live in Northern California or plan on being in the Sacramento area that weekend, please be sure to mark your calendar.  

Capital Nursery has been a mainstay of the Sacramento gardening community since it opened its doors on Freeport Boulevard in 1936. Two other locations—in Citrus Heights and Elk Grove—were added since then. Capital Nursery has always been the go-to place to find a special plant, a mature shrub or tree, or even just your regular annuals, perennials and vegetables. They have been known for providing expert advice and and excellent customer service. I’ve always loved going to Capital Nursery—together with Green Acres it’s my favorite plant-buying place in the Sacramento area.   I was saddened to read in the Sunday Sacramento Bee that Capital Nursery is struggling to stay open. The effects of the housing crash are lingering in many Sacramento suburbs, and several prominent area nurseries closed in the last few years. Not only are homeowners spending less at nurseries, the all-important professional landscaping market has shrunk dramatically because far fewer new houses are bein...