Succulents and More™

Agave lophantha ‘Quadricolor’ is one of the most popular agave cultivars out there. It’s easy to see why: It is a beautiful plant, with its vivid variegation. The cultivar name ‘Quadricolor’ suggests four colors, but most of the time, only three can be seen: a lighter green midrib bordered by thin dark green lines and wider yellow stripes on the outside. The fourth color, a reddish pink, appears around the leaf margins on cold winter days. ‘Quadricolor’ was one of the first agaves I bought, in 2009. I paid $35 for it, which was quite a bit of money for an agave back then. Agave lophantha ‘Quadricolor’ in 2009, planted in the front yard next to the front door What I didn’t know in 2009 was that this cultivar, maybe like all varieties of Agave lophantha , is a pup-producing machine. You may start out with a solitary rosette, but soon enough you have something like this: Agave lophantha ‘Quadricolor’ in 2014, 20+ pups Even if this is your favorite agave, I can’t imagine you would want...

I went to the Ruth Bancroft Garden  (RBG) yesterday with a group of volunteers from the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery . The first thing I noticed was this wildflower meadow in the new bed along Bancroft Road. Poppies, phacelias, and all kinds of clarkias – all annuals native to California. I thought it looked fantastic paired with cacti, agaves, and the like. As it turns out, this carpet of wildflowers was not created by the RBG staff. Brian Kemble, the curator of the RBG, told me that somebody seed-bombed this bed in the fall. That would be easy to do, seeing how it’s located next to the sidewalk, outside the garden wall. The result, while completely unexpected, was very much appreciated. Brian said that they would let the flowers go to seed in hopes of a repeat performance next year. Seed bombing is a classic form of guerrilla gardening. Check out this article ; I had no idea there were that many different kinds of seed bombs! I wonder if the person responsible for the wild...

On my way home from San Diego I stopped in Wildomar near Lake Elsinore to check in with Brent Wigand, cactus grower and hybridizer extraordinaire. I’d had a great visit with Brent in June 2023 ( post here ) and we’d stayed in touch online. Brent lives on a beautiful 1¾-acre property outside of town where he has plenty of room to grow all kinds of wonderful succulents in the ground. As you can see, he has quite a collection of Aloidendron dichotomum , A. ramosissimum and A. ‘Hercules’, as well as various hybrids between them. I’d be happy to have just one of them! Brent Wigand next to an Aloidendron dichotomum These are planted along the street: I love the mama and baby A. dichotomum On the slope above Brent’s house and propagation area: Trunk on Aloidendron dichotomum (left) vs. Aloidendron ‘Hercules’ (right) Aloidendron dichotomum (left) and Aloidendron ‘Hercules’ (right) Soap yucca ( Yucca elata ) closeup Agave sobria ssp. frailensis , native to Baja California Sur. Easily t...