Succulents and More™

In my recent end-of-April recap , there’s one plant I didn’t mention because I wanted it to have a solo post. That’s Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft’, and it’s nearing peak bloom: Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft’ in our garden, flanked on the left by Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’ and Agave ovatifolia , and on the right by Eucalyptus macrocarpa Alyogyne , pronounced “alley-AWE-gin-nee”, is a small genus of Australian shrubs closely related to hibiscus. Only two species are commonly grown, Alyogyne hakeifolia from South Australia and Alyogyne huegelii from Western Australia. Both are commonly known as blue hibiscus. The stunning shrub in our garden is a hybrid between these two species. It was discovered at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA in a spot where both parents were growing near each other. Since both parents are from areas of Australia that have a Mediterranean climate similar to ours, Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft’ is well adapted to our wet winters and dry summers. It’s hardy to

📆   THIS WEEKEND  📆    THIS WEEKEND   📆    THIS WEEKEND   📆  Just another reminder that the Sacramento Cactus & Succulent Society 's 2024 Show & Sale is this weekend at the Shepard Garden & Arts Center next to McKinley Park. Don't miss it if you're in the area! Dates and times of the sale  Friday, May 3 : Volunteer shopping from noon to 1:00 PM; public entry from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM.  Saturday, May 4: Public entry from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM.  Sunday, May 5: Public entry from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM.  The Show will not be judged. Instead, we encourage club members at all levels to enter their plants to showcase the amazing variety of succulents. Click here to download the official flyer  [PDF] with all the pertinent information. Vendors The following vendors have signed up for this year's event: ➤ Pottery vendors Elaine Thomas Emily Withers (Ekishi Pottery) Eric Bailey Keith Taylor (Pottery by Kitoi) Linda Partman Martin Gil (Strange Matter Ceramics) Mike Cone ➤ Pl

I’ll skip the “I can’t believe it’ almost May” small talk and go straight to the meat of this post: photos of the garden taken in the second half of April 2024. Spring was late to arrive this year, but as you can see below, it’s here in full force. The poster child of spring 2024 – and one of my most successful gardening experiments in a while – is ‘White Linen’ ( Eschscholzia californica ‘White Linen’), a cream-flowering form of the ubiquitous orange California poppy. Last November, I scattered 5000 seeds from Outsidepride in the sidewalk bed. I have no way of knowing how many actually germinated, but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say about 25%. (Seed vendors promise a germination ranging from 70% to 100%, but that seems far too optimistic.) Regardless, looking at the sea of white poppies, I’m thrilled to pieces, whether it’s 200 plants or 2000. The ‘White Linen’ poppies make an appearance in many photos in this post. Because of their neutral flower color, they complement virtual

Everybody knows what aphids and mealybugs are and what a pest (literally) they can be. But many gardeners, including succulent collectors, have never heard of agave mites. Ignorance is bliss, until something like this shows up on an agave or mangave: Photo © 2023 Ben Faber | https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=57252 The smudges that look like someone dragged a thumb dipped in grease across the leaf surface, and the scar-like lesions, are classic signs of an agave mite infestation. Agave mites, also known as grease mites (appropriate!), are tiny critters in the family  Eriophyidae . Adults are around 1/3 mm long, and their eggs are around 20 microns wide (that's 0.0008 inches). For comparison, a human hair has a thickness of approximately 70 microns, so the eggs of agave mites are 3× smaller. If the infestation is mild, the symptoms may seem purely cosmetic. Why worry, you might wonder, when agaves planted in the ground get all kinds of nicks and dings as a matte

On my Santa Barbara trip last week , I bought some plants from Nick Deinhart , including this spectacular Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ × Agave ‘Blue Glow’ cross for my friend Kyle: Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ × Agave ‘Blue Glow’ when I picked it up from Nick Deinhart I loaded my new plants into the car on Friday afternoon when it was about 60°F and sunny. I spent the night in Pismo Beach , less than a mile from the ocean. Overnight, it cooled off to the mid-50s, and it was overcast and somewhat damp when I left on Saturday morning on my drive home. The weather remained cool and overcast for the next hour before the fog lifted and the sun came out. For the remainder of the trip, it was bright and sunny, the temperature climbing into the low 80s by mid-afternoon. I arrived home at around 3 p.m. I had the air conditioning in the car set to 68°F the entire time, except for two quick bathroom breaks when the engine was off, and the air in the car heated up into the 80s. I unloaded the plants right after I g