Plant trade excitement

I love trading plants with other gardeners. Usually a trade involves one or more specific plants, but sometimes other plants get thrown in for good measure. Once I’ve even done a mystery box trade, which in many ways was the most exciting of them all.

Last weekend I sent an Agave lophantha ‘Quadricolor’ to a Facebook friend and yesterday our mail lady delivered this gigantic box (20 x 20 x 20 inches):

 

This was definitely the largest box of plants I’ve ever received!

After removing all the packaging materials—the goodies inside the box were very well protected—I was left with two bulging bags full of promise.

 

Two aeoniums peeking through the Styrofoam peanuts!

 

Very carefully I retrieved my new babies from the two bags. Here they are bare root…

 

…and planted in temporary pots.

 

Aeoniums are one of my favorite group of succulents, and I’m very happy to have seven new plants in my collection.

LEFT: Aeonium ‘Sunburst’
RIGHT: Aeonium undulatum (?), a full 10 inches in diameter

I bought a blue-and-white talavera pot from a street vendor last week and I thought it was perfect for an Aeonium ‘Sunburst’. The problem was I didn’t have one. Now I do!

Aeonium ‘Sunburst’

The plants survived shipped in near perfect condition. Three leaves broke off the largest aeonium (Aeonium undulatum?) but I simply stuck them in a small pot filled with succulent mix. Since aeoniums do propagate from leaf cuttings, I will soon have three more plants.

Aeonium arboreum var. holochrysum leaf cuttings

Aeoniums of all size and color and cool but the coolest of them all are the dark purple varieties. In the sun, they turn almost black.

BACK: Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’
FRONT: Aeonium ‘Voodoo’

The primary focus of this trade was an offset of Agave guiengola ‘Crème Brûlée’. This baby may not look that impressive, but an adult specimen is a sight to see.

Agave guiengola ‘Crème Brûlée’

I can’t wait for my next plant trade!