Weekend Wrapup (WeWu) for 8/18/18: prickly superstars and more

So many of the photos I take are snapshots of things that catch my eye, projects I'm working on, plants I just bought, etc. Often there isn't enough of a story for an entire post so they never get seen. That's why I'm starting a new feature: the Weekend Wrapup (WeWu). Every Saturday or Sunday I'll throw together a post of these snaps in hopes you'll find them interesting.

Here are the succulent mounds in the front yard as seen from the front porch. I really enjoy this view, and I constantly look for ways to cram more plants in. Fortunately, many of these plants are sloooow growers so they should continue to coexist peacefully for years to come.

My Diana Moulds tentacle pot is no longer empty. I planted four small monkey tail cactus (Hildewintera colademononis, now Cleistocactus winteri ssp. colademononis), and while they don't look like much yet, they will soon. At least that's the plan. 

 

One of three metal wall planters—no, not the real City Planters by Potted but cheap knockoffs from eBay. These are my first experiments with tillandsias, and to my surprise they've done really well. The only care I give them is soaking them in a bucket of water once a week.

Below is another metal planter. I put a nice-sized clump of Dyckia 'Silver Superstar' in it. From the side it looks a bit odd because it had sat fairly low in the nursery container...

...but from the side it looks stunning:

I grabbed two of these containers at Green Acres Nursery in Sacramento a few months ago when they were 50% off. They have a plastic insert that should keep the soil from drying out too quickly. I thought I was going to put a mangave in the second one, but I love how the dyckia looks so I'm going to look for another terrestrial bromeliad for the second container.

While we're on the subject of terrestrial bromeliads, here are few closeups from last week:

Dyckia 'Silver Superstar'

Dyckia 'Nickel Silver'

Dyckia floribunda 'La Rioja'

Dyckia 'Arizona' × 'Brittlestar' f2

×Dyckcohnia 'Conrad Morton'

Hechtia 'Silver Star' (H. argentea × H. marnier-lapostollei)

A few other pricklies:

Aloe globuligemma × marlothii

Agave 'Desert Diamond'

Ferocactus acanthodes hybrid, as per the tag

Ferocactus emoryi

Rosette of the week:

Echeveria agavoides 'Ebony'

Non-succulent of the week:

Sturt's desert pea (Swainsona formosa), one of three seedlings I got from my Aussie mate Troy McGregor. This South Australia native is easily one of the most recognizable plants in the world when in flower. There is no other plant like it.

Mystery of the week:

Look what I found poking out from under a rock

It looks like an agave pup but from which plant? The closest one is the blue one on the right (Agave shrevei var. matapensis × guadalajarana, a cross made by Brian Kemble), but I think that one is a solitary agave. I tried to remove the pup but it broke apart so I'll never know what it was.

Favorite garden spot of the week:

Our orange and teal Adirondack chairs have a new companion: a yellow metal table from IKEA

New plants:

Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers' and Trachelospermum asiaticum 'Tricolor' for the backyard

Terrestrial bromeliads from Paradise Found Nursery. Reveal next week.

Succulent sightings at Orchard Nursery in Lafayette, CA:

Aloe 'Green Spiral', an Aloe polyphylla cross

Agave impressa, a rare sight in a Northern California nursery (not very hardy, but OK in the Bay Area)

 Imitation is the best form of flattery:

I spotted these planters at The Plant Foundry in Sacramento. They look like larger versions of Loree 'The Danger Garden' Bohl's dish planters! 

Flowering agave sighting:

A crappy picture, but I didn't have my real camera with me. Flowering Agave americana at a freeway entrance in Sacramento.

My Agave schidigera is about done flowering. I haven't decided yet whether I will cut down the flower stalk now or wait to see if I get any seeds.

I've thoroughly enjoyed revisiting these random shots. It's a nice break from writing "real" posts!



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