Small in size, big in beauty

One of my 2021 garden resolutions was to pay more attention to smaller plants that may not stand out as much but are so essential in knitting everything together. Except they do stand out at certain times of the year, especially when they're in bloom.

A prime example are ice plants, typically called “mesembs” by collectors because they were once in the Mesembryanthemaceae family (now they're in the Aizoaceae). For the most part, their leaves are fairly unremarkable, although I would argue that it's exactly that quality that makes them so good at creating “neutral” spaces for your eyes to rest on. But when they're in flower, they're impossible to miss.

Delosperma 'Granita Orange' is a 2019 Plant Select introduction

Delosperma 'Granita Orange'. I was hoping for a nice orange when I bought it, and that's what I got.

Speaking of orange: This Lampranthus aureus from Annie's Annuals is the very definition of orange!

Aloinopsis villetii (“one of the innumerable and controversial form and variety of the very variable Aloinopsis luckhoffii complex that comprises several species which have received numerous names” [1])

Nananthus pole-evansii

Ebracteola wilmaniae

×Aloinanthus 'Opera Mauve', a hybrid between Aloinopsis spathulata and Nananthus transvaalensis, for those of you interested in this level of detail

Aloinopsis spathulata

Ruschia lineolata, sometimes called "carpet of stars", forms a mat no more than 2" tall, with ½" flowers in early spring and a lighter flowering in the fall 

Another group of plants that don't get much attention except when in flower are small cacti—those whose size is measured in inches rather than feet. The flowers of the species below are no more than two inches in diameter.

Thelocactus rinconensis var. lophothele (Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico)

Thelocactus rinconensis var. lophothele

Thelocactus rinconensis (Coahuila and Nuevo León, Mexico)

Thelocactus rinconensis

Mistletoe cactus (Rhipsalis baccifera) flowering quite profusely this year. I got several small cuttings from Loree 'the danger garden' Bohl in 2019, stuck them in a pot, and here we are! The flowers are just ¼" in size.

A few more miscellaneous examples:

Dymondia margaretae, a dense low-growing groundcover from South Africa periodically adorned with simply yellow flowers. The leaves look like they have white margins, but that's actually the silvery underside showing.

Lady tulip (Tulipa clusiana), a species tulip that doesn't need much winter chill to survive and is therefore reliably perennial in our climate. It's native to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and the western Himalayas.

Iris confusa 'Chengdu', another wonderful plant from Annie's Annuals. The foliage is spectacular, too. More information on this great perennial from western China here.

And finally a couple of small succulents that caught my eye because of their leaves:

Dudleya greenei, a smaller clumping species from the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. Each rosette is maybe 2½" in diameter.

Aloe 'Wily Coyotee', a Karin Zimmerman hybrid sold through the Huntington's International Succulent Introduction program. Like all of Karin Zimmerman's aloe creations, this one is diminutive in size, maybe 4" across.

I'm working on finding better ways to display smaller plants—like the Karin Zimmerman aloes I've collected—so I can look at them up close. Stay tuned for more details.

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