Odds and ends, late June 2024

Quite a few of the photos I take in our garden never make it into any of my posts because they don’t fit a particular theme. But that doesn’t mean they’re not pretty / useful / interesting. Here’s a late June 2024 collection of some of these odds and ends.

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I’ve shown you a lot of blooming cacti in recent weeks, but those weren’t the only flowers in June. Here are a few others – even a green one.

⤥ Gasterias are South African succulents closely related to aloes (they’re able to cross-breed). The genus name comes from the Greek word for stomach, because the flowers are shaped like tiny stomachs. The flower below is from a Gasteria acinacifolia.

Gasteria acinacifolia

⤥ Our Eucalyptus macrocarpa has been a shy bloomer, but it finally produced one of its spectacular flowers. I wish there were more, but it’s a beautiful plant even without flowers. Just look at these leaves!

Eucalyptus macrocarpa

There are two basic types of eucalyptus: gum trees (single-stemmed and massive) and mallees (essentially multi-stemmed shrubs). Eucalyptus macrocarpa is a mallee. It’s known to produce stems that grow every which way, often resulting in a somewhat unkempt look. I don’t really mind that, but I do prune it as needed to prevent it from going totally wild.

⤥ Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft’ is a spontaneous hybrid between Alyogyne huegelii and Alyogyne hakeifolia, two hibiscus relatives from the southern part of Australia. As the cultivar name suggests, this hybrid was first discovered at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA. The main bloom is in spring, but it flowers on and off into fall. The flowers are the very definition of ethereal.

Alyogyne 'Ruth Bancroft'

Alyogyne 'Ruth Bancroft'

⤥ The chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) towering above the sidewalk bed is in full bloom and abuzz with bees. The bluish purple flowers harmonize beautifully with this Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’.

Vitex agnus-castus and Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies'

⤥ Most aloes flower in the cooler seasons, but there are a few summer bloomers, like this Aloe tomentosa. The species name means “covered in hairs” – an apt description for the flowers.

Aloe tomentosa

⤥ When we think of flowers, we don’t typically think of the color green. In reality, green flowers are quite common in nature (there are thousands of grasses with green flowers), but because they don’t stick out much, we don’t notice them. The green flower below (Deuterocohnia abstrusa × longipetela) does stick out – both literally and figuratively.

Deuterocohnia abstrusa × longipetela

⤥ I’m always on the lookout for small groundcovers that go well with succulents, both visually and in terms of watering needs. Here’s one I’ve been trialing for a few months, Artemisia pedemontana, native to Southern Europe. It’s done very well, and it has stayed low to the ground.

Artemisia pedemontana

⤥ I have many hechtias in the garden, both in containers and in the ground. Armed with ferocious teeth, they’re not exactly user-friendly plants, but they’re oh so beautiful. Here are a few recent standouts.

Hechtia lanata × myriantha, a Ray Lemieux/Tropiflora hybrid

Hechtia roseana ‘Mr. Freckles’, an Andy Siekkinen selection

Hechtia ‘Wildfire’, an Andy Siekkinen hybrid

⤥ Speaking of teeth: Very few genera do teeth as well as agaves:

Agave ‘Lion’s Mane’ (either a cultivar of A. titanota or A. oteroi, or a hybrid)

Agave (isthmensis × potatorum ‘Spawn’) × shawii, a Jeremy Spath hybrid

Agave titanota × ‘Blue Glow’, another Jeremy Spath hybrid

Agave nuusaviorum, closely related to A. potatorum

Agave impressa

Bud imprints, Agave ‘Baccarat’, now thought to be a natural intergrade between Agave gentryi and Agave montana

⤥ It’s been a while since I’ve featured mangaves. Here are a few in the garden.

×Mangave ‘Praying Hands’

×Mangave ‘Pineapple Punch’

×Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’

×Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’

⤥ Many cycads produce new flushes of leaves in the summer. Here are two recent examples:

Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi

Cycas revoluta, the common sago palm

⤥ I’ve been doing a long-term trial of dudleyas since 2021. I really need to write an update, but in the meantime here’s one that has done exceptionally well, a hybrid called Dudleya ‘Frank Reinelt’. I’ve seen it for sale in several mainstream nurseries in Southern California.

Dudleya ‘Frank Reinelt’

⤥ And finally an update on the Kosmik Kolor succulent I rescued from the clearance rack at Lowe’s last November, a NOID haworthia or haworthiopsis painted a garish blue. It looked like this when I brought it home:

November 2023

Now it looks like this:

In another six months or so, it will have shed all the painted leaves. Fingers crossed!

© Gerhard Bock, 2024. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.