Summer flowers and other goings on

This Echeveria has been a hummingbird favorite for the four summers I've had it. First picture shows open flowers today. Second picture was taken 3 weeks ago and shows the body. This thing spent some time as a large, solitary plant that filled the pot, but a couple of winters ago it started to offset and there are now 12 or 13 heads. Third picture shows the largest head (mother plant) last November right before I chopped it off to re-root it. Last picture shows what that head looks like now, alongside one of the offsets which I started at the same time. The leaves have a very different shape and posture.

A few cactus flowers. First two shots taken at twilight. Echinopsis, Hylocereus, Echinocereus.

This Euphorbia misera is going strong while most of them are asleep for the summer. You can see male and female flowers in the first picture, plus a handful of pollinators. Second shot taken at the base of the plant shows just how branchy things are down there.

Few buds on a different Hylocereus.

Crassula, Portulacaria, Echeveria.

"Warm" and "cool" shots of a recently repotted Echeveria.

Aloe offset also recently repotted. Second shot shows stress colors after I put it in more sun. Third shot taken when I first started this plant last November (one size smaller pot).

Yellow flowers on Faucaria and Pleiospilos.

Agave and Aeonium recently moved into yellow pots (both 10"). I'm looking forward to moving that offset into its own container this fall.

A few young medusoid Euphorbias just moved up to 4" or 5" pots. Left to right gorgonis, inermis, esculenta, gorgonis.

Lovely young medusoids!

What species are you showing us here one looks like Lola. How about the first that had multiple heads. ;-)

Lmccameron

Thanks!

I don't know what to call some of my plants. The first Echeveria is not Lola, the flowers are different Here's a shot of it when it was younger (10" pot). The plant came to me as an E. cante hybrid, and the flowers do look right for that (more so than the leaves to my inexpert eye). The furry Echeveria pictured above is harmsii. The hot and cold one is supposed to be a colorata but I have not yet seen it bloom.

Beautiful! Really neat to see what the hylocereus looks like budding... I hope mine gets there soon. It is growing very fast.

I love them all Baja, and your beautiful colored pots too. Your know I've mentioned before your lovely mellow light there near the sea. You (and your plants) are so lucky! I have an Echinocereus similar to yours, but it hasn't bloomed as yet. I'm hoping it will within the next 12 months. What a flower it has!

Thank you Baja for sharing all those pics, and as NancySLAZ says and that I have said before, you do a beautiful job placing the right plants in pots that show them off for the best. I love the pic that shows the ocean in the distance. Hopefully someday I can see your plants in person!! Xuling

Really wonderful plants Baja. You bring out the best in them.
Helen

kinym: Mid-summer is when my dragonfruit plants wake up and become active. Now is the time. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Nancy: That plant should be a pretty reliable bloomer once it gets to a certain size. Last year mine flowered in triplicate, not sure why it was less active this year. Could be because I moved it under an overhang and it gets less sun now.

Helen: What is that plant? and do I see flowers in there? It looks like it's really jamming.

Thanks all for the kind words. I do try to find containers that accent the plants. Along those lines here is a small Echeveria "Afterglow", recently repotted into a matching bowl.

Summer is a rough time in my garden. Most plants do not look their best, and some of them don't make it. The ones in the ground are turning brown and and shriveling inward after 4 months with no rain. The ones in pots are a little better off because they get more attention (and some sun protection, for the most part).

Euphorbia guillauminiana. It is having a good summer. Thanks.

Boy, summer is a killer for me too. Most of my cacti and succulents are in pots. We have had temps in the 110's for over 7 days and nights not below 90 either. My poor plants are boiling! Here's a Astrophytum myriostigma that I brought inside today because, when I touched the pot it was just so hot. I feel sorry for them!

In all fairness, it doesn't look to be suffering all that much, incredible as it may be. I know what you mean about containers heating up. Even here (summer high to date 76 degrees) they turn into little casserole dishes when they spend any time in the sun. I now avoid dark colors when I look for pots, for that reason.

This one is darker than I usually go, but the agave inside can handle it. It's growing pretty fast, so it probably won't be there for more than a few months.

Yes, the Astrophytum does look good, even though the pot was so hot to the touch. It is under a covered patio too and gets almost no direct sun at this time of year. These hardy plants amaze me. I usually get light colored pots too ... but I love that blue one (my favorite color) the agave is in!

Oh nice E guillauminiana. I rotted mine last year so bought a smaller one to start over this year. *sigh*

Dean,
My Euphorbias have done really well in s/h. They can tolerate being dry much better than too much moisture. Even so it can be a difficult balance and I have lost a number in s/h.
Heres another favorite.
Helen

I really like that Euphorbia and it looks like it is from AridLands. I am going there this fall and will have to see if I can get one.

Hi Helen, thanks for that info.

I hope you don't mind my volunteering, I think that one is mislabeled. Perhaps labels got switched? That is E virosa or E 'not virosa' Palmwag Road. Or a close relative. I love it, and I have its twin.

E monacantha and the 'Mrs Ash' cultivar look quite different. In particular, the spines are individual (mon- one, cantha spine).

Here's a link to E monacantha 'Mrs Ash': http://www.karacactus.com/succulentImagepage_E_0005.htm

This message was edited Aug 13, 2012 12:41 PM

Dean,
I can't disagree with your assessment. And I always appreciate input since I am a big novice in all this plant taxonomy. If you come up with the 'right' name I would love to know. It is from Aridlands. So who knows? Not me. And I guess names are subject to change.
It still is a favorite.
Helen

Yup, I have its twin, also from AridLands, which I got from them as Euphorbia 'not virosa' Palmwag Road. Check that one out at their site. I think the Palmwag Road population has since been grouped under E virosa, but of that I'm not sure. The one I have is approx the same age, maybe the same seed lot!

And I love it too! Looking at pictures of mature plants, they seem to lose the striking color variations of the stem, but the adult, columnar plants are quite striking, too.

A similar plant (differing by the number of cyathia scars between pairs of spines on the spine shield) is Euphorbia avasmontana. Web search indicates that E virosa is the more widespread of the two.

--dean

This message was edited Aug 13, 2012 2:18 PM

Fiery spines on Agave macroacantha and Aloe ferox, both growing in containers. Fire and ice on Agave funkiana in the ground.

Last flower on a Sedeveria, first flower on Echeveria runyonii.

This Pachypodium responded to being repotted by growing a new set of leaves and shedding the old ones. Movin' on, movin' up. It was underpotted for a long time and consequently is rather obese.

Do Pachypodiums get obese from being underpotted? I just thought they got cranky.

I don't know. It was not that cranky, actually. I was hoping to avoid that with the upgrade. The plant is almost half as wide as it is tall (3.5"/8"), which is pretty fat even for one of these guys.

Didn't plan the weird light effect here (dark subject against bright shade) but it worked out okay. Echeveria affinis has been a bug magnet (first two inflorescences had to go in early bud stage). So far so good on number three (?due to imidacloprid treatment). Really hoping that continues... flowers on this plant are very intense.

This message was edited Aug 29, 2012 12:33 PM

A couple of summer-flowering aloes: dorotheae, juvenna. Also flowering (and fruiting) at the moment: jucunda.

A. dorotheae blooms for me in winter but I have a friend here in Phoenix and hers is blooming now. Mine has gone green because I moved it into a shadier spot because I was afraid it would get burned. Maybe I should put it in more sun and it would bloom now. Hmmmm ....

From the green graph it seems to be pretty humid there now. I didn't realize that was the case. We are in our monsoon season but it is nowhere near as humid as where you are. Ours is in mostly the high 20's percentage-wise which is better than winter when it is under 10 percent often.

Love the E. affinis! I have A. jucunda but it is a young one so no blooms yet.

Yeah, Aloe dorotheae flowers a bit more vigorously in the winter. I would think you could give it just enough sunlight to effect a color change (in the yellow to orange range) without worrying about stressing the plant out. That one in the ground is pretty red because it hasn't rained for a while. It's greener (mostly in the center) during the rainy season.

I'm sure some desert plants would not be pleased with the high humidity we have here. Well, they've died by now if that's the case. The ones that live on have proven they can handle it.

Aloe jucunda is one of my favorite plants. Very pretty leaves, great form. Flowers about three times a year, offsets at a steady pace. Be careful with too much sun. A sunny windowsill is just about perfect.

A. jucunda, flower, fruit.