Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar is having what they call a "Rare Plant Week". There was a presentation on rare, unusual, or hard-to-find plants by Michael Craib of Suncrest Nurseries, a plant show, and a sale. Here are some plants from the show; not a huge show, but some cool specimens it was fun to look over. For the show, we brought "Baby" the Bursera, and Aloe suprafoliata. Entrants received a coupon for 20% off any plants--plenty good reason to enter.
"Baby" at home:
The Aloe:
Someone else brought a suprafoliata, but theirs had already begun to spiral. Pretty colors--has to be getting more sun than mine:
How dumb of me not to get the name of this one.Bromeliad? Cool, eh?
Update: Spiky Obsession id'd this as Agave nizandensis. Thanks, Spiky!
An unknown Aloe of amazing chocolate-bronze color:
An Aeonium sedifolium hybrid called 'Bronze Medal':
Kalanchoe delagoensis 'Pink Butterflies'. This one is a new plant and just starting to appear for sale here and there.
Pachypodium succulentum: Update: this won third place.
Astrophytum microstigma, oooh!:
Senecio haworthii. A commonly available plant, but this one is outstandingly well grown:
Bombax elliptica:
Urginia:
Pelargonium cotyledonis:
and again:
Sanseveria suffruticosa 'Black'. This one gets big clumps of white flowers according to the description--unusual to say the least! A large and beautifully grown specimen. I did not get a good photo--the whole plant was quite large. Update: this won an Honorable Mention ribbon.
Bowea volubilis, "Climbing Onion"
Mammilaria plumosa. This one must be extra stunning in bloom. Have I seen this one at another plant show?
Haemanthus coccinea:
Encephelartos princeps. This one was so perfectly pristine it must be kept in a green house by a true plant fanatic. Not a speck of dust on it, not a spot, not a mark, not a light finger brush.
Euphorbia symetrica x obesum. More round than E. obesum!
Oxalis gigantea. "Oxalis" is a swear word for California gardeners. This one is an amazing shrubby thing over 5' tall, quite different than the one we swear about daily.
This one was labeled 'only Indian Corn Cob' and must be a Euphorbia--mammilaris--what else? Wild, eh? Looks like it hasn't been watered since Reagan was President.
And Leuchtenbergia princeps. The person who brought this plant had meticulous and perfect printing, implying the sort of meticulous and painstaking personality that is attracted to these plants. My own handwriting looks like the center of that plant, so what's my excuse?
Weirdly such a cool show because there were just about no duplicates of anything (except my Aloe suprafoliata, I think). There was one Cyphostemna, one Pachypodium, one Bursera, and so on. The plants were all onsies. How often does that happen? The show continues today (Sunday). I wonder if I won anything. Probably not, but the 20% off was good, and people seemed to really enjoy the disticious Aloe.
Update: the first place ribbon went to a Nepenthes (pitcher plant) and second to a Dyckia, neither of which I bothered to photograph! The more I familiar I have gotten with my own clumps of Dyckia and Puya, the less interesting they've become. I simply do not have the climate to grow bog plants, and so pay them no mind. Oh well!
Tomorrow I will blog about the presentation of new/cool/unusual/rare/hard-to-find plants that took place on Saturday. It was really good!
"Baby" at home:
The Aloe:
Someone else brought a suprafoliata, but theirs had already begun to spiral. Pretty colors--has to be getting more sun than mine:
How dumb of me not to get the name of this one.
Update: Spiky Obsession id'd this as Agave nizandensis. Thanks, Spiky!
An unknown Aloe of amazing chocolate-bronze color:
An Aeonium sedifolium hybrid called 'Bronze Medal':
Kalanchoe delagoensis 'Pink Butterflies'. This one is a new plant and just starting to appear for sale here and there.
Pachypodium succulentum: Update: this won third place.
Astrophytum microstigma, oooh!:
Senecio haworthii. A commonly available plant, but this one is outstandingly well grown:
Bombax elliptica:
Urginia:
Pelargonium cotyledonis:
and again:
Sanseveria suffruticosa 'Black'. This one gets big clumps of white flowers according to the description--unusual to say the least! A large and beautifully grown specimen. I did not get a good photo--the whole plant was quite large. Update: this won an Honorable Mention ribbon.
Bowea volubilis, "Climbing Onion"
Mammilaria plumosa. This one must be extra stunning in bloom. Have I seen this one at another plant show?
Haemanthus coccinea:
Encephelartos princeps. This one was so perfectly pristine it must be kept in a green house by a true plant fanatic. Not a speck of dust on it, not a spot, not a mark, not a light finger brush.
Euphorbia symetrica x obesum. More round than E. obesum!
Oxalis gigantea. "Oxalis" is a swear word for California gardeners. This one is an amazing shrubby thing over 5' tall, quite different than the one we swear about daily.
This one was labeled 'only Indian Corn Cob' and must be a Euphorbia--mammilaris--what else? Wild, eh? Looks like it hasn't been watered since Reagan was President.
And Leuchtenbergia princeps. The person who brought this plant had meticulous and perfect printing, implying the sort of meticulous and painstaking personality that is attracted to these plants. My own handwriting looks like the center of that plant, so what's my excuse?
Weirdly such a cool show because there were just about no duplicates of anything (except my Aloe suprafoliata, I think). There was one Cyphostemna, one Pachypodium, one Bursera, and so on. The plants were all onsies. How often does that happen? The show continues today (Sunday). I wonder if I won anything. Probably not, but the 20% off was good, and people seemed to really enjoy the disticious Aloe.
Update: the first place ribbon went to a Nepenthes (pitcher plant) and second to a Dyckia, neither of which I bothered to photograph! The more I familiar I have gotten with my own clumps of Dyckia and Puya, the less interesting they've become. I simply do not have the climate to grow bog plants, and so pay them no mind. Oh well!
Tomorrow I will blog about the presentation of new/cool/unusual/rare/hard-to-find plants that took place on Saturday. It was really good!
Wow wonderful! fantastic pics of fabulous plants... a feast for the eyes and cause for lust for a plant collector like myself. TFS
ReplyDeleteYour photos are very beautiful !
ReplyDeleteMy favotrite is the "Pink Butterfly" I think, love the color...
Thank you! The good thing besides the lovely pink color is that the plantlets do not grow, and therefore will not overrun the garden. A good thing!
DeleteI look at a lot of these and think: I must have! But then I realize that most if not all would need to come indoors for the winter and that's where the plan falls apart. Very cool though!
ReplyDeleteAnd some of them need a little winter, or a lot of water, which means they are out for me, too!
DeleteThose are some great..but, very unusual..plants.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it fun to see how many plants there are out there? So many plants...so little time.
Amen, Linda!
DeleteOh what fun! What did you buy with your 20% off coupon?
ReplyDeleteTomorrow...an Agave, of course ;)
DeleteAbsolutely beautiful...just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been a follower on your blog for a while now and would like to invite you to visit and perhaps follow me back. Sorry I took so long for the invitation
Thanks for stopping by, covnit.
DeleteAre you sure you didn't mix up your scuba diving photos of coral formations and other undersea wonders with the plant show. It is hard to tell the difference.
ReplyDeletePlants continually amaze us, don't they? No wonder we love them! :)
DeleteGreat selection of plants! Some of them I'm already familiar with but your great photography enhanced their appeal even more :)
ReplyDeleteThanks M&G, for your kind complement.
DeleteHow can you not prefer the spiral form of aloe suprafoliata. The plant in the photo after it is actually an agave, agave nizardensis. It is an unusual one as it is very quick to mature, maybe a quick as 4 years, so apparently popular as as a supply of pollen.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say, Spiky? It's a character flaw I have been unable to overcome. Thanks for the ID of A. nizandensis. Unfortunately, now that you have ID'd it for me, I have to have one!
DeleteWhat a cool bunch of crazy plants. The Encephelartos princeps seemed to be planted in cottage cheese...surely not. I like that one, and the Euphorbia mammilaris a lot. Like most folks here, I just can't provide what these plants need, but it sure is fun to look!
ReplyDelete