Today:
When planted (3/9/2013):
Okay, it's doing well. My plant is a female. A male plant would be required for seeds.
It has new stems sprouting at the base:
After a flower cone forms and completes at a branch tip, multiple new stems emerge from just below the cone. Typically in my shrubs of various kinds, one to three new stems emerge just below a bloom. Roses would be a good example of this. This Leucadendron branch has 13 new stems!
Back in August 2011, I took a photo of a Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' I saw in the neighborhood:
I drove by that plant yesterday. It looked to be on the decline. The base of the plant is quite bare compared to the state it was in back in 2011. The Sunset Western Garden Book says Leucadendrons are "short lived". Okay.
Compare what a similar Leucadendron looks like in the San Francisco Bay area:
They looked a lot happier up there than they do here. Better water? A love for cooler summers? In their native South Africa, they are found on coastal flats.
The replacement 'Ebony' plants I got are fine. One is in the ground and fine, while the other is still waiting in a pot. It's fine, too.
Further considering interesting foliage, Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' shows the amazing range of color he is capable of producing--from copper, dark grey, to a greeny-yallery...
...pale blue, lavender, pink, silver, aqua.
x Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' is named for a co-founder of the National (UK) Cactus & Succulent Society. He got a glorious honor, don't you think?
When planted (3/9/2013):
Okay, it's doing well. My plant is a female. A male plant would be required for seeds.
It has new stems sprouting at the base:
After a flower cone forms and completes at a branch tip, multiple new stems emerge from just below the cone. Typically in my shrubs of various kinds, one to three new stems emerge just below a bloom. Roses would be a good example of this. This Leucadendron branch has 13 new stems!
Back in August 2011, I took a photo of a Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' I saw in the neighborhood:
I drove by that plant yesterday. It looked to be on the decline. The base of the plant is quite bare compared to the state it was in back in 2011. The Sunset Western Garden Book says Leucadendrons are "short lived". Okay.
Compare what a similar Leucadendron looks like in the San Francisco Bay area:
They looked a lot happier up there than they do here. Better water? A love for cooler summers? In their native South Africa, they are found on coastal flats.
The replacement 'Ebony' plants I got are fine. One is in the ground and fine, while the other is still waiting in a pot. It's fine, too.
Further considering interesting foliage, Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' shows the amazing range of color he is capable of producing--from copper, dark grey, to a greeny-yallery...
...pale blue, lavender, pink, silver, aqua.
x Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' is named for a co-founder of the National (UK) Cactus & Succulent Society. He got a glorious honor, don't you think?
Beautiful, every plant in this post! These are the photos that make me most envious of your climate.
ReplyDeleteYou keep these beautiful pictures coming and I might just make through our long grey winter.
ReplyDeleteThe Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' is beautiful, such lovely colour variations in the foliage, the Leucadendron looks great and I am happy to read that your Ebony plants are doing well, I love the colours and variations of foliage in a garden.
ReplyDeletexoxoxo ♡