beautiful flowers

Drosanthemum micans

Drosanthemum is a genus of about 60 species in the Ice Plant Family (Aizoaceae), most of them found in the winter-rainfall area in western South Africa. They are often very enthusiastic flowerers, as can be seen here - the plant itself completely hidden by its flowers. The vivid red and yellow of the flowers makes for a very festive spring display. D. micans is native to the Robertson Karoo, a relatively dry region to the east of Cape Town.

Puya venusta

Puyas belong to the Bromeliad Family, and they mostly occur along the Andes mountain range, from Colombia in the north down to Argentina and Chile in the south. This one is Puya venusta, from north-central Chile. When not in flower, its large clumps of silvery rosettes look a lot like those of Puya coerulea, also from Chile, but its amazing flowers are distinctive. When it emerges, the inflorescence sports little pink clubs jutting out from the main flower stalk, but the WOW factor comes in when the contrasting blue or purple tubular flowers protrude from the pink bracts. Our plant was a donation from Annie's Annuals, a well-known nursery in the San Francisco Bay Area. It had been planted in one of their demonstration beds, but it became too large to keep there, so we were happy to give it a permanent home.

NorthPark Mall, Dallas, TX

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 7 May 2024

In a dry garden the Grevillea juniperina f. sulphurea (spider flower) was flowering. The needle-like leaves of this evergreen shrub are well adapted to a well-drained soil in full sun.

Aloe buhrii (orange)

This Aloe species belongs to a group whose best known member is Aloe striata. However, Aloe buhrii is a much rarer plant in nature and comes from farther to the northwest in the winter-rainfall region. This makes it an ideal choice for Mediterranean-climate gardens, and it is an excellent spring bloomer in our part of California. Its flowers come in yellow or orange - the orange form is pictured here.

Echinopsis 'Flying Saucer'

This beautiful hybrid cactus was created by the late Hans Britsch, of Vista, California. There are many such spectacular hybrids in a wide array of colors, stemming from hybridizing involving Trichocereus, Lobivia, Echinopsis and Soehrensia. For a time, all these groups were combined into a huge concept of Echinopsis, so of course the hybrids were called "Echinopsis hybrids". But now that most people favor reinstating the old genera, it is harder to know what to call them. Often, one is not even sure which genera are present in their lineage. So the easiest thing is to continue to call them Echinopsis hybrids, even if they might actually be a cross between a Lobivia and a Soehrensia, or some other combination.

Saguaro blossoms

Plant of the Day

Sunday 2 June 2024

Thriving in the bright but not direct sun on my kitchen table is Tradescantia albiflora 'Nanouk' (fantasy Venice, Moses in the cradle, pink spiderwort plant, wandering dude). The purple underside of the foliage is dramatic when backlit. Been busy taking cutting for friends so the stems are not as long now!