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Cactus Blog Archives

Friday Whippet Blogging

Posted November 9, 2017 8:55 pm & filed under Whippets.

It’s Jason!

Small Succulent

Posted November 7, 2017 8:35 am & filed under Plants in Production.

Crassula “Chiquito”

Common Name: Dwarf Red Carpet

Origin: South Africa

Description:
C. radicans “Chiquito”

Spreading groundcover to 6″ high, small ½” paired leaves turn red in sun; tiny yellow flowers

Cardon

Posted November 4, 2017 12:21 pm & filed under Cactus.

Pachycereus pringlei

Common Name: Cardón

Origin: Baja California

Description: Tall and spiny to 40ft. with 2ft. trunk, slow growing. Edible fruit, medicinal stems.

Temperature: Hardy to 25F

Los Altos Euphorbias

Posted October 20, 2017 7:33 am & filed under Bay Area Gardens, Reader Photos.

We recently delivered a giant 9ft tall Euphorbia “Ammak” down all the way to Los Altos. At least we thought it was giant. It sure looked giant in our store greenhouse!

But as you can see it is the small Euphorbia there! They’ve been growing them for many years and the new one looks tiny! Nice.

Thank you for our new 9ft Euphorbia Ammak. She is settling in nicely next to her larger family members!
Best,
Lorilynn

Gorgeous Tiny Stapeliad Flowers

Posted October 18, 2017 9:06 am & filed under Photography.

Cynanchum marnierianum

Amazing little flower, but look there’s 8 more buds too!

The plant itself is all hanging bare stems. Practically a “stick plant” I’d you ask me.

Prickly Pear Pests

Posted October 16, 2017 10:16 am & filed under Questions.

Hi-
I got this guy from you a couple months ago. I’m worried it has developed a fungus. What do you think those dots are?
Thanks!
Stephanie

Stephanie,

That is Scale, a small hard-shelled insect that sucks the juices out of cactus. We recommend spraying with natural pyrethrins. We sell Don’t Bug Me which will kill them on contact. They have a hard outer shell so you can clean them off with a spray of rubbing alcohol which will break down the shell, and then use a soft brush to wipe them off. Be careful not to scrape the cactus.

Peter

Berkeley Yucca Garden

Posted October 10, 2017 8:40 am & filed under Berkeley Gardens, Berkeley Succulents.

Heinz Street, Berkeley

A nicely blooming Yucca in the Aquatic Park Gardens with a beautiful red Leucadendron in front. Sweet!

Aeoniums, Berkeley

Posted October 9, 2017 11:19 am & filed under Berkeley Succulents.

Heinz Street

Aeoniums in a rock planter, as seen in Berkeley

Star Cactus

Posted October 8, 2017 8:47 am & filed under Cactus, Photography.

Ariocarpus fissuratus vibrantly blooming in autumn.

Common Name: Star Rock, Chaute

Origin: Big Bend, Texas; Mexico

Description: Slow-growing to 10″d; hairy center; summer blooms; keep dry in winter

Hardy to 25F
Full Sun
Extra Chunky Cactus Soil
Low Water

Umbrella Flower

Posted October 7, 2017 10:23 am & filed under Photography, Succulents.

Ceropegia sandersonii has giant umbrealla, or parachute-like flowers! Very unusual vining Stapeliad.

Common Name: Parachute Plant, Umbrella Flower
Origin: Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland
Description: Vining Stapeliad with massive unusual parachute-like flowers.
Characteristics:

Hardy to 45F
Part Sun
Low Water

Blooming Cactus Flowers

Posted October 6, 2017 1:21 pm & filed under Cactus, Photography.

Beautiful Ariocarpus retusus flowers!

Ariocarpus retusus

Common Name: Living Rock Cactus, Seven Stars, Chaute

Origin: Mexico

Description: Highly variable, possibly through hybridizing. Slow-growing to 10″d; hairy center; summer blooms. Keep dry in winter

Temperature: Hardy to 15F

Crassula “Buddha’s Temple”

Posted September 28, 2017 8:01 am & filed under Nursery, Succulents.

People ask if we have Crassula “Buddha’s Temple” available and for a number of years we’ve had to say “no”. Until now. We finally have a real crop ready, to size and on the floor and ready for sale. Nice! Hopefully we will be able to keep these growing on for years to come so that anytime anyone anywhere (Berkeley, Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area) wants one we will have it available. Now and forever.

Nice!

Crassula “Buddha’s Temple”

Miniature square-shaped vertical stems to 8″, drops bottom leaves

Hardy to 25F
Part Sun to Part Shade
Low Water

Succulents, San Francisco

Posted September 26, 2017 4:07 pm & filed under San Francisco.

More of the Aeoniums of Divisadero St. in San Francisco.

San Francisco Succulents

Posted September 25, 2017 10:32 am & filed under San Francisco.

Divisadero St., San Francisco

Sunday Turtle Blogging

Posted September 24, 2017 8:29 am & filed under Whats New.

Tyrone has come to stay for a few years.

Friday Whippet Blogging

Posted September 15, 2017 9:10 am & filed under Whippets.

Jason!

Los Angeles Area Cactus Show

Posted September 9, 2017 3:33 pm & filed under Cactus, News, Succulents, Weekend.

Were you wondering what to do next weekend? Are you going to be in Encino next weekend? You are in luck!

If your garden yearns for crazy, colorful, drought-hearty plants, the Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society aims to satisfy at its first Fall Sale Sept. 16 in Encino.
A variety of cacti and succulents are up for sale. (Calvin B. Alagot / Los Angeles Times)

I say, “Woot!”

Dragonfruit Recipe

Posted September 4, 2017 7:00 am & filed under Cactus, Recipes.

I found this delicious Dragonfruit Sherbet recipe from our local Berkeleyside!

It’s been a very hot weekend (Record heat throughout Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland? Yes!) so it’s what you want. Right now.

Incredibly addictive, this sherbet offers a celebration of refreshing and complementary flavor in every spoonful. The cool dragon fruit is faintly milky, citrusy and herbal with its gentle infusion of lemongrass. Meanwhile, the strawberry layer offers a hint of tartness and a welcome trace of classic berry sweetness.
Dragon Fruit Sherbet with Lemongrass and Strawberry
Makes about a quart
1 1/2 ounces (about 1 1/2 stalks, depending on size) fresh lemongrass
3/4 cup canned light coconut milk (not full-fat)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces fresh ripe strawberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons light, somewhat neutral liquor of your choice, at least 80 proof (think vodka, light rum or a clear fruit brandy)
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 pounds dragon fruit (about 3 medium dragon fruit)

As always, click through for the full instructions.

Million Hearts

Posted September 3, 2017 6:37 am & filed under Plants in Production, Succulents.

Tiny little pinkish-white flowers appear all along the vines of this epiphitic jungle succulent.

Dischidia ruscifolia
Common Name: Million Hearts
Origin: Philippines

Vining epiphyte; good for hanging baskets, or terrariums.

Hardy to 40F
Part Sun
Jungle Cactus/Orchid Blend
Low Water

Sagebrush

Posted September 2, 2017 6:36 am & filed under Travel.

Artemesia tridentata with a moth visitor.

Chickens and Succulents

Posted September 1, 2017 5:38 am & filed under Misc.

Zebra striped Haworthia and Sedum burrito, plus chickens, in Idaho, near Twin Falls, but not in Twin Falls. Idaho.

Delicious Prickly Pear Fruit

Posted August 27, 2017 9:55 am & filed under Cactus, Recipes.

That is some delicious looking large red cactus fruit, aka Tunas, Prickly Pears, Sabras, nōchtli and more names! This is on one of our larger Opuntia robusta plants. When they get in the ground they can produced a lot of fruit, just for you if that’s what you want, or for all your neighbors and friends too, if you have neighbors and friends. I always prefer to eat my prickly pears by blending them in with my margaritas. Delicious, and healthy!

Prickly Pear Margarita Recipe
Using Prickly Pear Juice
Restaurant Cocktail Recipe

Preparation time: 3 minutes. Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 ounces Tequila
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce prickly pear juice
1/2 ounce Cointreau
Lime slice for garnish
Ice
Kosher salt

Instructions: Click through for the rest of the instructions!
Note that I always leave off the salt, because that’s just the way I prefer my margaritas, without salt.

Arizona Star

Posted August 24, 2017 9:33 am & filed under Nursery, Photography.

Agave weberi “Arizona Star”

Common Name: Weber’s Agave, Maguey Liso

Origin: Mexico, Cultivar From Arizona

Description: 6ft. rosette, striped leaves curve outward

Temperature: Hardy to 15F

Cactus ID for Everyone!

Posted August 21, 2017 9:31 am & filed under Cactus, Questions.

Subject: cactus photo
sent you a message asking for your help finding out what kind of cactus this is thanks for all your help

Mr Leslie Paulson

Your cactus is a Cereus c.v. Monstrose!

Peter

It’s an Echeveria

Posted August 20, 2017 8:46 am & filed under Questions.

this was a gift but i don’t know what it is….could you possibly id it?

Greatly appreciated …mike

Mike,

Sure! It’s an Echeveria, possibly Echeveria “Gilva”.

Peter

Echinopsis Flower

Posted August 19, 2017 8:02 am & filed under Cactus, Photography.

Echinopsis x grandiflora hybrid “Butterfly Mango” showing off.

Best of the East Bay

Posted August 18, 2017 6:51 am & filed under Cactus Jungle.

It’s a plaque! From the East Bay Express.

It says something along the lines of We’re the Best. Yay.

Stapelia with Scale Infestation

Posted August 16, 2017 12:31 pm & filed under Questions.

I bought two plants but am not sure what they are . one look like it was sufering from rot so I removed the bad sections and repotted in new cactus type mix. Wound up with two pots from one because root system was large. Some of the plant is whiteish, Is this sunburn?

Santi

Santi,

The one that is whitish is a Stapelia, the other is a Huernia, both closely related.

The Stapelia has an infestation of Scale, which is an insect that is feeding on your plant. As bad as it looks I would recommend removing all the white stems and taking cuttings from the green stems to replant them, letting the cut ends heal for about a week before planting them in new fresh dry cactus soil. I would spray the green stems you are keeping with a strong insecticide that can handle Scale. We sell a product called Don’t Bug Me. You will need to start over again with new fresh soil. Spray in the evening and out of direct sun to prevent sunburn.

You also might want to spray any plants that are near this one as a preventative measure.

The Huernia looks fine to me in the photo.

Peter

Oakland Succulents

Posted August 15, 2017 6:35 am & filed under Bay Area Succulents, Oakland, Questions.

Hello! I purchased a few succulents there about a month ago. They were doing great but when I went to check if they needed watering yesterday (they did) I noticed two had brown edges and the aloe was spotty. I think this just means the two just need more water but can’t remember if the aloe was always spotted. I attached a photo of each. Am I correct?

They’re all outside on our east-facing deck and get full sun until mid-late afternoon. Is that too much? We’re in Oakland so cool evenings and mornings but warm afternoons usually.
Thanks!
Tyler

Tyler,

The 2 Aeoniums look fine – a little browning on the leaves could be from being moved to your location – i.e. similar to transplant shock, but it looks minimal so nothing to worry about. Also, Aeoniums are winter growers so they will tend to lose leaves throughout the summer until about October anyway, and then the rosettes will start to grow big and full again through our winter rains.

The Aloe looks like it got some sunburn when it got moved. Even though you are very close to us in Oakland sometimes a change in sun/heat/location can cause some stress. That is what the spotting is. It looks like the spots are healed over, so as long as they don’t get worse over time eventually you will see new leaves grow from the center and the old leaves will get replaced – succulents do lose bottom leaves regularly.

You might want to pro-actively spray the Aloe with organic Neem Oil (in the evening out of full sun) just in case there’s any fungal infection from the spotting.
You can also bring any of the plants or all of them in to the store and we can take a closer look in person. Let me know if anything changes either way!

Peter

Euphorbia squarrosa

Posted August 8, 2017 9:59 am & filed under Plants in Production.

Coming soon!

Euphorbia squarrosa

Origin: South Africa
Description: Green spiny branches atop an irregular caudex which is underground in habitat. Green inflorescence with yellow and red centers.

Temperature: Hardy to 32F
Sun: Full Sun to Part Sun
Soil: Extra Chunky
Water: Low Water

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