The Succulent and Cactus Lady : Haworthia cooperi

About me

🌿 I've been gardening ever since a child, when I spent time with my father in his vegetable garden. But my fascination with Echeverias started in the 1980's, when my father gave me a pot with five Echeverias, which turned out to be E. imbricata. At first I wasn't much interested in them and planted them in some obscure corner of the garden and completely forgot about them. How great was my surprise when, a couple of months later, I noticed that they had spread and made a beautiful display - I was hooked!

Wednesday 26 December 2018

Haworthia cooperi

I've never had much success with growing Haworthia Cooperi. This one of mine started deteriorating soon after I acquired it until it was completely dead!

Haworthia cooperi is a diverse and varied species of the genus Haworthia in the family Asphodelaceae, endemic to the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. It is a fast growing, clustering species with soft, fleshy foliage (the leaves have the feel of tiny, plump grapes). While it clusters, it adds additional offsets slowly, gradually increasing its size to fill a 3 to 4 inch pot.

This plant thrives in dappled shade and I think the mistake I made was to let it get too much direct sunlight. Another factor is that the haworthias show evidence of stress when temperatures become very high (above the mid 90°F - 32°C), which was often the case in my garden, even when the plant was in the shade.

Fat juicy leaves and translucent flesh are the hallmarks of Haworthia window plant. Not all Haworthia have the see-through leaves, but those that do are spectacular specimens of the genus

Read more at Gardening Know How: How To Grow Haworthia: Information On Caring For Window Plants https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/haworthia-cacti-succulents/haworthia-window-plants.htm

Fat juicy leaves and translucent flesh are the hallmarks of Haworthia window plant. Not all Haworthia have the see-through leaves, but those that do are spectacular specimens of the genus.

Read more at Gardening Know How: How To Grow Haworthia: Information On Caring For Window Plants https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/haworthia-cacti-succulents/haworthia-window-plants.htm

Featured Succulent

Echinopsis grows pretty much anywhere. Here in South Africa they can tolerate summer temperatures of 30°C or greater, which is hot enough to spur growth of both Echinopsis pups and their amazing flowers. They also tolerate cold temperatures well during winter months. However, I bring my potted ones inside during hard freezes or their water-filled bodies will freeze as well. Compared to most cacti, Echinopsis bloom fast and furious. They typically begin blooming in spring. Most blooms only last one or two days and they frequently open at night. But it’s common to have several buds on one plant developing at different rates; so a single plant can be in bloom for several weeks. As a general rule, the smaller the diameter of the blooms a Echinopsis species produces, the more blooms the plant produces. Species that produce monster blooms (some over 6” in diameter) tend to have fewer blooms as so much plant energy goes into producing each one. Echinopsis generally begin to produce flowers when they are two or three years old. Echinopsis is a large genus of cacti native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. One small species, E. chamaecereus, is known as the peanut cactus. The 128 species range from large and treelike types to small globose cacti.

A garden requires patient labour and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfil good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them. Gardeners are well primed to provide food for birds and animals, but the key to encouraging the widest possible range of wildlife is to think of creating a habitat for creatures to live in. The most important aspect of this is the provision of shelter from the weather and from predators, as well as a place to lay eggs, rear young or hibernate.

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Wednesday 26 December 2018

Haworthia cooperi