The Succulent and Cactus Lady : January 2019

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!

Thursday, 24 January 2019

Crassula perfoliata - the first flower!

Dedicated to all you succulent-lovers!

The first flower! Now for the long wait, as I hear this can take quite some time before it opens!

Crassula perfoliata is an attractive summer-flowering succulent with greyish-green sickle-shaped leaves and red flowers. It is easily grown from cuttings or seed. This indigenous South African plant is confined to quartzitic sandstone outcrops (rarely shale), from the Groot Winterhoek Mountains and Port Elizabeth in the south to Umtata in the north-east. The plants grow solitary or in small clusters on north-, east- and west-facing cliffs along dry river valleys. It likes temperatures of about 25°C and the average daily minimum about 10°C and somehow I don’t think this plant is frost-hardy, so I will be bringing it inside for the winter.

Family : Crassulaceae
Common names : Propeller plant, Sekelblaarplakkie (Afrikaans)

Camera : Canon EOS 550D
Taken in my previous garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

Tuesday, 1 January 2019

Happy New Year 2019!

In this coming year, plant dreams, pull weeds and grow a happy life!

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.

About me

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Thursday, 24 January 2019

Crassula perfoliata - the first flower!

Tuesday, 1 January 2019

Happy New Year 2019!