The Succulent and Cactus Lady : Just be patient...

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 22 July 2021

Just be patient...

Graptoveria 'Fantome'

Since our move from our smallholding in Gauteng (South Africa), I've been relegated to "shelf and pot plant gardening". And that's really not meant to be derogatory, I absolutely LOVE shelves and I LOVE pot plants, but nothing beats a spade and a pair of garden gloves.

But now we've at last settled into our new home and I was thrilled at the prospect of starting a brand new garden from scratch! So at last I'm able to plan and design a space for my succulents and other indigenous plants to my heart's content. I'm also learning about this birds (and the bees) of the area and although many of them are well-known to me, there are so many that I've just never had the chance of meeting. So here's to many hours of planting and learning about everything around me.

These are a few of the succulents I've been propagating over the last months - you just cannot keep a succulent-lover down! Right?

Graptoveria 'Fantome'

Flower of Graptoveria 'Fantome'

Graptoveria 'Fantome'

Callisia repens

I know Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus) is not a succulent, but after losing my hanging basket the last winter, I am absolutely thrilled that I have been able to propagate a little piece into growing really well.

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 22 July 2021

Just be patient...