The Succulent and Cactus Lady : sansevieria trifasciata

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!

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Friday, 21 April 2023

Sweeping your mind

"When you sweep the garden, you are sweeping your mind."

A daily chore, sweeping the garden, as feeding my feathered friends leaves a big mess of left-over seeds and husks. But the Sansevieria (Mother-in-Law's Tongue) doesn't seem to mind all the husks and the Callisia repens is absolutely flourishing! And all the left-over seeds that blow into the garden germinate and come up all over, providing extra sustenance for the birds as they absolutely love all the fresh greenery! So unless you don't mind some "untidy" looking beds, better to feed your birds further away from your prized beds.

A few imperceptible seeds peeking through between the paving.

Saturday, 31 July 2021

My new little patch of Sansevieria

Good morning!

My new little Sansevieria patch. You just gotta love Mother-in-Law’s Tongue!

This is Sansevieria trifasciata (also known as snake plant), native to South Africa, drought-resistent, tolerates low light but this one also just loves the sunlight!

Wednesday, 12 December 2018

Mother-in-Law's Tongue

Have you ever seen Mother-in-Law's Tongue flowering? Well, here it is! (Sansevieria trifasciata).

Also known as the Snake Plant, it this lovely feature plant is easy to propagate and looks great planted en masse in the garden or in pots on the patio or in your home. They thrive in in both bright and low light areas.

As a houseplant, it does best in bright light but handle low light levels indoors as well. Outdoors bright light to full sun. Handles dry and poor soil conditions but appreciates good well-drained soil inside or outside. Lightly fertilize with a liquid 20-20-20 fertilizer 1/2 strength. DO NOT over-water or over-pot. Temperatures below 4℃ may cause damage to leaves. Relatively pest free.

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.