Greenhouse update

Since I haven't been keeping up with this blog for a while I figured I should provide a little update on my greenhouse. When you have limited growing space (don't we all?) and an ever-growing appetite for plants, it's hard to make space for everything.

Many of my Encyclia orchids are kept together on this top shelf for the brightest light.

Another top shelf is filled with cacti and succulents.

Over the years some plants have been neglected. Some plants get over-watered or under-watered, depending on where they are located and how they are potted. Over the last month I have done the most comprehensive greenhouse cleanup since I first built it. I didn't quite take everything out, but I did go through all 7 shelving units and remove empty pots, sweep out all the leaves from the floor, remove all the junk that was being stored under benches, and repotted plants that were in need of new soil or more space. 

Quite a few plants are hanging in the center of the greenhouse, taking advantage of every bit of available sunlight. It makes for less room to stand in the greenhouse, but that is a secondary consideration.

It was a big undertaking, but I'm really glad I took this on before moving all my plants back into the greenhouse for the winter. Probably a third to half of my plants come out of the greenhouse for the warm part of the year, but have to move back in during the winter to survive our cold weather. 

Wide-angle view to show most of the greenhouse at once.

It's this time of year when I start worrying that I won't be able to fit everything in. This year I think there might be enough room to get my plants in and still have a spot for me to stand to water things. That would be a big win!

This mid-level shelf is more shaded and has tender new seedlings and other plants I need to keep a close eye on over the winter.

During the winter the heater will really dry out the air in the greenhouse, so it's important that I keep a close eye on plants that are sensitive to dry conditions. For this reason I've tried to position some of these plants in positions where I they are front and center when I walk in the greenhouse.

Here's to hoping that the plants are happy over the winter and next spring I have lots of plants to share with friends!

Cactus rot

It has been a wetter than normal year in most of Oklahoma. My sister just got interested in succulents and cacti recently and has some of her plants out on her front porch for the warm season. When I was at her house a few weeks ago she pointed out one of her new cacti that was in bad shape. I'm afraid this plant was getting a lot of runoff from her roof and was just too wet. She mentioned it was actually her favorite and she was hoping it wasn't a goner.

The central growth had rotted and was just a black mushy clump with spines. However, it looked like there may be some salvageable growth that had not begun to rot - yet.

I gave my sister some instructions on what to do and then asked if she'd like me to do it. She was happy to hand it over. I took it home, donned some gloves, and carefully unpotted it. I separated the healthy green growth from the black mush and threw that away. I was going to set the green growth aside to let it callous before planting it again, but it seems to be without wounds and had roots attached, so I carefully repotted those growths. Important: I did not water the pot and I sat it aside in the greenhouse in a location where it will stay dry.

I will check this pot regularly over the next several weeks and hopefully not see any new rotting. Assuming all is well, I'll add some rocks to the surface of the soil again and take it back to my sister.

A couple Huernia blooms

Without a doubt, Huernia is my favorite succulent genus. This genus is in the Stapeliaceae family, closely related to the common carrion flower/starfish plant, Stapelia gigantea. I have amassed a pretty good collection of these plants and always seek them out at the Central Oklahoma Cacti and Succulent Show. This year I purchased a new one that was labeled Huernia sp. The petals of the flower reflex after a day or two, resulting in a different appearance (shown in second photo).

It bloomed not long after the show and I was able to get some help identifying it as either Huernia procumbens or a hybrid of that species.

Another Huernia that I picked up recently is Huernia zebrina, which has very distinct yellow and red flowers. This plant is sometimes called the Lifesaver Plant, due to the red ring that forms in the center of the flower, similar to the plant above, but more pronounced and much more colorful. I was delighted when the first flower opened on my plant and have been pleasantly surprised to see this plant flower constantly all summer for me. There have been as many as 5 flowers open on the plant at one time.

Update: Plant all the seeds!

A little more than a month ago I planted a bunch of seeds and it looks like I've had good results with most, if not all, of them.

From the pots of mixed cacti seeds, I can see some funny little forms rising from the soil. The germination percentage is low at this point - just three little seedlings. It's quite possible that these three seedlings are just the species with the quickest germination period and others will come up over time. Hard to say for sure at this point. I wonder how long it will be before these little seedlings are recognizable.

First signs of life in the mixed cacti pots.

My native butterfly-attracting Common Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) seeds are beginning to sprout!

Common Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) seedlings

Eastern Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

on Common Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

at Lake Texoma (July 2016)

My non-native (south African) butterfly-attracting Hairy Balls (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) have sprouted and are off to the races! Check out the fast growth over just 30 hours!

Gomphocarpus physocarpus 6 days after planting

Gomphocarpus physocarpus 7 days after planting

The other seeds I planted were some Bauhinia (Orchid Tree) and Dietes (Fortnight Lily/Iris) that I collected in Los Angeles in March. I have had luck germinating each of these before, so I am hopeful in both cases, but haven't seen any action yet with this batch. The Bauhinia trees that I grew from seed previously are now about 5' tall and ready to be planted outdoors in an appropriate climate (not central Oklahoma). Unfortunately my previous encounter with Dietes didn't end well. After the two seeds germinated and sprouted tiny plants, they didn't survive long. I'm hoping to do better this time and, with luck, I'll have more seedlings and can experiment a little more with lighting, humidity, and soil moisture.

Plant Find: Kalanchoe humilis

Not a lot to say about this little cutie. I found him at IKEA a couple of weeks ago and he will be blooming shortly.

The plant was actually labeled "Echeveria." After some back and forth with some friends, we found the correct name for this strongly-patterned succulent.

Trip Report: Desert Botanical Garden

I recently traveled to Phoenix for work and managed to get some free time for exploring the Desert Botanical Garden, which was conveniently close to my hotel and the airport. Before going to Phoenix I looked for some good birding hotspots and was really excited to see that one of the best places to go birding in Phoenix is a botanic garden. Two birds with one stone! (plants and birds)

While I'm at it - a bird in the hand is worth nothing compared to two birds in a bush! Who wants a bird in their hand? A bird in the bush is much easier to photograph, and you're photographing the bush at the same time! Plants and birds, that's what I'm talking about!

Phoenix is a beautiful city and I enjoyed it much more than I expected. I'm sure the 79 degree high temperature each day helped, almost 60 degrees warmer than back home.

The Desert Botanical Garden is a beautiful, well maintained garden with lots of interesting plants. The entry garden is awesome and wandering just a bit further in there is a cacophony of sound - Gila Woodpeckers, Verdins, and Costa's Hummingbirds constantly trilling, chirping, and whistling. I really liked the Desert Wildflower Loop, which was particularly buzzing with hummingbirds. The Sonoran Desert Nature Loop is in more open scenery with many Saguaro cacti in sight.

The Cacti and Succulent Galleries are made up of some large metal structures that provide shade and protection for some smaller and more tender plants, such as Lithops, Stapelia, Kalanchoe, and Aloe.

There were several Aloe in bloom while I was there. Their vibrant flowers contrasting with the wide solid green leaves are something to see.

I am not a big collector of cacti and succulents, but seeing these plants growing in mass and in their natural habitat was really fun. There was plenty that caught my eye, from the purple-tinted Prickly Pears (Opuntia gosseliniana var. santa-rita), to the spiny mounds of Jumping Cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida), the cone-shaped Boojum Trees (Fouquieria columnaris), and the towering native Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea).

I managed to add 13 new bird species to my life list, which is more than I expected.

You can see more of my photos from the Desert Botanical Garden here.

Plant Find: Three New Succulents

The whole family went on a little reconnaissance trip to a local nursery to look at some shrubs and trees that we might use when we relandscape our front yard.  With a three year old and a five year old we're in a perpetual mode of one of us watching the kids while the other is trying to do something productive, at least until their antics require both of us to bring the universe back into order.  When it was my turn to watch the kiddos I followed them into a long, nearly empty hoop house where they decided to pick up the tiny gravel from the ground and start throwing it out over the empty mesh tables.  I stifled my persistent desire to ask them to stop and just asked that they not throw rocks at each other or at plants.

Huernia zebrina

While they continued their onslaught of gravel flinging I wandered over to the only little patch of green in the hoop house.  It was a selection of small succulent plants with a sign that read "Priced as marked."  I looked around and was surprised to see about 8 little pots of Huernia zebrina, a Stapeliad that I have admired photos of for a white, but had not seen in person and had not yet added to my collection.  Price tag?  Nope.  Huh...

Huernia zebrina

I picked out the best one of the lot, which was a tough choice, because they were all blooming, but some had more buds than others and some had more plant growth.  I selected the one with the most stems and buds I could find, not focusing as much on the current number of flowers.  The flowers are strange little things with a bright red ring that resembles an inner tube and leads to the common name of "Lifesaver plant."

Alluaudia

Then I looked at what else was on the table.  An Alluaudia?  Can it be!?!  There were four of them - long, lanky succulent with alternating rows of spines and leaves.  I have admired a giant Alluaudia at the Myriad Gardens for years.  I've never once seen one for sale.  I looked at the four available and picked the best.  This plant was considerably bigger than the Huernia but since I had not seen it for sale before I set a maximum price of $12 in my head.  I'm not sure which species this is, but I am thinking it is probably Alluaudia procera.

Alluaudia

I looked a bit more.  Nothing significant that I had been wanting, but there was a cute little plant with very strange leaves.  This was the only plant with a price tag ($3) and also the only one with a real label in it.  It read "Pink Ice Plant (Oscularia deltoides)."  I picked out the best one and proceeded to the cash register, hoping for the best with my unmarked plants.  I figured having one plant with a $3 price tag may help with the others.

Pink Ice Plant - Oscularia deltoides

Pink Ice Plant - Oscularia deltoides

I was pleasantly surprised when the cashier decided my three plants were $2, $3, and $4.  Definitely one of my cheapest plant hauls ever!

Cactus and Succulent Show 2017

I have attended the annual show of the Central Oklahoma Cactus and Succulent Society (COCSS) for the last several years.  Although I don't spend a lot of time thinking about these plants or actively collecting them throughout the year, I always enjoy the show and find some really good deals on interesting plants.

Some nice plants that received ribbons in the show area.

Matucana madisoniorum - the most striking flowers at the show.

I only took a few photos of show and sale plants this year other than the ones I purchased.

Euphorbia neorubella

This year I purchased 7 plants: Kalanchoe tomentosa, an unlabeled Huernia species, Huernia keniensis, Caralluma europea, Opuntia violacea, Tillandsia tricolor v. melanocrater, and Tillandsia schiedeana.

Kalanchoe tomentosa

Huernia sp., Huernia keniensis, and Caralluma europea

The unidentified Huernia

Tillandsias aren't truly cacti or succulents, but the term "succulents" is already rather broad and is not taxonomically linked, like "cacti" is to the family Cactaceae.  I guess cacti and succulent people just like Tillandsias and brought some to sell.  I'm excited because one of them is on the verge of blooming.

Tillandsia schiedeana and Tillandsia tricolor v. melanocrater

As I've mentioned before, my favorite succulents are the Stapeliads.  I have found that I can grow them pretty well, so I try to focus my money on those plants.  With my recent purchases my Stapeliad collection now includes 10 species:

• Caralluma europea
• Huernia sp (unknown species)
• Huernia confusa
• Huernia keniensis
• Huernia penzigii
• Huernia schneideriana
• Stapelia ambigua
• Stapelia flavopurpurea
• Stapelia gigantea
• Stapelia hirsuta

I've had some others in the past, but have lost some over the years.

A recent bloom on my Huernia penzigii

A friend from northwest Arkansas came over for the show. I met him and his wife there and we exchanged a few plants and visited for a short time.  He brought me a neat Sinningia tubiflora, which was bred for hardiness in our region, as well as Kalanchoe beauverdii and Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi. Hopefully the Sinningia will flower for me soon and I'll share some photos.

Sansevieria in bloom

Sansevieria are pretty common houseplants, office plants, or "mall plants" as I sometimes say.  As with many other plants that grow well in these conditions, there are a few species or varieties that have been propagated far and wide and are most commonly seen, while the genera themselves are much larger.

A few years ago I got a Sansevieria from my friend, Russ.  He had it labeled "Sansevieria sp. Chahinian 549" at the time.  It was the collection number of a botanist by the name of Juan Chahinian from his first trip to Kenya.  Russ obtained the plant from the Huntington Botanic Garden in California.  Russ believes this is actually Sansevieria parva.

Sansevieria parva?

The plant has grown slowly but steadily (as Sansevieria do) for me in the intervening years.  And this year, for the first time, it has bloomed!  The flowers are strongly fragrant.  When I stepped into the greenhouse it was a very pleasant smell, but when I stuck my nose right up to the flowers it was a little too much for me.

Sansevieria flowers

The misunderstood Poinsettia

It's been AGES since I last posted!  Sorry about that, loyal followers.   Life has been busy and I have added some new hobbies, which have diverted my attention and time away from the blog.  Now, let's talk about poinsettias!



I'm not entirely sure why I typed that title for the post.  Now that I have, I have a lot to discuss.  My inspiration for the post was when I visited the good old Myriad Botanic Gardens in Oklahoma City a couple of weeks ago.  To be honest, I have been a little disheartened with the direction of the gardens since the garden ownership changed a few years ago.  There is a lot more marketing (good) but a lot of it seems to have nothing to do with plants (sad).





Anyway, that being said, when we were at the gardens a couple of weeks ago they had the whole placed decked out for the holidays and the conservatory was lit up with Christmas lights.  (All normal lighting was turned off, so you couldn't really see the plants.)  In the lobby area they had tons of Poinsettias.  At first I walked by them, not realizing there was something special about this temporary splash of holiday color.  There were SIGNS by each of these plants.  (I can't tell you how many times I have been in botanic gardens and seen a plant or tree that I didn't know and I couldn't find a label for it anywhere.)  The signs caught my attention and then I noticed these Poinsettias were not all the same.  And I don't mean they were just different colors.  There were striking differences.





I was really delighted to see that the Myriad had gone out of their way to track down some named varieties that were different from the norm. They were only lacking a bit more signage to call people's attention to the understated exhibit. It could be pretty educational, describing what a cultivar is, how they are selected and bred, and how the horticulture industry works. It's all in my head.



Now back to my title, I think the Poinsettia is misunderstood. First, the Poinsettia is Euphorbia pulcherrima, belonging to the huge Eurphorbia genus, which mostly consists of succulent plants that the average person would call "cacti." You wouldn't know it with a quick look at the Poinsettia, but it's true. Now maybe the Poinsettia is saying "Hey, that's just my crazy family.  I'm nothing like those spiky beasts."  But they are closely related. Second, those colorful "flowers" that everyone loves at Christmas time... well, they're not really flowers. Those are colored leaves, called bracts. The flowers are the small yellow bits in the middle.  Third, they just don't look like that in the wild.  The compact potted plants sold all over the place between Thanksgiving and Christmas have been grafted and bred for those traits.  The natural species is much more lanky and with less prominent colorful bracts.  Fourth, the rumors of their toxicity are hyperbolic.  Most people will have little to no reaction from the sap.  Others could have some skin irritation.  If you were to each a leaf,  you might puke.  You would have to eat a lot of Poinsettias to have anything close to a fatal dose.



Finally, I will leave you with some photos of a favorite relative of mine.  It is the Jamaican Poinsettia Tree (Euphorbia punicea). There is a large specimen at the Myriad Botanic Gardens and I have also seen this tree growing outdoors at a botanic garden in Florida.

Euphorbia punicea (Jamaican Poinsettia tree) at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, Miami, Florida.

Jamaican Poinsettia Tree - macro view of flower. Myriad Botanic Gardens, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.