Cactus And Succulents

And now, after seeing so many comments and questions about 'cacti' that actually aren't really cacti on theand the cactus and succulent forum, I thought I'd write a short article about plants that look like cacti, but aren't.The ‘typical' cactus is...

In modern times, the dye is most often used as a natural source of color for food and cosmetics. Opuntia ficus-indica , the Indian fig cactus, may be the most economically important cactus.

Usually when someone thinks of cactus, they visualize a typical segmented Opuntia, stout barrel cactus, or some tall, spiny columnar plant. Cactus come in all shapes and varieties though some do not look like typical cacti, or even like cacti at all.

10-10-10 is the best ratio to use.For plants that are not flowering as expected, be sure the soil is not too dry, or plants are not next to a cold or hot source (air conditioner, heater etc.).

Euphorbias come in all shapes and sizes and one of the most commonly grown but unusual Euphorbias are the stick Euphorbias. These plants are basically leafless shrubs and trees and make for unique landscape and potted specimens.

They come in a variety of shades of blue, green, grey, purple, red etc. The following is a pictorial introduction to aloe flowers that can be enjoyed in cultivated plants in the southwest US.

Most also tolerate, to a surprising degree, being grown in soils with a high clay content (commonly encountered throughout southern California). It is not a very useful recommendation as one cannot control the outdoor temperature.

Yuccas are New World plants in the family Agavaceae and are an important genus in terms of ornamental landscaping usage as well as of an economic importance in some areas of its range.

From persusing the thousands of photos on these web sites, you will notice many Mammilliarias look a LOT alike while at the same time there is a huge variation of appearances within many of the species.

Hesperoyucca and Hesperaloe are genera that include some very useful, ornamental and hardy landscaping plants. This article serves as an introduction to these Yucca-relatives. It spreads by rhizomes and can slowly fill in an area with dense plant material.The...

Gasteria are neat, compact, easy-to-grow succulents from South Africa that are very common in the nursery trade, but probably should become even more so. This article serves as an introduction to this wonderful genus.

There are several bulbs that I tend to lump into the succulent category since they grow so well in the same situations that cacti and succulents do, and the Pregnant Onion, Albuca bracteata (aka Ornithogalum longibracteatum) is one of the easiest of these...

The plants are easy to grow and propagate with almost any part of th6e plant growing a new plant! They are easy to grow and very forgiving---the perfect starter plant. With an amazing array of shapes and sizes, textures and blooms Cacti and succulents...

There are many hundreds of species of Agaves, most which are either very rare or still rather unobtainable.And of the several hundred that are more readily available, most are moderate to pretty large plants.If one's first experiences with Agaves included...

But Furcraeas are indeed a separate genus, differentiated biologically primarily by their distinct flower shape (bulbous versus filiform).I never cease to be amazed at the little things that can keep two very similar plants from being closely related.In...

Haworthias are in the same family as the aloes (Asphodelaceae in Davesgarden, and Aloaceae in some other websites/encyclopedias). These have 'naturally' pulled themselves down into the soil a ways.

March is still somewhat dominated by aloe flowers, but for pure mass of color, the Mesembs have taken over.Some of these ice-plant relatives blanket the gardens and landscapes of southern California and other Mediterranean climates this month and next...

I tried to research this plant's namesake but I was unable to come up with anything (not really sure where to look).There are several of Fred Ives on the internet (an actor, a business person, etc.) I have no idea who this plant is named after.This first...

There are dozens of amazing Crassula species that grow in a 'stacked' formation- these wonderful landscape and potted plants are sometimes hard to tell apart. Below is an introduction and discussion of some of these unusual plants.

This group of Crassulaceans has some of the most spectacular succulents as well as some of the most annoying weeds of all the succulent plants.Some Kalanchoes grow into enormous tree-like structures while some remain as moderate sized suckering shrubs,...

The following photos are of aloes with cultivational or species names that start with the lettes 'D' through the letter 'L'. But the inflorescences are highly branched, and the plant is a branching one, so there is a massive number of flowers in winterthis...

And some have less than amazing flowers as well. The inflorescence of this plant is unique in being highly branched, very wide and having nearly one-sided, sloping racemes, usually of brilliant orange.

Since you need at least two plants to have viable seed (dioecious plants), most landscape plants will never develop these orange seed structures unless multiple adult plants exist in the garden.Inflorescence maturing to seed after being fertilized by...

(Use these as gifts!)My plant is very lopsided because I did not groom it well but it's happy so who cares!Some people complain that their cactus never blooms.So here is the recipe for a beautiful flowering show.Around 4 to 5 weeks before buds should...

Finally, we chose a couple of annual, which we both agreed would complement the pale pinks of the primrose. We needed plants that would thrive in part shade and brutal sun, that were highly drought tolerant.

In awareness of National Invasive Species Week earlier this month, I thought I would discuss some species I have personal experience with that most don't normally think of as invasive, but certainly are in my garden.

Only pots that hang on flat surfaces are difficult to find. Thanks to a rapidly depleted yard in terms of space we have had to resort to putting many plants into pots, a less than ideal situation for me personally as I have a brown thumb when it comes...