Plant Highlights By Date
Dudleya cymosa ssp. paniculata
June 2025
The genus Dudleya has a conspicuous presence along California’s shoreline, ranging from coastal southern Oregon in the north all the way down to Baja California in the south. However, there are species that occur farther inland as well, and one of these is Dudleya cymosa, with an extensive distribution along the Coast Ranges from Lake County down to the mountains around L.A., as well as on the western side of the Sierra Nevada from near Chico southward.
Ferocactus echidne
May 2025
One of the Ferocactus species from northeastern Mexico is Ferocactus echidne, found over a fairly large area from central Hidalgo northward through Queretaro, Guanajuato, and San Luis Potosí to southwestern Tamaulipas and southern Nuevo León. Though often multi-headed, it sometimes remains single.
Kalanchoe tomentosa
April 2025
Kalanchoe tomentosa is frequently grown as a potted plant, but it can be planted out where winters are mild. It can endure only brief dips below freezing, so it is not suitable outdoors where cold spells in winter exceed this.
Lachenalia aloides
March 2025
Lachenalia is a genus of bulbs, currently placed in the subfamily Scilloideae within the Asparagus family, but formerly in the family Hyacinthaceae. Of the 133 species recognized in the 2012 monograph of the genus, the great majority come from the winter-rainfall region in western South Africa, though a few come from farther east, or northward into Namibia.
Grevillea lavandulacea ‘Penola’
February 2025
The home range of Grevillea lavandulacea is in southeastern Australia, in the western part of Victoria and the eastern part of South Australia. It varies in habit from low-growing prostrate forms to shrubs as much as 5 feet tall, and the cultivar ‘Penola’ is at the larger end of this spectrum, attaining a height of 4 to 5 feet.
Cheiridopsis speciosa
January 2025
Cheiridopsis is a genus of succulent plants in the Aizoaceae, or Ice Plant Family, with all of the speies native to the winter-rainfall region in western South Africa and the neighboring southwesern corner of Namibia. They are a variable group, but many of them have fat, fleshy finger-like leaves, as is the case with Cheiridopsis speciosa.
Aloe tongaensis (Aloidendron tongaense)
December 2024
The area where Aloe tongaensis occurs, in southern Mozambique and northeastern South Africa, is warm and tropical, so plants in habitat do not experience freezing temperatures. In cultivation, it can tolerate brief overnight lows a little below freezing, but not sustained freezes.
×Mangave ‘Silver Fox’
November 2024
One of the reasons for making hybrids between a Manfreda and an Agave is the desire to come up with a plant that has the sculptural solidity of the latter, along with the purple spots that can be found in the former. ×Mangave ‘Silver Fox’ is one of the ×Mangave crosses with only a faint trace of spotting, but it has a beautiful silvery-bluish leaf color with a hint of purple.
Agave microceps
October 2024
Agave microceps was first described from plants growing in the south-central part of Sinaloa, on the west coast of Mexico. At this locality, the population is only about 1600 feet (500 m) above sea level, growing on rocky low hills not far inland from the Gulf of California.
Parodia leninghausii
September 2024
Parodia leninghausii is an easy plant to grow, performing well as a potted specimen or in the ground. As with other cacti, it requires good drainage.
