Plant Highlights By Date
Opuntia ficus-indica
June 2019
Though many Opuntia fruit are tasty, one species in particular is widely cultivated for fruit production, and this is Opuntia ficus-indica.
Yucca carnerosana
May 2019
Yuccas always put on a wonderful display at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in spring, with their showy clusters of waxy white flowers.
Veltheimia bracteata
April 2019
Veltheimia bracteata is clump-forming, with new bulbs added year after year. It is native to coastal scrub vegetation in the Eastern Cape Province, which is located in the southeastern part of the country.
Crassula pubescens ssp. radicans
March 2019
The genus Crassula is the type-genus of the Stonecrop Family (Crassulaceae). The great majority of these are found in southern Africa.
Aloe branddraaiensis
February 2019
As with most aloe species, the flowers in each cluster open sequentially from lowest to topmost over a course of several weeks. Each flower has a rounded base, narrowing a little above this, and then increasing again in diameter toward the mouth.
Cephalophyllum aureorubrum
January 2019
At the Ruth Bancroft Garden, we have found this plant easy to grow if given excellent drainage and a sunny spot. Its bright yellow and orange blossoms are a welcome addition to the garden in winter, and lows in the upper 20’s F (to -3°C) have not harmed it.
Hakea verrucosa
December 2018
The flowers of Hakea species are held in clusters along the stems, and they resemble those of the relatives in the genus Grevillea. Hakea is a large genus of shrubs and small trees in the Protea Family (Proteaceae), with 150 species listed in Wikipedia.
Senecio decaryi
November 2018
Senecio is a large genus of about 1500 species in the Asteraceae, or Daisy Family, and it includes both succulent and non-succulent plants. The flowering time for Senecio decaryi is generally during the summer and fall months, and plants may go through more than one bout of flowering in a year.
Plectranthus argentatus
October 2018
Though it is native to a summer-rainfall area, Plectranthus argentatus grows quite well in The Ruth Bancroft Garden’s Mediterranean climate, needing only an occasional watering during the summer months to keep it happy.
Huernia thuretii var. primulina
September 2018
Stapeliads are succulent relatives of the milkweeds with striking 5-pointed flowers. Their flowers are beautiful, but in most cases they emit foul odors to attract pollinators.
