What a surprise when a flower stalk suddenly appeared on the Manfreda undulata ‘Chocolate Chip’ that currently resides in the jungle of potted succulents that is my office window! Manfreda is closely related to the agave (Family Agavaceae), a favourite genus that I have mentioned here and there on this website. Like agaves, manfredas grow …
I’ve known this week’s guest, Derek Powazek, for ages and while he claims to have only become a gardener 7 years ago when he moved into a home with a yard, I can’t recall thinking of him in any other way. In my mind he was always a gardener without a garden; his apartment full …
This past winter was a particularly cold and difficult one. I lost a number of plants and there are several others that have come out of dormancy looking shaken and forlorn. It’s frustrating, but I’m also trying to see the positive in this. Holes in the garden offer the opportunity to try something new or …
I kid. A little hyperbole on a Thursday afternoon. The leaves on this particular plant expand as much as 25″ across! Those of you living in warmer climates must wonder why in the heck I have such a large agave indoors! They’re big, heavy, and their spines are painful. At this size they are not …
It’s not a particularly good photo, just a quick snap of some houseplants sitting on a table on my back patio. There’s bits of grit on the table that had been earthed by the squirrels, water rings on the metal table, and volunteer geraniums underneath the bay laurel tree — little messes that I might …
Some years ago, my friend Barry gave me a large jade (Crassula ovata), an extra that had become crowded in with another in the pot they shared. Through the years since, I had been caring for this large-trunked succulent much like I do many of my other tender(ish) succulents. They spend winter in the south-facing …
It was the day of our 20th anniversary, but I COULD NOT miss the annual Ontario Rock Garden and Hardy Plant Society sale at the Toronto Botanical Garden (a different account of this story appears over here). Davin entertained my desire to go — an anniversary gift of sorts and one that he has been …
I went all out for succulents this year and had some fun putting together a range of containers using tender plants. I live in a colder climate where tender succulents must be brought inside to overwinter, and for this reason I have tended to stick to making mixed plantings of hardy succulents only (with the …
With flat and fleshy, bluish/silver/green leaves that reach out horizontally as if the plant may take flight, Propeller Plant (Crassula perfoliata var. falcata) is an aptly named South African succulent that I think you’ll love. For those who are curious, according to “Stearn’s Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners,” the Latin “falcata” or “falcate” means …
Last weekend I visited my friend Barry Parker, the man with the best backyard garden in Toronto. Barry recently returned from a botanical tour of South Africa (he is starting to post pictures on his blog) and we were treated to a slideshow of photos he took on the trip. So of course, I have …
I probably should have waited to post this until it was doing something more exciting than simply being alive in a pot, but the fact that it is alive at all is one reason why I find this euphorbia so thrilling in the first place. Euphorbia platyclada is a living succulent plant that looks dead, …
I’ve been a succulent enthusiast since the start. They are easy to care for, can be crammed into small spaces, and they come in a wide range of alien-like forms. What’s not to love? While I have always grown a great many of them, moving out of my old apartment and into a very dry …