Succulents and More™

This and that, mid August 2026

2026-08-13T18:10:18.539-07:00

It’s been a month since my last “This and that” post. High time for another one, the mid-August 2026 edition.

AGAVES

My previous post was about the teeth on agaves and other succulents. I have a few photos that didn’t make it into that post but deserve to be seen:

Agave horrida from San Marcos Growers

Random variegation on Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’ found at a big-box store

Agave ovatifolia ‘Orca’, the storied variegated clone of the whale’s tongue agave, now in tissue culture at Altman Plants

CACTUS FLOWERS

Cactus flower season is behind us, but some echinopsis hybrids rebloom throughout the summer. Bless them for giving us joy at the doldrumest time of year.

Echinopsis ‘Embraceable You’, a Schick hybrid released by the Huntington

Echinopsis ‘Mutation’ (formerly ‘Freda’). The petals are serrated, but never quite the same way twice. In other words, each flower is a surprise.

Echinopsis ‘Shades of Bourne’

Oops, I missed these. This is all I got to enjoy, in the late afternoon.

The flowers on Ferocactus rectispinus are pretty, but not in the same league as the echinopsis flowers above. But look at the spines! They’re 6" to 7" in length!

MORE CACTUS

A few more random cactus sightings:

Ferocactus pilosus in front of Agave (potatorum ‘Spawn’ × isthmensis) × shawii. A totally random combination that looks great.

A friend gave me an unrooted cutting of what I think is the most spectacular form of the silver torch cactus (Cleistocactus strausii). It took months, but it seems like it’s finally rooted, as per tug test. I love this one.

My friend Kyle made this box for my creeping devil cactus (Stenocactus eruca). Look how small it was exactly two years ago. Two years later, not only has my creeping devil grown arms, it’s also extended far beyond the wooden box. The time has come to think about its future. It will be rehomed shortly; I’ve already talked to the owner of its future home. Update soon.

STOPPED DEAD IN MY TRACKS

Sometimes you’re in the right place in your garden at the right time and spot something that stops you dead in your tracks. This happened to me the other day:

Hardy tapioca (Manihot grahamiii)

The shadows were mesmerizing

STAGHORN

In early April, I came across this staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum ‘Netherlands’) at a local Ace Hardware store. I’d never had much luck with staghorn ferns before, but I decided to try again. Fast forward four months. My staghorn fern, still in its original 1-gallon plastic pot, is not only alive, it’s actually grown! It’s on the front porch, in full shade, a spot it clearly likes. A success story for sure, but nothing more than a stroke of luck. I take no credit for any of it.

Platycerium bifurcatum ‘Netherlands’

“SCHIZOPHRENIC” CANNA

I used to grow cannas many years ago, but when I switched to more water-wise landscaping, I ditched them. That was a big mistake. Cannas may be native to tropical areas of Central and South America, but it turns out that they’re actually remarkable drought-tolerant once established. In recent years, I’ve been adding cannas back into the mix.

No canna cultivar is as striking as Canna × generalis ‘Cleopatra’, a chimera known for its unpredictable mutations. Sometimes the leaves are all green, sometimes they have brown streaks or are half brown, and sometimes they’re all brown. It’s completely random. Plant Delights calls it “schizophrenic canna lily” — a very appropriate moniker.

Canna × generalis ‘Cleopatra’ leaf

The flowers are equally unpredictable: yellow, red, or a mix of both:

Canna × generalis ‘Cleopatra’ flower

REALLY?

I saw this outside a local supermarket:

A 6-pack of shade-tolerant succulents, each in a 4" pot. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

Then I saw the price. $36.99 for six 4-inch pots of super common succulents? Wowza. The pricing is insane. These should be $19.99 or less.

THINK AGAIN

Here in Davis, we have decent-sized yard waste bins that get emptied every week. Most of the time, the bins are more than adequate. But some weeks you have more yard waste than you can stuff into the bin. In that case, you simply have to spread it out, because, according to the waste collection company, the lid of the bin has to be closed for them to empty it.

Apparently, this homeowner a few blocks away thought that they could push the envelope just a liiiiiiiittle bit. This was yesterday, the evening before today’s yard waste pickup:

Yesterday, before pickup

And this is today, after the collection truck came through:

Today, after pickup

Oops, the truck simply drove by and ignored this massively overstuffed bin.

I wonder how long it’ll take for the homeowner to figure out what happened? And do something about it?

RECLAIMING PATHWAY?

I love Mexican tulip poppies (Hunnemannia fumariifolia), a short-lived perennial native to the Chihuahuan Desert. Our original plant was a volunteer seedling that came from who knows where, and it’s been reseeding in random spots in the front yard. I usually let it do its thing, wherever it wants to do it, but I’m getting to the point where I want to reclaim my pathway. But then, I’ve been thinking that for months and I still haven’t done anything about it. The flowers are just too pretty.

PLUMERIA TEMPTATION

Just recently I told Kyle that if I ever see a plumeria around here, I’ll give it another shot. (Plumerias are tropical shrubs that do NOT like cold winters.) Well, look what I saw today at our local Costco. I was soooooooo tempted, but sanity prevailed. Except now I have a bad case of missing out syndrome. Maybe I’ll go back tomorrow and get one....

MISCELLANEOUS

A few more random observations:

Aloe inermis is native to the Arabian peninsula (western Yemen) and hence used to extraordinary heat. But still, mine is curling up in on itself, looking like a giant spider ready to pounce.

Aeonium ‘Wheel of Captivation’ from Little Prince of Oregon, a nursery I got to visit in April. Native to the Canary Islands with its moderate climate, aeoniums go dormant, or semi dormant, in our summer-dry climate. This one is definitely holding its own, which makes me happy.

Ceratozamias are cycads native to the mountainous and tropical forests of Mexico and Central America. As such, they struggle in our hot summers. I’ve tried several species of Ceratozamia, and they’ve all died. Except for one, this one: Ceratozamia hildae. I have two plants, one in the front yard and one in the back, and both are still alive, years after I bought them. Beyond the fact that they are super cool plants, I love the fact that new leaves emerge bronze!

POOR STELLA

Stella is used to two walks a day, mid morning and late afternoon. This past week, with afternoon temperatures in the mid-90s, her second walk of the day was either delayed or canceled altogether. Stella eventually got resigned to the situation:

Now that temperatures are back to normal, Stella gets her routine pre-dinner walk and is happy. And if Stella is happy, I’m happy.

Teeth

2026-08-10T17:41:29.303-07:00

If you asked me what feature I love most about agaves, aloes, and cohorts, I wouldn’t know what to say. At least not right away. But if you pushed a little harder, I’d probably blurt out, “the teeth!”

Yep, the teeth. Those small, pointy, and often sharp protrusions along the leaf margin.

Why? Because they’re fierce (those plants know how to defend themselves!), and they’re oh so photogenic.

See for yourself!

Agave horrida

Agave oteroi

Agave oteroi ‘Filigree’

Agave (potatorum ‘Spawn’ × isthmensis) × shawii

Agave impressa

Agave bovicornuta ‘Holstein’

Agave pablocarrilloi × isthmensis

Agave ‘Baccarat’

Agave ‘Sierra Azul’

Dyckia ‘Snaggletooth’

Hechtia argentea

Bromelia pinguin ‘Qué será’

Hechtia epigyna

Aloe aculeata ‘Super Spiney’

Aloe erinacea

Aloe erinacea hybrid

Aloe ankoberensis

Aloe ‘Swordfish’

Aloe ‘Wahoo’

Aloe ‘Sawbones’

If you’re wondering what the point of this post is: There isn’t one, other than to show you how frigging cool these plants are.

Blood, sweat, and bromeliads: tackling an overgrown dyckia clump

2026-08-05T18:17:20.648-07:00

One of the plants Kyle and I got from San Marcos Growers on our recent Santa Barbara trip is Dyckia platyphylla. This terrestrial bromeliad is attractive, easy to grow, hardy for a dyckia (15-20°F), and yet hard to find. I don’t know why. Maybe because dyckias in general don’t get much love? Both Kyle and I think it would make a great landscape plant in zone 8b and up.

We bought three 2-gallon pots of Dyckia platyphylla at San Marcos, intending to divide the clumps into individual plants for future sales.

Three dense clumps of Dyckia platyphylla

I decided to tackle one of the clumps to see how easy (or hard) it is to divide:

Many individual rosettes...

...packed together tightly

Below is the unpotted clump. I had recently watered it, but you wouldn’t know looking at the root ball. It was so dense that water wasn’t able to penetrate it to any meaningful degree.

Since the root ball was so dry, I soaked it overnight:

Better.

The next step was to assemble the tools: my Root Slayer soil knife (by the same company that makes my trusty Root Slayer shovel) and a generic bread knife.

Root Slayer soil knife and bread knife

The most important item, though, was protection for my hands. Dyckias are fiercely armed and quickly draw blood. For the last year or so, I’ve been using ThornArmor 3092 gloves made by HexArmor. They’re specially made for handling cacti and other thorny plants, and I’ve been using them a lot when working around poky succulents. In fact, I can pick up and carry a cactus using nothing else but these gloves.

When I bought my gloves, they were in the $40 range; now they’re a little over $60. Yikes. But even at $60, I would consider them essential.

ThornArmor 3092 gloves

I first cut away the fibrous root mass that had encircled the root ball using the bread knife. This sounds easier than it was. I had to use quite a bit of elbow grease because the roots were tough.

Initially I’d thought I could simply pull off entire rosettes, one at a time. That works with some plants (see below), but definitely not with this one. The rosettes were so firmly attached that I had to push my soil knife deep into the clump and use quite a bit of force to pry off the rosettes. In hindsight, a small folding saw like this might have been a better choice. Or better yet, a reciprocating saw (Sawzall). Lesson learned for next time.

After I had freed the individual rosettes, I pulled off most of the dried leaves. I didn’t want to go too far, so I left some that had dried tips but were otherwise still functional, i.e. capable of performing photosynthesis.

After an hour of sweat and tears (no blood, thanks to the ThornArmor gloves), this is what I ended up with: 13 pots — 12 with individual plants, one with a small cluster. All the pieces I pulled/pried off had at least some roots, so they should establish pretty quickly, especially in this heat.

Remember how I said I thought that it would be easy to pull rosettes off the Dyckia platyphylla clump, but that it wasn’t?

Here’s a succulent where it was easy: Agave oteroi ‘Filigree’.

Agave oteroi ‘Filigree’ was selected at San Marcos “for its tight growth and long eyelash like spines on the margin. It originated as a seedling from seed we collected in February 2005 from an Agave oteroi ... that bloomed in Santa Barbara succulent enthusiast Dr. David Tufenkian’s north Goleta, California garden in 2004. San Marcos Growers named and introduced this plant in 2010.”

The typical form of Agave oteroi ‘Filigree‘ is solitary. San Marcos also discovered a variety they call ‘Filigree Devil‘, “a small tight mounding agave with 3 inch wide tightly clustered rosettes.” What you see below is in between the two: tightly clustered rosettes, but larger than the typical ‘Filigree Devil’.

It was difficult watering the clump efficiently, as evidenced by the many dead leaves, so pulling it apart was the only logical thing to do. And it was soooooo much easier than the Dyckia platyphylla clump above!

It was so easy pulling individual rosettes off the clump

When I was done, I had 11 one-gallon pots, most with one rosette per pot, a few with multiples:

If all things go as planned, some of these will be available at our upcoming fall plant sale, both Dyckia platyphylla and Agave oteroi ‘Filigree’ (ish).

Cool plants from the lab: visiting Micro Paradox

2026-08-01T17:37:23.729-07:00

As you may know, quite a few of the plants we love and have growing in our gardens aren’t propagated vegetatively, through seeds or offsets, but start life in a lab. This includes not only many of my beloved agaves and mangaves, but also most commercially grown perennials and even the orchids you find in grocery stores and garden centers. And if you think plant tissue culture (micropropagation) is a relatively new thing, you might be surprised to find out that orchids have been tissue cultured on a large scale since the 1960s.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to go on a field trip with my volunteer group from the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery to visit a plant tissue culture lab in the Sacramento area. I already had a high-level understanding of what tissue culture is and how it’s done, but I had never seen a lab in operation, so I was stoked to go.

I read somewhere that a tissue culture lab is essentially a plant factory combined with a surgical operating room. That’s a good comparison. Instead of growing plants in soil from seeds or traditional cuttings, technicians culture plants in sterile, nutrient-rich gels inside glass or plastic containers. This allows the lab to produce many thousands of genetically identical, pathogen-free plants in a relatively small footprint.

Micro Paradox facility (photo courtesy of Micro Paradox)

The company we visited is Micro Paradox, a tissue culture lab that propagates a wide variety of plants — from succulents (including agaves) and California natives to shade trees and house plants all the way to commercial nut and fruit tree rootstocks. Founded in 2010 by plant pathologist Dr. Parm Randhawa, the company was named after the Paradox hybrid walnut rootstock, a cross between the black walnut (Juglans hindsii) native to California and the English walnut (Juglans regia). The black walnut is perfectly adapted to northern California’s mediterranean climate but produces inferior fruit. The English walnut produces superior fruit, but it struggles in California. Paradox combines the best of both — vigorous growth and high-quality nuts — but it had historically been difficult to propagate uniformly from cuttings. Micro Paradox found a way to produce uniform clones through tissue culture, a real breakthrough.

Nut and fruit tree rootstocks — primarily walnuts and almonds, but also cherries, peaches, and nectarines — are still Micro Paradox’s bread and butter, but in the last 10 years, the company has branched out into ornamentals and now produces hundreds of different varieties of everything from agaves, hesperaloes, and yuccas to tropical plants like bananas, philodendrons, alocasias, and ficus. In fact, agaves have become a focus; Micro Paradox now produces a couple dozen species and cultivars, including some variegated sports that were discovered in-house and are only available from Micro Paradox.

So much for the background. Let’s take a closer look at how things work at Micro Paradox. Vice president Simran Randhawa gave us an in-depth tour of the various areas. I took photos and will attempt to describe the various stages in easy-to-understand language.

The first stage is to prepare the tissue culture media — essentially containers partially filled with a gel-like substance (typically water and agar gum as well as macro- and micronutrients and precise ratios of growth hormones). Absolutely sterile conditions are mandatory in the media room because even a single fungal spore or other contaminant can ruin a batch.

Autoclaves (steam sterilizers) in the media room

The word “agave” gets my attention anytime

In the transfer area, technicians work under laminar flow hoods that continuously blow ultra-clean filtered air toward the work surface, pushing away any airborne molds and bacteria that would otherwise cause contamination.

The blue rectangles are the tops of the laminar flow hoods

In the transfer area, three main procedures take place:

1. Small pieces of tissue (“explant”) from the donor plant are sterilized and placed on fresh gel media enriched with cytokinins, plant hormones that promote cell division. The explants are then moved to the grow room (see below) where they develop side shoots.

Sterile workstations

2. A single plant produces multiple side shoots, which are continuously subcultured (divided and transferred to fresh media) every few weeks.

Technician dividing plantlets

Sterile conditions are critical

As you can see below, these pieces are surprisingly tiny. It’s pretty miraculous that they will ultimately result in real plants.

The photos below were taken in the grow room. I loved the racks illuminated by grow lights:

The lighting in the grow room is almost cinematic

Glass vials with plantlets

3. In the transfer area, individual plantlets are transferred to a medium containing auxins, hormones that induce root formation. The sterile containers then go back to the grow room. Within weeks, the root system begins to form.

When they’ve reached their target size, the plantlets are moved from the grow room to a non-sterile area outside the lab. There they are taken out of the growing medium and potted into a porous soil mix.

Agave trays waiting for agave babies

Because the plantlets have spent their lives so far in ~100% humidity inside sterile containers, they now move through a series of greenhouses with decreasing humidity levels to get used to the outdoor environment.

Greenhouses, our group on the right

I love seeing endless expanses of small plants, and the Micro Paradox greenhouses didn’t disappoint.

Micro Paradox has been tissue culturing Agave ‘Blue Glow’ in large quantities, and over the years they have discovered several variegated sports that developed spontaneously in the lab. A few of them, ‘Frost Glow’ and ‘California Glow’, have been put into production:

Agave ‘California Glow’

Agave ‘Frost Glow’

Agave ‘Blue Glow’ with half-moon variegation

Agave ‘Blue Glow’ with various forms of variegation, including medio-picta, streaking, half-moon, and marginated

This unnamed ‘Blue Glow’ sport with very pronounced medio-picta variegation (creamy stripe in the center) is particularly striking:

As I mentioned earlier, Micro Paradox also produces a number of edible tropicals like bananas as well as house plants, including alocasias and colocasias, monsteras and philodendrons, and ficus.

Red ornamental pineapple (Ananas ‘Mila’)

Blood banana (Musa acuminata ‘Zebrina’)

Philodendron erubescens ‘White Wizard’

Alocasia ‘Pink Dragon’

After leaving the humidity- and temperature-controlled greenhouses, many of the plants (especially the succulents) end up outside. Some are set aside for direct-to-consumer sales on Micro Paradox’s retail website, MicroStarts.com:

Others are being grown on to larger sizes for eventual sales to local retail nurseries:

Several things stood out during our visit: The facility is much larger than I had expected. As many as 800,000 individual plants are in propagation. That’s a number I have a hard time wrapping my head around.

Judging by what VP Simran Randhawa said, the company is not content simply relying on what has worked in the past. While nut and fruit tree rootstocks will always be a major part of their operations, they’re constantly looking for promising new material to add to their inventory. I found this sense of curiosity to be very refreshing. Of course, I hope that this will include many more agaves and other succulents.

The bulk of Micro Paradox’s sales is wholesale to other growers and retail nurseries, but a selection of their plants are available to consumers through their Etsy store and their MicroStarts retail website.

The MicroStarts website also has a number of articles that deliver real information instead of the usual marketing fluff. Topics range from the basics of tissue culture (highly recommended if you want to learn more) to articles comparing different varieties of agaves, hesperaloes, elephant ears, blackberries, mulberries, tomatoes, and peppers.

One of my ‘Pixie’ agaves, now 3" across. I expect it to get a little bigger, but not much.

Last year, I ordered a 4-pack of Agave ‘Pixie’, a dwarf mutation of ‘Blue Glow’, and was very happy with the quality. At the time, I had no idea who is behind MicroStarts — and that I would eventually get to visit their facility!

Designer Mat McGrath's garden at age 4½: back yard

2026-07-28T10:29:52.036-07:00

This is the continuation of my post about Bay Area artist Mat McGrath’s garden. Click here to see the front yard the way it looks right now, in late July 2026.

I already showed you the photo below in part 1, but it’s a great visual aid for orientation. The front yard is to the left of driveway, the slope on the right, and the back yard behind the van.

To help you visualize where the different areas in the back yard are located, here’s the 2021 listing photo that shows what the property looked like when Mat and Mali bought it. Each area in question is circled in yellow.

Just a couple of photos of the slope above the driveway (circled in yellow above):

The next area is right behind the gate:

The back yard has a multi-level terraced retaining wall on one side (on the right in the photos below). This gives Mat and Mali extra space — a lot of extra space.

The planting area at ground level has gone through some significant changes. Mat has removed most of the soft-leaved succulents that used to live here (check this photo from October 2024 for comparison) to better display his collection of found metal objects.

The concrete lounger is by Manos.

The founder of Manos was a neighbor of Mat’s at his old place in the Berkeley Hills.

The shadiest spot in the back yard is this corner next to the slider

Gold fish in a large bowl, plus a beautiful selection of tropical foliage, including this spectacular Vriesea fosteriana

Across the patio, against the wall of the two-story addition, one of the warmest spots in the garden (remember, this is Rodeo, a couple of miles from the Pacific, with a very mild climate where it rarely gets super hot or cold):

Reminder to myself: try Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’ and Furcraea mcdougalii in pots

Mat loves recycled objects. Many came from Urban Ore in Berkeley, just 15 miles (20 minutes) down the road.

Looking north, terraced retaining wall on the left

Looking south, terraced retaining wall on the right. The white “rock” is a Soma Stone by Manos. As I mentioned earlier, the founder of Manos was a neighbor of Mat’s at his previous house.

Next area: up the steps and towards the upper deck on the right

Steps up towards the upper garden

The small tree on the right is Cussonia paniculata, a select clone that Flora Grubb carried a few years ago. It’s arguably the most beautiful form of the Canary Island cabbage tree.

Cussonia paniculata, Flora Grubb clone. Most Cussonia paniculata I’ve seen tend to lean, but this one is much more upright, maybe because it branches relatively low, which distributes the weight more evenly.

Just above the steps, to the left: shrubby impatiens, ferns...

...and billbergia (‘Hallelujah’ or similar)

Billbergia flowers, large and complex

Another ×Vriecantarea ‘Julietta’

Now we’re on the upper level of the back yard. The slope with the terraced retaining wall is outside of the frame on the left.

The deck near the top of the slope is up next:

Standing on the deck, looking north

Another Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’ on the left

Mat made the shovel sculpture

Speaking of Mat, here he is

The planting strip above the deck is packed with a huge variety of succulents as well as vines and shrubs

Looking north from the far side of the deck

Several kinds of leucadendrons planted in the strip below the deck

Bromeliad wall

Looking south towards the street

The plantings below are on the slope above the driveway (more photos of this area in part 1)

Check out the license plate on Mat’s van

The remaining photos below are of the upper area of the back yard:

The plantings in this area are a combination of landscape succulents like agaves and aeoniums, tropical plants, and even some fruit trees

Large-leafed and flowering tropicals thrive here, no doubt because of the sunny and mild climate and generous watering

Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ (on the right above and below) makes an appearance in several spots, both in the front yard and the back yard

Mangave ‘Life on Mars’, a variegated sport of ‘Mission to Mars’

One last wide-angle shot looking northeast

Graptopetalum paraguayense draping over an old tree fern trunk

And finally, some drone footage Mat just posted on his Farallon Gardens Instagram — short and sweet, and showing off his garden better than any of my photos can:

I’ll have another update of Mat’s garden in the late fall. In the meantime, check out my earlier posts if you haven’t already:

RELATED POSTS

Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 4½: front yard (July 2026)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 4½: back yard (July 2026)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 4 (November 2025)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 3½: front yard (May 2025)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 3½: back yard (May 2025)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 3: front yard (October 2024)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 3: back yard (October 2024)
Mat McGrath’s new one-of-a-kind Bay Area garden: front yard (June 2023)
Mat McGrath’s new one-of-a-kind Bay Area garden: back yard (June 2023)

To see more of Mat’s professional garden projects, go to the website of his business, Farallon Gardens.

To see Mat’s art, check out his Instagram account or go to his personal website, mathewmcgrath.com.

Designer Mat McGrath's garden at age 4½: front yard

2026-07-22T16:20:12.724-07:00

Bay Area-based artist Mat McGrath (Farallon Gardens) and his wife Mali moved to the East Bay town of Rodeo in the fall of 2021. The 14,000 sq. ft. property they bought was a blank slate: a bit of lawn and lots of bark mulch and dry grass. Undaunted and with help from Mat’s crew, they immediately went to work and created a spectacular garden.

I’ve been following and documenting their progress since June 2023 (see links at the end of this post) and recently had the opportunity to see what the garden looks like at age 4½. As before, I’ll break up my post into two parts: front yard and back yard.

Let’s start on the sidewalk. The difference between Mat’s front yard and the neighbor’s couldn’t be more stark:

Many words come to mind when you look at the plantings. Minimalist is not one of them. Neither is subdued:

Vibrant, cheerful, full of life: that’s more like it.

Slope on the right, driveway in the middle, front garden proper on the left:

Notice the license plate on Mat’s van!

More is more...is more. That’s my mantra, too. Maybe that’s why I connect with Mat’s garden so deeply.

The spheres of blue-gray leaves are Xanthorrhoea glauca, grass trees from eastern Australia. Mat bought three 15-gallon specimens from San Marcos Growers five years ago.

This area looked much sparser three years ago.

Walkway to the front door:

More blue leaves (Agave ovatifolia, Brahea armata), contrasted by blanket flowers (Gaillardia)...

...and ×Vriecantarea ‘Julietta’, a terrestrial bromeliad with striking plum-colored leaves:

×Vriecantarea ‘Julietta’

Three years ago, this area was a wildflower meadow. Check it out here and then compare with this:

Along the back, three of my favorites are still there: red Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’), bell reed (Cannomois grandis), and sunshine conebush (Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunshine’):

The orange flowers on the left are from Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’, a well-behaved Peruvian lily (unlike other alstroemerias that are hell-bent on conquering the world):

Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer

×Vriecantarea ‘Julietta’

Mat also has several naked ladies (Amaryllis belladonna) and ×Amarygia (Amaryllis belladonna crossed with Brunsvigia josephinae) in different shades of pink:

The area next to the front door is dominated by an Aloidendron ‘Hercules’:

Aloidendron ‘Hercules’...

...is taller than 6 ft now...

...with Mat for scale

Of course I was focused on agaves and aloes:

Agave guadalajarana and Aloe broomii

Another perfectly grown Agave guadalajarana

Agave nickelsiae and bowling balls. They seem to be a thing in Berkeley gardens — see here.

Impossible to miss near the front door:

Tradescantia pallida ‘Purple Heart’ on the left, related Callisia fragrans on the right

I have Tradescantia pallida ‘Purple Heart’ in the back yard, and it’s done great. Callisia fragrans was new to me. Mat sent me home with a half dozen offsets, so I’ll soon have this growing in my garden.

Finally, a “before” photo from 2021:

Listing photo from 2021. So much bark!

Insane, right?

Check back in a couple of days for a tour of the back yard.

RELATED POSTS

Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 4 (November 2025)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 3½: front yard (May 2025)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 3½: back yard (May 2025)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 3: front yard (October 2024)
Designer Mat McGrath’s garden at age 3: back yard (October 2024)
Mat McGrath’s new one-of-a-kind Bay Area garden: front yard (June 2023)
Mat McGrath’s new one-of-a-kind Bay Area garden: back yard (June 2023)

To see Mat's art, check out his Instagram account or go to his website, mathewmcgrath.com.

A bit of agave magic

2026-07-21T18:25:32.617-07:00

One of my favorite plants from our recent Santa Barbara trip to San Marcos Growers is Agave horrida. The clone most frequently seen in cultivation, tissue-cultured by Altman Plants, is very nice (here is Kyle’s specimen), but the San Marcos plants are even more beautiful:

Agave horrida from San Marcos Growers

Take a good look at the photo above, especially at the marginal teeth and the spines at the end of the leaf tips. They’re light gray, right?

Imagine my surprise when I watered my plant:

Same plant with wet teeth and spines

Whaaaat? The teeth and spines are almost black now!

Here’s a short video that shows the transformation even better:

What kind of alchemy is that?

I knew it had to be an optical phenomenon, and Google provided the answer: Agave teeth and spines change color when wet primarily because the water temporarily alters the way light reflects through their translucent outer layers. This highlights the underlying pigments and microscopic textures, creating a deeper, darker hue that vanishes as the teeth and spines dries out.

If your eyes are starting to glaze over, stop here. If you’re still mentally engaged, here is a closer look at the mechanisms behind this color shift, as per the all-knowing internet:

Dry spines often have a microscopic waxy coating that scatters light, making the color appear muted or gray. When moisture is introduced, it fills these microscopic gaps, acting as a clear lens that allows light to penetrate deeper and reflect the natural melanin (dark color) of the spine.
Some agaves absorb dew or rainwater directly through their spines and specialized cells. As the spine absorbs moisture, turgor pressure (water weight within the cells) increases, which can slightly expand the tissue and alter the color.

Physics was one of my least favorite subjects in high school. I won’t profess to know exactly what makes my Agave horrida change color, so I’m OK with calling it magic.

This and that, mid-July 2026

2026-07-17T12:45:26.085-07:00

Sometimes it seems not much is happening, but when I look at my photos, I realize there’s more going on than I give the garden, the plants, and myself credit for.

On that note, another “This and that” post with random sightings that I hope you’ll find interesting.

BROMELIAD FLOWERS

I’ve lost most of the tags on my bromeliads so I can’t tell you what these are, other than Neoregelia and Billbergia, but the flowers are cool because they’re so different from the other kinds of flowers I usually see.

Many neoregelias produce a flush of color in the center just before they start to bloom

The flowers themselves are tiny and barely emerge from the cup. The leaves blush in vibrant colors to attract pollinators, which might otherwise have a hard time finding the inconspicuous flowers.

In contrast to neoregelias, billbergia flowers are highly visible

They emerge from the center on a long stem and feature colorful petals (red in this case) and bracts (greenish yellow, pink, and purple on this one)

CACTUS FLOWERS

The biggest wave of cactus flowers happened in April and May, but some echinopsis hybrids produce sporadic flushes throughout the summer. Here are several that bloomed in the last couple of weeks. These pops of color are a welcome sight when it’s 95° or 100° outside.

Echinopsis ‘June Noon’

Echinopsis ‘Sex on the Beach’

Echinopsis ‘Apricot Glow’

OTHER FLOWERS

There are lots of salvias in bloom right now, but you know what they look like. Instead, here are three plants with flowers that are more unusual.

➀ Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Straight Up Red’ is advertised as “an everblooming yucca that produces a summer-long display of red-pink flowers held on strongly upright growing flower spikes.” I bought it because I wanted a hesperaloe that isn’t as floppy as the species. I’m a little disappointed because I expected a) a more straight-up inflorescence (as the name says), and b) flowers that are more red than pink. Other than that, it’s a nice plant.

Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Straight Up Red’

➁ Hechtia stenopetala planted in a chimney flue liner in the driveway bed has three tall inflorescences with countless fluffy flowers. While the individual flowers are insignificant, the overall effect is striking:

Hechtia stenopetala

➂ Boophone disticha is a slow-growing geophyte (aka bulb) from South Africa. It forms a beautiful fan of leaves in the cooler seasons and goes dormant in the summer — at least sometimes. The potted specimen in the first photo lost its leaves months ago...

Boophone disticha (not the one currently in bloom)

...but another one, in the sidewalk bed, retains at least some leaves year-round AND is now flowering for the first time. That’s a nice surprise because it usually takes anywhere from 5 to 10 years for them to bloom (the bulb has to be a certain size). The flowers appear in large, pincushion-like umbels that can contain 150 to 300 individual florets.

Boophone disticha flower

MORE BULBILS

I recently wrote a post about mangave bulbils. Apparently, ×Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives’, a cross between Graptopetalum paraguayense and Echeveria gibbiflora, is able to produce bulbils, too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it do that before.

×Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives’

AGAVES ABOUT TO BLOOM

It’s been a while since I had an agave flower in the garden. That’s about to change. One, possibly two, smallish agaves planted not far from each other in one of the front yard succulent mounds are reaching the end of their lives. Blooming is a terminal event for most agaves so the blooming rosette will die. However, both of these have pups that will carry on.

The first one is Agave × leopoldii, supposedly a hybrid between the two closely related species Agave filifera and Agave schidigera. It’s a relatively common plant and a good choice for smaller gardens.

Agave × leopoldii on July 8. The flower stalk is barely poking out of the rosette

Agave × leopoldii on July 15. I think the kink in the flower stalk is because it got stuck while it was emerging.

July 16 update: I snapped off the flower stalk as my foot got caught on it. Grrrrr.

The second one is Agave toumeyana var. bella. Compared to the species, the variety bella (Latin for “beautiful”) supposedly has more, and shorter, leaves forming attractive dense rosettes. Like Agave × leopoldii above, it has curling threads on the leaf margins. Because it only gets 1-2 ft. wide and less than 1 ft. tall, it also makes a great choice for gardens where space is at a premium.

Agave toumeyana var. bella

And since we’re talking about agaves, here’s a beauty shot of one that (hopefully) still has many years ahead of it before it flowers and dies:

Agave ‘Sierra Azul’ (Agave cerulata × kristenii)

NEW GROWTH

I love seeing new growth on cacti, especially on those that are slow. New growth means the cactus is fine, doing its thing.

New growth on cardón (Pachycereus pringlei). The new red spines make for a good photo.

New growth on this Echinopsis ‘Vers 16’ × ‘Flying Saucer’ means new babies emerging from the ground

TINY CACTUS SEEDLINGS

As I mentioned in this post, I collected seeds from two echinopsis hybrids, ‘Magic Fire’ and ‘Pink Stripes’, and sowed them right away. Germination was great for both of them. Here are the seedlings from ‘Magic Fire’, if you can even call them seedlings when they’re this tiny — maybe I should call them germlings? Zoom in and look for the teeny pink orbs.

Echinopsis ‘Magic Fire’ seedlings

ONE AGAVE FROM OUR SAN MARCOS GROWERS HAUL IN MY GARDEN

Most of the plants Kyle and I got at San Marcos Growers last weekend are still parked at a friend’s property. Each of us took a few favorites home with us. Here’s one of mine in its new home in the backyard:

Agave oteroi ‘Filigree’, a spectacular selection found at San Marcos Growers

Who says agaves don’t go with begonias?

I’m sure that as soon as I post this, new photos for the next “This and that” post will start to accumulate. That’s fine with me.

To Santa Barbara and back in 36 hours

2026-07-14T11:40:32.490-07:00

When my frequent partner-in-crime Kyle and I were in Santa Barbara at the very end of January, we had the opportunity to visit San Marcos Growers (SMG), arguably the most extraordinary wholesale nursery in California, for what we thought was one last time. After 46 years in operation, SMG had closed its gates on December 23, 2025; the 23-acre property had been sold to be developed for affordable housing. (If you’re interested in learning more about SMG, its history, and its legacy, read my post from February.)

I found two Google Earth/Google Streets images that show the nursery prior to August 2025 when they were still in full operation. The shade houses and growing grounds on the far side of San Marcos Road were still very much there:

Prior to August 2025: shade houses and growing area on the far side of San Marcos Road still there

The area with the shade houses was the first to be torn down. In November 2025 it looked like this:

November 2025: area cleared for construction

Ignore the rectangle in the lower right. It’s not part of the nursery proper. It’s a field SMG leased to a row crop farmer. He left in February 2025, but he still discs the field to control the weeds. The later photo (November 2025) is mostly weedy wild radish.

Google doesn’t have a more recent satellite image of the property. The biggest change, beyond the dismantlement of the shade houses and growing grounds across the street, is that the green belt at the top right has been cleared. The office and much of the main growing grounds on the east side of San Marcos Road are still there.

SMG officially shut down in December, but it has remained open by appointment since there are still so many plants left. A lot of the leafy stuff (trees, shrubs, etc.) has been sold, but there’s still a good selection of the plants Kyle and I are interested in: aloes, agaves, dyckias, etc. Right now, all remaining plants are 65% off wholesale prices. SMG will be liquidating them through mid-August. After that, they will have to dispose of what’s left.

Even though Kyle and I live 6½ hours away, the temptation was just too great, so we made plans for one last trip. Not knowing what we would find but preparing for the best-case scenario, we borrowed a 4×8 ft. trailer from a friend and set out at 6:15 am on Friday morning.

Leaving Sacramento at 6:15 am

Quick fuel stop halfway to Santa Barbara

Traffic on Interstate 5 was light, and we made great time, arriving at SMG at 1:30 pm.

The fading writing on the side of the trailer is a poignant metaphor for everything that’s happened

Kyle and I set out on an electric cart and trailer to get down to the serious business of plant shopping:

These carts are so cool

Happy shoppers for sure

Still so many cool succulents

Hechtia ‘Tehuacan’

Orthophytum ‘Copper Penny’. I meant to get some, but somehow they didn’t make it onto the trailer.

Agave bovicornuta ‘Holstein’, a San Marcos exclusive

Echeveria agavoides ‘Prolifera’

I just had to take a photo of this

Empty pots, you might think, but there are actually dormant bulbs in there (Albuca acuminata)

Not our cart, but I was glad to see these agaves had been sold

Quite a contrast: fallow areas of the nursery overrun with weeds vs. areas with plants still available for sale

It’s not surprising that a nursery in the process of wrapping up operations has a lot of nursery pots left...

...a lot!

A few photos from the display areas around the office:

Dracaena serrulata, a rare (and slow growing) dragon tree from the Arabian Peninsula

The real Yucca queretaroensis (top), arguably the most beautiful species in the genus

Super variegated Agave attenuata

Agave attenuata with even more extreme variegation. Unfortunately, some critter had chewed on the leaf margins.

Another SMG original, Crassula multicava ‘Mali’s Thai-Dye’, named after my friend Mat McGrath’s wife Mali

San Marcos general manager Randy Baldwin gifted us a very special plant that SMG has been propagating for a few years but never released officially: Callisia warszewicziana, aka purple roseling (odd name), a tradescantia relative from Guatemala and southern Mexico. I love the rosettes, some of which appear as bulbils at the end of the flower stalks, but it’s the purple flowers that steal the show:

Callisia warszewicziana, try saying that out loud

Callisia warszewicziana bulbils forming at the end of the flower stalks

Callisia warszewicziana flower

Randy Balwin holding a pot of Callisia warszewicziana; Kyle with a tray of Crassula multicava ‘Mali’s Thai-Dye’.

We filled both the trailer and the bed of Kyle’s truck. No point in driving home with empty spots.

We spent Friday night in Santa Maria, about an hour north of Santa Barbara. Kyle unhitched the trailer and parked the truck at a diagonal for extra security. Fortunately, nothing was disturbed overnight.

We got home at 5:30 pm on Saturday, 35+ hours after we had left. Here are the plants on the trailer....

...and the truck bed:

You might be wondering what we will do with all these plants. Some will go in our gardens, some are for future plant sales, and some will be propagation stock. We’re not quite ready to reveal what we have planned, but I’ll keep you posted.

Here’s a cool 1-minute video of our plant shopping adventure. Be sure to click Watch on YouTube and select the highest resolution.

Regarding San Marcos Growers: The nursery is still open by appointment (wholesale only). Here is an inventory of what’s left. The list is not 100% up to date, but it’ll give you an idea. For more information, visit the SMG website.

Agaves doing a runner

2026-07-08T19:06:13.692-07:00

According to estimates I found online, 20% to 30% of the documented 270+ agave species remain solitary throughout their life, while 70% to 80% produce offsets (or pups) — vegetative clones that emerge either directly from the base of the mother plant or at the end of underground runners connected to it.

In most offsetting species, the pups pop up very close to the parent plant:

Agave lophantha ‘Quadricolor’ with lots of pups

However, some agaves do this:

Agave parryi var. huachucensis ‘Excelsior’

Their pups pop up at a distance from the mother plant. The Agave parryi var. huachucensis ‘Excelsior’ you see in the photo above has both offsets that cling tightly to the mother and others that travel quite a way. The pup in the middle circle is about 1 foot from the mother plant, the one in top circle almost 4 feet (!) away.

In fact, the pup in the top circle emerged not far from a different agave (Agave parrasana ‘Fireball’) on the far side of the mound:

Agave parrasana ‘Fireball’ at the top, but the two pups towards the bottom are from the Agave parryi var. huachucensis ‘Excelsior’ on the far side of the mound

The agaves in the photos above are long gone, but below are a couple of agaves in the garden that are doing a runner right now.

The first one is a variegated beauty, Agave parryi var. truncata ‘Orizaba’:

Agave parryi var. truncata ‘Orizaba’

Agave parryi var. truncata ‘Orizaba’ pup emerging almost 5 inches away

The second is Agave pintilla (a relative of the Queen Victoria agave) in a rectangular Corten planter in the front yard:

Agave pintilla on the right

Pup emerging from the base of the mother

Another one emerging 10 inches away

On the other side, one is just 2 inches away...

...a second one 12 inches away...

...and a third one 18 inches away

The one that’s 18 inches away is squeezed in tight between the edge of the planter and several rocks

I did a little bit of research, and experts think that producing offsets on underground runners, technically rhizomes, is an adaptation that increases the plant’s chances of survival and reproduction (much like the production of bulbils mentioned here). Instead of simply relying on pups that emerge right from the base, these species also establish new plants — and possibly future colonies — at a safe distance from the parent.

There are a couple of real advantages with this approach:

In dry climates, seed production is unpredictable and seedlings often have low survival rates. Producing genetically identical offsets is a reliable way to persist, especially where pollinators or favorable germination conditions are scarce.
Offsets that emerge several feet away don’t compete with the mother plant for water, nutrients, and sunlight. In arid environments, this can make a significant difference.
A runner can find deeper soil, a crack in bedrock, or an area that collects more moisture, allowing its offspring to establish where conditions are better.

Species that commonly produce offsets on long runners include Agave americana, Agave angustifolia, Agave murpheyi, and Agave sisalana.

Interestingly, the tendency to produce long runners often correlates with habitat. Agaves growing on open alluvial flats or grasslands, where there is room to spread, are more likely to develop rhizomes. Species adapted to steep rocky cliffs or narrow ledges usually form tight clumps or remain solitary because there is little benefit to sending runners into unsuitable terrain.

There you have it. More than you ever wanted to know, but I tend to disappear into rabbit holes.

Mangave bulbils aplenty, maybe hundreds

2026-07-03T00:30:00.000-07:00

My Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’ is in the process of making bulbils — dozens, maybe hundreds. I was going to include a few photos in my last This and that post, but I decided to write a separate piece so I can dive a bit deeper into the mystery and marvel that are bulbils.

Bulbils forming on the flower stalk of my Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’

Bulbils are baby plants, genetically identical to the parent, that form directly on the flower stalk (aka inflorescence). Often they develop the beginnings of roots (called root primordia) while still attached. In nature, when the bulbil-laden flower stalk eventually falls over or the bulbils are dislodged by wind or wildlife, they quickly take root and begin growing as independent plants.

Bulbils are rare in the wider plant kingdom, but some agave species (as well as most furcraeas and certain yuccas) produce bulbils as a brilliant evolutionary insurance policy. The reason is simple: Most agaves are monocarpic, meaning they flower only once at the end of their life, invest all their energy into a massive reproductive effort, and then die. Because producing seeds relies on successful pollination and favorable weather, it can be risky. If pollination fails or conditions are too harsh for the delicate seedlings, the plant faces a reproductive dead-end. Bulbils bypass the vulnerable seed-and-seedling stage entirely. By shedding thousands of hardy miniature clones, the parent plant ensures its genetic legacy even if no viable seeds are produced.

A handful of agave species, including Agave vilmoriniana, Agave desmetiana, Agave angustifolia, Agave sisalana, and Agave tequilana, produce prolific amounts of bulbils, sometimes hundreds or thousands on a single inflorescence while most other species rely almost exclusively on seed or offsets (pups). However, even those species will sometimes produce bulbils if the flower stalk is damaged before it can complete the flowering cycle and make seeds.

My Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’ in its heyday

When it comes to mangaves, ‘Bloodspot’, ‘Freckles and Speckles’, ‘Night Owl’, ‘Purple People Eater’ and ‘Silver Fox’ are all known to form bulbils instead of, or in addition to, setting seed. ‘Foxy Lady’ is a beautiful sport (mutation) of ‘Silver Fox’ so it’s not surprising that it, too, relies on bulbils as a primary form of reproduction (it also produces offsets, but sparingly).

Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’ last year

My ‘Foxy Lady’ began pushing a flower stalk last October. Not much happened during the winter months, but in March the flowers finally began to open. Now, 3+ months later, the inflorescence is full of bulbils ranging in size from barely there to two inches in diameter. Plus, there’s still a smattering of flowers that might turn into bulbils, too.

June 30, 2026

There are still a few flowers left, some of them not even open yet

Even the tiny bulbils already look like the parent

The only seed pod I was able to find, and it doesn’t look viable

My ‘Foxy Lady’ was solitary for a long time, but it eventually made a few pups. Typically, the main rosette flowers and dies, and the pups keep the clump going. However, three of the pups also produced flower stalks. They’re much shorter than the main inflorescence, but they, too, have bulbils.

Three pups are flowering, too

This phenomenon is called synchronous or sympathetic flowering. Since the pups are still physically connected to the mother plant via underground rhizomes, the hormones that trigger flowering in the mother plant travel down the rhizomes and flood the growing tips of the pups, prematurely forcing them into a reproductive state. It’s not super common, but it does happen.

Bulbils on one of the smaller inflorescences

The two flower stalks highlighted in yellow barely extend above the rosette

When it comes to harvesting the bulbils, it’s best to wait until the flowers have finished blooming and the bulbils are large enough to handle comfortably, maybe a couple of inches across. At that point, you can simply snap or cut them off the stalk. Let the cut ends dry and callus over for a few days to prevent rot, then put them in well-draining soil. Keep the soil slightly moist while the roots develop. Afterwards you can treat them like you would any standard succulent, i.e. water only when the soil is completely dry.

Tiny marvels

Bulbils rooting in 2" pots

I took off these two bulbils for demonstration purposes. I’ll wait another month or two before I remove the rest. The longer you leave them on the flower stalk, the better. Larger bulbils have more developed root primordia and will establish faster.

How many bulbils will I root/keep? Ideally, no more than 10. But more likely, all of them. The need to have a plant sale is becoming more acute every day.

This and that, late June 2026

2026-06-30T15:29:01.147-07:00

Except for a brief heatwave, the weather has been surprisingly mild this June. Still, we’ve reached the time of year when putting new plants in the ground isn’t the best idea. This means that my favorite things to do in the garden (like planting) are on hold until the fall. As I’ve said many times before, summer is my least favorite season, but skipping it isn’t an option, so instead of actively doing stuff, I spend more time observing.

With no real projects on the horizon, I’ll probably have more This and that type posts than usual. I actually like them because I can talk about things that wouldn’t necessarily warrant a dedicated post.

So, in no particular order....

ALIEN

This new arm coming out on this San Pedro cactus reminds me a lot of the chestburster scene in the movie Alien:

San Pedro cactus

Five days later

TRY TRY AGAIN

Lewisias are succulents native to dry rocky slopes in subalpine regions of the Western U.S. They’re one of the few succulent genera native to California, and many mainstream nurseries in Northern California sell them, especially Lewisia cotyledon (which goes by the odd common name “cliff maid”). I tried lewisias a few times before, but eventually they all died (this is the experience shared by many gardeners in the hot, summer-dry regions of inland California).

When I was given two Lewisia cotyledon last fall, I didn’t have any expectations. I put one in the front yard and one in the back and promptly ignored them. Both of them are at the base of a (low) mound so they get relatively little water and part-day sun. And guess what? Both of them flowered this spring — and, in fact, are flowering again now. Sometimes neglect is the key to success. The less you fuss over a plant, the better.

Lewisia cotyledon ‘Elise Mix’, front yard

Lewisia cotyledon ‘Elise Mix’, backyard

SEEN ELSEWHERE

A few cool plant sightings in recent weeks:

Tapestry of aeoniums and dwarf leucadendron seen at the entrance to the San Francisco Botanical Garden

Aloe polyphylla and purple-tinged aeoniums at the entrance to the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Does it get better than this?

Aloe polyphylla perfection. I wish I could grow it half as well in my own garden. Strike that. I wish I could grow it at all.

Echinopsis spachiana (guessing) in Eric’s garden (see recent post)

Check out the arriving visitor at the lower right

Also at Eric’s, a carpet of Sedum rubrotinctum, Sedum palmeri, and Oscularia deltoides. Great contrast, both in color and texture.

WATERING

Most of the front yard is on drip irrigation, but it’s an old and inefficient system (just one irrigation controller station for hundreds of feet of drip). That’s why I supplement it now and then using a turret sprinkler attached to a hose and an inexpensive mechanical water timer, which I can set to anything between 15 and 120 minutes. It’s easy to drag the setup to wherever I need it.

See the water frozen in midair?

EARLY EVENING

Early evening, say from 5:30 pm on, is my favorite time of day in the garden. I love how the plants glow when they’re backlit or sidelit by the low sun.

The way cactus spines catch the light is particularly photogenic

FLUSHING CYCADS

Most cycads produce one set of new leaves per year. This is called flushing. I love watching as the new leaves unfurl.

Dioon argenteum, arguably the most beautiful of the Mexican cycads

Dioon merolae, another Mexican cycad

New Dioon merolae leaf

Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi (sometimes called “Freddy G” because that’s much easier to pronounce than the species name) with emerging new leaves

A week later, the new leaves have unfurled

ECHEVERIAS THAT DO OK IN THE SUN

Most echeverias can’t handle our hot summer sun and either shrivel into brownish balls or go dormant permanently. Some, however, do just fine, especially Echeveria agavoides and its myriad cultivars. The ever-growing clump in the photo below is proof. This is a selection called ‘Christmas‘, with mostly green leaves. It’s one of the least interesting cultivars out there, but that’s what I happened to plant years ago. I wish it were ‘Ebony‘, ‘Romeo‘, or even good old ‘Lipstick‘; they color up much more in the sun. Still, I’m glad ‘Christmas’ is doing well and has spread a good bit.

Echeveria agavoides ‘Christmas’ clump, looking like it's cascading down the edge of the mound

FRONT PORCH

The front porch is home to more potted succulents than I care to count. The idea is that some of them will eventually find a spot in the ground, but for now that’s where they hang out.

The silver torch cactus (Cleistocactus straussii), which I repotted in a Corten container last year (see this post), always looks good when backlit. In front of it, Echeveria ‘Madiba’ (left) and a Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’ sport.

There’s still room for more

The staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum ‘Netherlands’), which I bought on a whim in early April, is still alive. More than that, it’s actually growing. It’s still in its plastic nursery pot, because I haven’t figured out how to mount it and where to put it. I think it looks pretty good where it is.

MORE SEED COLLECTING

I really shouldn’t, but I can’t help it. Plus, the world needs more Parodia roseolutea (aka Parodia mammulosa ssp. roseolutea or Notocactus herteri ssp. roseoluteus, or simply Notocactus roseoluteus), even though its name is a taxonomic mess. Just look at the flowers! Everyone should have one! For some unfathomable reason, it isn’t as easy to find as it should be.

Parodia roseolutea seeds. I’ll add on to it as more seed pods come off the two plants I have.

Parodia roseolutea in flower in mid-May

SPIDERS & CO.

I probably say this every year, but this year I’ve seen more signs of spider activity in the garden than ever before. I don’t mind spiders and I let them be. After all, they eat the bugs I don’t want around, like flies, mosquitoes, even ants. Spider webs can be unpleasing, especially when you walk into them and the stuff sticks to your face, but they have a fragile beauty as well.

Not everybody tolerates spiders the way I do

I was not happy when I saw this on my variegated Aloe ‘Hercules’: signs of mealybugs AND aphids — at least I think the black gunk is from aphids. Fortunately, a strong spray of water took care of it, but I need to stay on top of it. Mealybugs are a big problem in the summer, every summer, because they thrive in warm, dry conditions.

Mealybugs and aphids on Aloe ‘Hercules’

RANDOM BACKYARD SNAPS

Exactly that:

Monkey tail cactus (Cleistocactus colademononis) outside the kitchen window

Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’, 5 ft. wide and 4½ ft. tall, with Aloe helenae, 6½ ft. tall

Because agave teeth are always cool: Agave difformis, a relative of Agave lophantha and Agave lechuguilla

I’d tell you what this is, but I lost the tag. It’s a billbergia, that’s all I know.

Neoregelia ‘Tiger’, another terrestrial bromeliad

UNEXPECTED GIFT

And finally an unexpected gift from a local reader of Succulents and More. The other day, my wife found this outside the front door:

A note explained that this planter in the shape of a G was from Succulent Gardens in Castroville and that maybe I could put in little succulents.

Thank you, GLB. What a thoughtful gesture. I’ll post a photo once I’ve decided what to plant in it.

Harvesting echinopsis cactus seeds

2026-06-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

Growing cacti from seed is quite easy, but it requires patience. Depending on the genus and species, it may take two, three, four, or even five years for seedlings to grow into flowering-size specimens. I already have well over 100 cactus seedlings in my care, between the German echinopsis hybrids I mentioned recently, other open-pollinated echinopsis hybrids (‘June Noon’, ‘First Light’, and ‘Flying Saucer’), as well as dozens of assorted Astrophytum asterias. If you got tired just reading this, I sympathize.

However, I had so many spectacular echinopsis hybrids flower earlier this spring that I decided to harvest seeds from two of them. The first is a German hybrid, Echinopsis ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’ (in the U.S. usually referred to as ‘Magic Fire’). It debuted this year with flowers that blew me away:

Echinopsis ‘Magic Fire’

Some cacti produce seed pods that dry up and release the seeds when they’ve become brittle. To harvest the seeds, all you have to do is break open the dried seed pods.

Other cacti, like echinopsis, produce fleshy fruits, with the seeds embedded in a moist pulp (think dragon fruit). Harvesting the seeds is a messier undertaking. The photos below show how I do it.

In the next photo you’ll see two echinopsis fruits. I prefer to leave them on the stem as long as possible, ideally until they split open on their own. Fortunately, I don’t seem to have any critters messing with the seed pods, otherwise I might have to pull them off before they’re completely ripe.

Typical echinopsis fruit; one has already split open

Hairy and a bit shriveled (don’t go there)

Split open to reveal the pulp and seeds inside

I carefully pull off the outer skin to release the pulp:

I put the seedy pulp in some water and squish the fleshier bits between my fingers to release the seeds:

When most of the seeds are free, I pour the contents of the bowl onto a few layers of paper towel:

There still are some pieces of pulp. That’s OK.

When the paper towel is dry, it’s easy to scrape off the seeds. Here’s how many I got from this one ‘Magic Fire’ fruit:

Seeds from Echinopsis ‘Magic Fire’

You can save the seeds for later (I use small coin envelopes like these) or you can sow them right away. Some people say cactus seeds have to “cure” a little before they’re ready, but I’ve had no problems getting them to germinate right away.

My standard method is to fill a small plastic receptacle (like a nursery pot or even a clean takeout container) with seed-starter growing medium (something like this), water it until it’s thoroughly soaked, then sprinkle the seeds on top. The pot then goes inside a plastic baggie which will remained sealed until the seeds have germinated and the seedlings have grown to the size of a fingernail. The environment inside the sealed baggie will remain humid enough so you won’t have to add any water. I keep the baggies inside, close to a window with bright light.

Sealed plastic baggie with Echinopsis ‘Magic Fire’ seeds sprinkled on top of seed-starter medium

When the seedlings are big enough (“big” being a total judgment call)...

...I carefully separate them and put each one in its own 2" pot:

After a year or two (depending on how fast they grow), I move the seedlings up to a 4" pot:

When they’ve outgrown their 4" pots, they go into 1-gallon pots. There they’ll stay until they flower for the first time. This is when I pick the keepers and toss the others.

German echinopsis hybrids I grew from seed, now in 1-gallon pots

Since this is such an involved (not to mention lengthy) process, I plan on collecting seeds from only one other echinopsis hybrid this year, Echinopsis ‘Pink Stripes’. As mentioned earlier, ‘Pink Stripes’ has the same parentage as ‘Magic Fire’ and is just as beautiful:

Echinopsis ‘Pink Stripes’

My seeds from both ‘Magic Fire’ and ‘Pink Stripes’ are the result of open pollination. In other words, the flowers were pollinated naturally, almost certainly by bees. The pollen could have come from other flowers on the same plant (probably not) or, more likely, from other hybrids blooming nearby.

In other words, there’s a good chance the seeds I collected won’t come true but will be an entirely new hybrid. That’s perfectly OK with me, considering all the echinopsis planted in the front yard produce flowers that I like. In fact, it’s that element of randomness — and the possibilities that come with — that I find exciting.

I’ll have an update for you in, oh, three or four years.

My plant haul from the 2026 San Francisco Succulent Expo

2026-06-24T13:38:33.439-07:00

In my post about the 2026 San Francisco Succulent Expo, I committed a cardinal sin: I didn’t show my plant haul. Let’s remedy that immediately.

I didn’t get a lot because a) I don’t really need more plants (how often have I said that?), and b) little else jumped out at me.

Agave utahensis (especially var. eborispina) is one of my favorite agaves. I found the motherlode on the table of Bay Area grower Mary Parisi:

Four beautiful Agave utahensis (three var. eborispina, one var. utahensis) at a price too good to pass up

Priced at $22.50, I couldn’t resist even though I already have about a dozen Agave utahensis

The remaining three plants I bought came from the table of San Diego County nursery Botanic Wonders (Al Klein and Anthony Neubauer). They have a well-deserved reputation for impeccably grown plants.

Hamatocactus hamatacanthus (left) and yellow-spined form of Ferocactus latispinus (right)

Deuterocohnia brevifolia, a mat-forming terrestrial bromeliad from Argentina and Bolivia. I transplanted it into a hypertufa cube I made in 2014 (post here). As you can see, the container has stood the test of time.

⭰ Go back to main post about 2026 San Francisco Succulent Expo

Pictures from the 2026 San Francisco Succulent Expo

2026-06-23T11:57:58.613-07:00

Last weekend was the 2026 San Francisco Succulent Expo hosted by the San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society (SFSCS). Below is a quick recap. My main reason for going was to volunteer and to help friends who were vendors, so I didn’t take as many photos as I otherwise might have. I also didn’t have my “good” camera with me, just my phone.

Held at the San Francisco County Fair Building next to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the San Francisco Succulent Expo is the largest event of its kind in Northern California. 30+ plant and pottery vendors filled the large main gallery. Here are just a few photos to give you an idea of what it was like:

The most expensive plant I saw was this impressive Dioscorea hemicrypta, yours for $2000. That may seem shockingly expensive, but bear in mind this specimen is decades old. Somebody had to take care of it all this time. (Coincidentally, another Dioscorea hemicrypta by Nick Wilkinson of Grow Nursery won Best in Show.)

Dioscorea hemicrypta

I’ve been to so many events like this that it’s becoming harder and harder to find something I haven’t seen before. The biggest surprise this time wasn’t plants per se, it was what they were in: reused clamshell packaging from the grocery store. I think this is an ingenious idea, especially for the prickly pear pads in the second photo. Kudos to Jorge Quiñones (Q Cactus) for coming up with this brilliant idea.

The theme of this year’s Succulent Expo was “Beyond the Desert.” Many people think that cacti and succulents are strictly desert plants. Some are, but many aren’t. Plant displays and speaker presentations underscored the incredible biodiversity of succulents and highlighted species native to unexpected, non-arid environments, including wetter areas in the tropics.

The judged show, with plants entered by vendors and SFSCS members, had themed categories like “Always Dry,” “Seasonally Dry & Goldilocks Zone,” and “Tropical & Unexpected Places.” Awards were given out for Best in Category, Best Cactus, Best Succulent, and Best in Show (the top plant overall).

Here are some examples of plants highlighting the “Beyond the Desert” theme:

Haworthia truncata in the perfect planter

Haworthia truncata

Echeveria with pebbles — a simple, but very effective display

Rhipsalis baccifera and fern

Rhipsalis baccifera spilling out of a trunk

Conophytums, very small succulents native to South Africa and Namibia

Even tinier conophytums

Beiselia mexicana, a caudiciform shrub in the bursera family, pushing the envelope of what is considered a succulent

I thought the overall presentation was very striking

Look at the tiny sea shells used as top dressing

This container, made to resemble a Dioscorea elephantipes, was 3D-printed. I’m sure we’ll see many more 3D-printed items in the near future as the price for 3D printers continues to come down.

In addition to the categories above, vendors and members were able to request table space for their own displays, whether related to the “Beyond the Desert” theme or not. This was a great opportunity for them to showcase their own plants. Here are some examples:

This display was mostly astrophytums

My friend Justin Thiel’s display

Probably the most perfect Aloe dorotheae I’ve ever seen

Aloe dorotheae isn’t rare, but it’s rarely grown this well

Dudleya densiflora in flower (Justin Thiel)

One exhibitor displayed amazing lava rock containers:

Echeveria agavoides in a lava rock container that made me think of cork oak bark

Pseudolithos migiurtinus, one of the strangest flowering succulents

Two different kinds of sansevierias

One of my favorite non-themed displays was by Nick Wilkinson of Grow Nursery Nick’s plants are always impressive. It was no different this year: his Dioscorea hemicrypta won Best in Show (see further down).

Agave victoriae-reginae ‘White Rhino’

Fockea edulis

Ficus palmeri

Climbing onion (Bowiea volubilis)

Dwarf tree stonecrop (Sedum oxypetalum)

Sedum oxypetalum

And here is Best in Show, Nick’s Dioscorea hemicrypta, a slow-growing yam prized for its tortoise-shell caudex. This plant has got to be 30-40 years old.

Dioscorea hemicrypta winning Best in Show

Dioscorea hemicrypta

My photos show just a small slice of the plants on display. Below is a great 3-minute video walkthrough of the show area by Al Klein (Botanic Wonders). It’s well worth watching to see the huge variety of plants that are considered succulents:

If the video above doesn’t work for you, here’s the direct link: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1027817339744384

And if you ever have a chance to go to a show put on by your local or regional cactus and succulent society, don’t miss it!

To see my plant haul from the 2026 San Francisco Succulent Expo, click here.

Hunting for Yucca 'Bright Star'

2026-06-16T12:50:16.504-07:00

Yucca ‘Bright Star’ is one of those plants that stop you in your tracks the first time you see them. It’s just that beautiful. I had one from 2017 to 2023 and have been looking for another one ever since.

My original ‘Bright Star’ came from my friend Hoover Boo (Piece of Eden) in Southern California. After seeing hers (here), I knew I needed to have one. Fortunately, she had a source and was able to get me a 2-gallon plant. It bloomed for the first time in November 2022, producing a glorious display of bell-shaped flowers.

November 2022

Yuccas are polycarpic, meaning they don’t die after flowering like most agaves do. Technically, I could have enjoyed this stunning spectacle every year from then on.

Unfortunately, my ‘Bright Star’ split into multiple heads after flowering, ruining the beautiful symmetry of a single rosette.

It got even worse when I noticed suckers popping up around the mother plant:

I had visions of a messy clump — most definitely not the look I wanted. I knew I would get annoyed every time I walked by, so I took a deep breath, got out my Root Slayer, and dug it all up in July 2023.

I saved three heads with no roots and two suckers with some roots and potted them up. However, none of them survived. No matter what some Internet sources say, I don’t think rooting yucca offsets is all that easy.

Three heads (no roots), two suckers (some roots) potted up, but ultimately doomed

After I removed my ‘Bright Star’, it didn’t take long for me to want another one, especially since I was seeing it in quite a few gardens. Maybe I was simply noticing it more?

Kyle’s garden in Sacramento, April 2024 [from this post]

Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, November 2024 [from this post]

Wave Garden in Point Richmond, April 2025 [from this post]

Michele’s garden in Davis, January 2026 [from this post]

Yucca ‘Bright Star’ has never been widely available in Northern California, but for a few years it seemed to be gone entirely. Possibly because the plant patent on ‘Bright Star’ expired in 2025 (see the note at the end of this post) and anybody is now able to propagate it freely? Maybe growers were holding back their stock to release it after the expiration date?

That would make sense, because ‘Bright Star’ is now available again. A long-time follower of Succulents and More, Neal, messaged me just last week to let know that he had seen dozens of them at Devil Mountain, a large wholesale nursery with 15 locations throughout California. The grower is Matsuda’s, a subsidiary of Green Acres, a Sacramento area retail nursery. Last Saturday, I happened to be in Sacramento so I checked the closest Green Acres location. And there they were:

Yucca ‘Bright Star’ at the Sacramento location of Green Acres

At $42.50, they’re not cheap, but they’re good-sized plants in 3-gallon containers:

I hemmed and hawed a bit, wishing I could find one for less money in a 1 gallon, but I don’t remember ever seeing ‘Bright Star’ in smaller sizes.

In spite of my initial hesitation, I bought one, and when I got home, I immediately planted it in a 16" Veradek Demi Planter I had picked up at my local Costco warehouse for $24.99 (a steal).

For now, it lives next to the small cactus bed in the backyard. I don’t think this is its forever spot, but that’s where it’ll stay until I figure out its ultimate home.

I’m happy I finally have another ‘Bright Star’. And when it does eventually flower and split, maybe I’ll have more luck rooting a few heads or offsets.

In case you’re interested, here’s some background info on Yucca ‘Bright Star’, based on a deep dive I did a few years ago. According to Google Patents, the plant now known as ‘Bright Star’ was discovered in 2000 by U.K. nurseryman Tim Crowther:

“Each year, the inventor propagates Yucca by removing the side shoots, commonly known as ‘pups’, from the base of the stems of the parent plants of variegated Yucca gloriosa (unpatented). In 2000, in the course of this propagation, the inventor observed one side shoot whose rosette of foliage was atypical of the parent. Approximately one half side of this atypical rosette exhibited a greater degree of golden variegation. The inventor removed this one side shoot with the intention of attempting to produce a new plant form whose entire rosette would exhibit a uniformly more golden variegation. The inventor rooted the first-discovered side shoot and removed its growing point in order to encourage rapid basal side shoot production. In 2001, the inventor observed that three side shoots had arisen with varying degrees of golden variegation. The inventor observed that one of these three side shoots exhibited a uniform and significant degree of golden variegation. This one side shoot, ‘WALBRISTAR’, was removed and transferred to the inventor’s tissue culture laboratory where it was successfully initiated into culture and then multiplied by the same method of removing basal shoot cuttings, but in vitro.”

The patent was applied for in December 2005, granted in April 2007, and expired in December 2025. Presumably, Yucca ‘WALBRISTAR’ (aka ‘Bright Star’, the name used for marketing purposes) can now be propagated by anybody without having to pay royalties.

Since the patent application was filed, the botanical name Yucca gloriosa var. recurvifolia has changed. According to Plants of the World Online, operated by the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, Yucca gloriosa var. recurvifolia and Yucca recurvifolia are now considered synonyms of Yucca gloriosa var. tristis, so presumably the correct name of the plant is now Yucca gloriosa var. tristis ‘Bright Star’.

Finally, in case you were wondering how much money the holder of a plant patent stands to make off a patented plant: The royalty for something like Yucca ‘Bright Star’ is likely between $0.25 and $1 per plant. This is the license fee you would get from companies that propagate your plant commercially. That doesn’t seem like much, but it’s all a numbers game.

This and that, mid-June 2026

2026-06-12T11:56:16.032-07:00

It’s almost mid-June. Don’t get me started on how quickly time is flying by! After a weird winter and a long and mild spring, summer is here with a vengeance. Temperatures above the century mark are forecast for the next few days. I did some advance watering to help the garden handle the unaccustomed heat. To make matters worse, it’s pretty windy, too. Think convection oven. Fortunately, this heatwave looks to be fairly short. Back into the low 90s next week.

Remember the rat(s) that nibbled on my Astrophytum cacti a while ago? I caught one in early May and foolishly let myself be lulled into complacency. Of course that wasn’t the end of it:

Another Astrophytum asterias nibbled on in the greenhouse

Oddly enough, the cacti that were chewed on were all astrophytums. Nothing else. I have no idea what it is about astrophytums in particular, but clearly rats and mice prefer them over anything else in my greenhouse.

With two electric rat zapper traps going, it was only a matter of time until I caught something. And I did:

Just a mouse, but better than nothing

I won’t be so quick this time to let my guard down. The traps will remain baited.

On to more pleasant things in the garden. Seeing pretty agaves always puts me in a good mood:

Agave (potatorum ‘Spawn’ × isthmensis) × shawii, with a cardón (Pachycereus pringlei) on the right

Agave shawii × potatorum

Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ × Agave titanota

Agave ‘Sierra Azul’ (Agave cerulata × kristenii) surrounded by Mexican tulip poppies (Hunnemannia fumariifolia)

View from the front porch, creeping devil cactus (Stenocereus eruca) in the middle

Agave desmetiana ‘Galactic Traveller’

Agave impressa (bottom), Hechtia ‘Oaxaca Sunset’ (top)

Several cycads are flushing, i.e. pushing new leaves. This doesn’t happen often: maybe once a year, maybe once every other year. Cycads are sloooooow and can live for decades.

Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi (I’ll never remember the correct spelling of this species)

Dioon edule

Dwarf form of Encephalartos horridus, no flush, but still beautiful

A few random snaps from the front yard:

Potted echeverias, mostly Echeveria agavoides cultivars (they handle the heat better than other echeveria species)

Farewell to spring (Clarkia amoena), a California native, is typically the last wildflower to bloom in the spring, hence the common name. It’s also known in the cut flower trade as godetia.

As much as I enjoy the flowers, I’m getting tired of the messy look. I look forward to removing the plants and reclaiming a semblance of order.

Our chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) is bigger and more floriferous than ever. In the daytime, there are so many bees in the tree that you can hear their buzzing from many feet away.

One of my more recent plant purchases is Euphorbia geroldii, commonly known as thornless crown of thorns for its superficial resemblance to the real crown of thorns (Euphorbia millii):

I got it recently at the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory for all of $15

It’s been pushing flower after flower — a pleasant surprise

A couple more recent purchases. I’m not sure how well they’ll do here, but they were both clearance-priced, so I have little to lose:

Echeveria ‘Suyon’, a Korean hybrid known for its “bouquet” look

Greenovia dodrantalis (now known as Aeonium dodrantale), aka mountain rose for its dense cupped leaves (see photo here). It’s native to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Like aeoniums, it goes dormant in the summer and is susceptible to rot when watered too much. Just a little H2O now and then to keep the roots from desiccating, at least that’s what I’ve gleaned from online sources. We shall see.

Aloe bloom season has long peaked, but I have so many species and hybrids that there’s always at least one in flower. For the past month, the standout has been Aloe tomentosa, native to the Arabian Peninsula. What makes this species so special are the hairy white flowers borne on tall, branched inflorescences. As an extra bonus, the flowers are long-lived, lasting four to six weeks. I have two Aloe tomentosa; the photos below are of the younger and smaller one. The other one grows under our Santa Cruz Island ironwood tree and is hard to photograph.

After a big flush of flowers in mid-April, the cactus craze has calmed down a little, but it seems like there’s something in bloom every day:

Acanthocalycium spiniflorum

Rainbow hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus rigidissimus ‘Rubrispinus’) in glorious flower

Rainbow hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus rigidissimus ‘Rubrispinus’)

Echinopsis ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Echinopsis ‘Celeste’

Echinopsis ‘Magic Eyes’

Fence-top planter with echinopsis

Echinopsis ‘Freda’ in the front, ‘Spring Blush’ in the back

Echinopsis ‘Freda’

Echinopsis ‘Super Apricot’

Veradek Corten bowl with multiple echinopsis. I have the tags for all of them — except this one.

Whatever it is, it has a beautiful flower

In November 2022 I sowed seeds from 12 different German echinopsis hybrids. In July 2024, I had 82 baby cacti. Of those, I kept about 60. They recently got moved to 1 gallon pots. Now I need to wait until they flower before I make the final cut. Specifically, I’m looking for large bi-colored flowers and/or ruffled or serrated edges. Fingers crossed some will bloom next year. It’s getting challenging taking care of so many pots.

German echinopsis hybrids moved to 1 gallon pots

But there’s more. More echinopsis grown from seed (in this case open pollinated ‘June Noon‘) as well as Gasteria excelsa and Aloe ‘Hellskloof Bells’ seedlings:

And, most recently, Aloe wickensii and the Aloe bulbillifera hybrid from the sidewalk bed that flowers almost continuously throughout the year:

The craziness is showing no signs of abating as I continue to collect seeds.

More Aloe bulbillifera seeds

What will I do with all these plants? That’s a very good question. I have a hunch a plant sale is in my future.

Bella Madrona: mystery and magic

2026-06-09T17:57:20.504-07:00

On my April trip to Portland, one of the destinations I was most looking forward to was Bella Madrona. I’d been there once before, during the 2014 Garden Bloggers Fling, and had fond, if hazy, memories. For some reason, I never finished my post that I started 12 years ago, but here is a good one about Bella Madrona and the Fling written by Pam Penick on her blog Digging.

Bella Madrona defies description. There are trees and shrubs and flowers, art pieces and found objects, a stream and a bog, several meadows, and even a secret forest inhabited by gnomes. As I was reading up on what others have written about it, I came across a term that captures its essence perfectly: pleasure garden. It makes me think of something grander, something that goes beyond plants; a space designed to bemuse, entertain, and thrill. When you look at the photos below, you’ll see what Bella Madrona is: lush, eclectic, playful, romantic, serene, mystical. I’d even call it whimsical if the w word wasn’t so worn out.

Before we get to the photos, a bit of history to give you context. Here is how Geof Beasley, who bought the 5-acre property in 1980 together with his partner James Sampson, described Bella Madrona in the 2014 Garden Blogger’s Fling brochure:

Bella Madrona began forming in 1980, at an 1892 farmstead. It was named for the madrones growing naturally here, in gravelly soil formed by the ice age floods. Over the years, garden rooms were added, surrounded by hedges. We began having large parties and benefits, which required that crowds could move easily from room to room, and that large open spaces be included. The plant material, though special from the beginning, was chosen to complement the overall space.

Now that the garden is 34, and the gardener in 64, the prime focus is keeping towering hedges sheared, pruning trees and shrubs to allow some semblance of light in, and repairing crumbling infrastructure. The garden has directed its own maturation, with some editing help from the aging gardener. As a result it has taken on a personality and possesses a sense of place that is to many visitors alluring, eccentric and magical. The lower area, essentially a bog, with its metasequoia grove and large bald cypresses, is a world apart, belying its proximity to the urban growth boundary. It is, along with the garden as a whole, home to a great variety of wildlife, and, indeed, the place is as much for them as it is for the humans who live here and who visit.

The 2014 Garden Bloggers Fling brought almost 100 garden peeps from all over the country (and a few from Canada and overseas) to Bella Madrona. It was the closing reception of what had been a fantastic three days of touring gardens in the Portland area. There was plenty of food and drink, much of it alcoholic, and the mood was loud and joyful. What we didn’t know was that James Sampson was returning that night from hospice care. He would die at home the following year at age 65. He and Geof Beasley had been together for 47 years, 35 of them at Bella Madrona.

In the years after James’s death, Geof, along with volunteers from local horticultural organizations, worked hard to maintain and refresh the garden. When we were at Bella Madrona in April, almost 12 years after my first visit, the garden, now 45+ years in the making, seemed quieter, a little less exuberant, but all the elements that make it one of a kind were still there.

Geof Beasley himself led our small group all over the property, accompanied by Brazilian music playing over speakers installed throughout the upper garden. Hopefully the photos below will give you an idea of why Bella Madrona is so special.

When we arrived, we were greeted by pug Caper...

...soon to be joined by his pug sister Olive

The house is nestled under the trees, as is almost everything else at Bella Madrona

Spring flowers

Tulips may be a common sight in Portland, but to me they’re almost exotic (they’re challenging to grow in our climate)

Early signs of spring

Bella Madrona has many places to sit

Two paired chairs are a recurring motif. An invitation to have a deeper conversation? Or to share a romantic moment? As with so many things at Bella Madrona, you can bring your own interpretation.

Allée leading to the barn

The barn is a beautifully weathered structure

I think it also serves as a guest house

Winding paths, leading who knows where

Upside-down wine bottles as pavers

Stone face by Berkeley artist Marcia Donahue, who was part of our group

I love the layer of moss

Giant penis by Marcia Donahue. Marcia was delighted to see it was still there.

It seemed that I was able to find something...

...wherever I looked

I have no idea what this represents, but as a fan of rusted metal, it had my attention

Another enigmatic piece

Milk can pretending to spill water...

...into a terraced stream lined with all kinds of rusty objects

In a small garden, this stream would be a central feature. At Bella Madrona, it’s just one of many things you come across as you walk around.

Portals in the woods. What does it mean?

Two chairs in a meadow of daisies

Four chairs at the edge of the woods

Metal pinwheel, because why not

Stone pagoda in the bog...

...and a cowl vent suggesting that maybe there’s someone or something lurking beneath

First I thought the red things were the flowers of this butterbur (Petasites sp.), but at closer inspection it’s obvious they’re made of glass

Hänsel and Gretel in cage?

A bit eerie and unsettling

And finally, at the far end of the property, a secret walk through a forest populated by gnomes:

There be gnomes in them thar woods

Making merry, but always keeping an eye on you

Gnoming is thirsty work

About five years ago, vandals smashed a number of gnomes. Many new gnomes have been added since then, but the broken pieces were left in place. As if to say that you can’t keep a good gnome down.

Over the past 45+ years, James Sampson and Geof Beasley have hosted many parties, celebrations, and fundraisers at Bella Madrona, some for hundreds of people. It is, quite possibly, the best known private garden in Oregon. Thomas Lauderdale, founder and leader of the band Pink Martini, and China Forbes, Pink Martini’s lead singer, were so captivated by the magic of Bella Madrona that they co-wrote the song The Gardens of Sampson & Beasley, which appeared on their 2nd album Hang On Little Tomato (2004). The song’s narrator reminisces about a past love under “Orion’s starry sky,” wishing they could “still pretend that love was around the bend in the gardens of Sampson and Beasley.”

At the closing reception of the 2014 Garden Bloggers Fling, each of us got a CD of Hang On Little Tomato so I knew the studio version of The Gardens of Sampson & Beasley (which I love). I recently found a video of Pink Martini performing The Gardens of Sampson & Beasley live from Bella Madrona on September 10, 2022, and I think it’s even better, maybe because it was recorded in the very place that inspired the song.

Rusted metal planters and cacti: Eric's garden on the Sacramento River

2026-06-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

Eric Bailey is a fellow member of the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society and lives on a multi-acre rural property along the Sacramento River. Last week, I finally had the opportunity to see his garden. With no traffic on the freeway, the drive is only 20 minutes, but it’s a different world out there in the country, away from suburban neighborhoods with their crammed lots. Eric’s driveway off the levee road is longer than my entire street!

View of the Sacramento River from the levee road

When I saw this repurposed tractor tire planter with an agave in the middle, I knew it was my kind of place.

Old tires are good for a lot of things, not just planters, but also cat sculptures:

The area in front of the house — think of it as a large courtyard — is filled with metal planters and rocks:

Eric’s container garden is less than two years old. None of the planters are store-bought. Eric made them himself from things he found on the property. It has been in his wife’s family for 50+ years, and a lot of stuff has accumulated over the decades.

Most of the round (and oblong) planters are sections from fuel drums or tanks.

Cacti, aloes, and Sedum nussbaumerianum ‘Coppertone’

Aloe capitata

Octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana)

Agave salmiana var. ferox or Agave ‘Mr Ripple’ (the jury is still out)

Impressive specimen of Eve’s needle cactus (Austrocylindropuntia subulata), a tree-like cactus from the Peruvian Andes

Austrocylindropuntia subulata flowers are beautiful — and the stems fiercely armed

Prickly pears

Tire rims make good planters, too

The square and rectangular planters range from a repurposed toolbox to a tractor gas tank to planters Eric welded together from scrap metal.

Aloe erinacea and Euphorbia enopla

I love a good barrel cactus

Cacti are a natural choice for this exposed space since they handle the heat so well

Young ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) in what was a shop cart in a previous life

I love the sun roof Eric made for these strings of pearls (Curio rowleyanus)

The plantings include cacti, aloes, agaves, euphorbias, and some smaller succulents. Irrigation is by buried drip lines. As you look at these photos, bear in mind that this area is less than two years old. There’s still plenty of room left for more plants. I have several aloes I can contribute to the cause. Wouldn’t an Aloe ‘Birds and Bees’ look great in this space? Or an Aloe marlothii?

Grizzly bear cactus (Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea)

Pine cone cactus (Tephrocactus articulatus var. inermis) in the back, paper spine cactus (Tephrocactus articulatus var. papyracanthus) in the front

The plantings in front of and next to the house are far more mature. Some of these cacti have been in the ground for years. The yuccas, too.

So lush

Crazy Aloe ciliaris (now Aloiampelos ciliaris) climbing all the way to the top of the pergola. You usually find these in the 2" succulent display at the big box stores.

Eric is a talented ceramic artist. This is one of his pots.

Great place to sit, protected from the sun

Patio next to the house. I can’t wait to go back and explore this area more.

Cacti...

...galore

Metal dino

Four wheelbarrows, that’s serious business

Eric also has a sweet shade house for his collection of succulents as well as for growing vegetables and perennials

Landscaping outside the shade house

Sedum nussbaumerianum ‘Coppertone’ glowing even in the shade

Eric (left) and Kyle (right)

As I mentioned, Eric is an accomplished potter, with a studio and kiln on his property. He is a vendor at the annual Show & Sale of the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society (first weekend in May), and he also sells his pottery at the SCSS’s monthly meetings on the fourth Monday of the month. I’ll feature some of his pots in a future post.

Revisiting Loree's danger garden: back

2026-06-02T15:28:00.579-07:00

My previous post was about Loree’s front garden. This post is about the back garden.

The portal to the back garden is the agave gate that Loree’s husband Andrew designed:

While distinctly separate, the back garden repeats many of the same themes as the front garden: bold foliage, architectural forms, spiky plants, plus ferns — so many ferns. What you won’t see a lot of is flower color. There are a few exceptions, and they truly stand out. I’m sure that was the intention.

Let’s get started. As I mentioned in my previous post, these photos were taken over three days in different lighting conditions. That’s why the colors may look a bit different.

Agave gate on the right

Pyrrosia ferns tucked into trunk of a Trachycarpus fortunei and the crotch of an Albizia julibrissin ‘Summer Chocolate’

Foliage reigns supreme. The dark leaves are from black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’), which you will see in many of these photos. It makes a great foil for lighter colored foliage.

Rhododendron pachysanthum

Woodwardia unigemmata

Pyrrosia ferns on top, Clematis ‘Pixie’ below

Back of the house on the right, the orange wall is the neighbor’s garage

This corner is anchored by Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’, still in glorious bloom during my early April visit

Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’. The species is native to China, Korea, and Japan.

Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’

Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’. I’ve never seen this shrub in our neck of the woods.

View into the back garden. The gate is behind me.

Yucca rostrata and Trachycarpus fortunei

Various pyrrosias in dish planters along the side of Loree and Andrew’s garage; gate to the left

Pyrrosia sheareri

Dicksonia antarctica

Beautifully complementary foliage

If you’ve followed Loree’s danger garden blog for any length of time, you know she’s a master at creating innovative compositions like this one...

...and this one

Pyrrosia lingua and Pyrrosia lingua ‘Ogon Nishiki’

One of Loree’s most recent fern creations (see here for more details on how she made this planter out of a galvanized steel round)

Pyrrosia lingua, Soldanella alpina, and Pyrrosia davidii

Sometimes you don’t even need plants

I will admit, I got a bit envious when I saw how many metal containers Loree has

Wider view, garage in the center (shade pavilion just outside the frame on the far right)

Stepping stones leading towards the gate

Shredded umbrella plant (Syneilesis aconitifolia), a woodland native from China, Japan, and Korea...

...and a plant that fascinates me endlessly

Podophyllum is another plant I’d love to be able to grow. Here’s the green form...

...and here is a red form (Podophyllum ‘Red Panda’)

Maidenhair fern (Adiantum)

Greens and yellows dominate at this time of year

Far side of the garage on the right

Pyrrosia sheareri

Fern central, their foliage beautifully offset by the gray from the galvanized steel containers

I’m endlessly fascinated by the variety of ferns in Loree’s garden

Lomatia ferruginea

Spores on Neolepisorus fortunei ‘Green Ribbons’

Neolepisorus fortunei ‘Green Ribbons’

Amazing what you (i.e. Loree) can do with
a splatter screen and burlap. The metal pieces are perfect companions.

The signature structure in Loree’s back garden is the shade pavilion that becomes a greenhouse in the winter. Check out this photo to see what it looks like in summer mode, with the polycarbonate panels removed.

The shade pavilion was designed and built by Loree and Andrew. Loree has written about it extensively; this danger garden post is a good place to start if you want to learn more.

Outside...

...and inside

Just some of the plants that spent at least part of the winter in the shade pavilion

Fatsia japonica ‘Murakamo Nishiki’ in a stock tank between the shade pavilion and the fence

Fatsia japonica ‘Murakamo Nishiki’

Japanese painted ferns (Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’)

Wider view of the shade pavilion (and the garage on the left)

Some of the planters near the shade pavilion:

Planters with maidenhair fern...

...and moss

Farfugium japonicum ‘Gigantea’

Queen Victoria agave (Agave victoriae-reginae)

Tasmanian tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica)

In the summer, the empty area in the photos below becomes an outdoor dining and entertainment space:

Remember the controlled pops of flower color I mentioned at the beginning of this post? The orange flowers of Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’ was one example. The flowers of Loropetalum chinense ‘Sizzling Pink’ in the photos below is another.

Nolina ‘La Siberica’, Loropetalum chinense ‘Sizzling Pink’ and...

...whale’s tongue agave (Agave ovatifolia)

There are many things I admire about Loree’s garden: her great eye for design; her imagination, creativeness, and original ideas; and above all her self-control and restraint. That may sound weird, considering Loree is an inveterate believer in cramscaping, but everything she brings into her garden serves a purpose. Me, I buy whatever catches my eye and stick it wherever there’s space. Not that I’m unhappy with what I do, I just wish I had more of Loree’s self-discipline.

• ———————— •

This post from March 2026 celebrating the 17th anniversary of Loree’s danger garden blog is a detailed look at the evolution of the garden since 2009. There are some jaw-dropping before and after pictures.

And if you’re not following danger garden yet, definitely do so now.

Revisiting Loree's danger garden: front

2026-05-29T13:17:22.112-07:00

On my Portland trip in early April, I had the pleasure of staying at the house of my friend Loree Bohl, the creator of the popular blog danger garden and author of the book Fearless Gardening, and her husband Andrew. This gave me plenty of opportunity to photograph Loree’s garden at different times of day. As is so often the case, I took far more photos than I can possibly show you. I’ve tried hard to edit myself, but there’s so much to see — as you know very well if you follow Loree’s blog.

This post is about the front garden. Click here to see the back garden.

Front garden as seen from the sidewalk, April 2026

On her blog, Loree has written extensively about her garden. This post from August 2025 has photos of what the property looked like when they bought the house in 2005. Take a look at this: The front garden was pretty much all lawn, with some foundation shrubs up against the house. Compare that to the photo above. The difference couldn’t be more profound.

Loree loves bold textures, architectural forms, and spiky plants, above all agaves. The front garden has all of that, sometimes in startling combinations. How often do you see manzanitas underplanted with agaves? Or a Himalayan flowering shrub next to a Yucca rostrata? Loree’s property isn’t large, about 5,000 sq. ft. in total, but she has created a masterfully designed garden that reflects her unique vision: original, innovative, and eccentric in the best possible way.

On that note, let’s take a closer look. As I mentioned earlier, these photos were taken over three days, so the lighting varies from pre-sunrise shade to full sun.

Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’...

...and Yucca rostrata next to the front door

Another photo of this vignette, just because it’s so beautiful. Euphorbia rigida in the front.

Wider view of the walkway to the front door

Another beautiful Yucca rostrata

The frothy blob in the lower right is Pittosporum anomalum, a shrub native to New Zealand

Pittosporum anomalum was in bloom during my visit. The flowers are tiny, but they have a powerful scent.

Lots of succulents...

...on both sides of the front door

The taller plant is a juvenile Tetrapanax papyrifer, maybe a shoot from the large plant on the far side of the house? Tetrapanax papyrifer is notorious for sending out runners.

The big agave in the middle is Agave ‘Baccarat’, on the right Agave americana var. protoamericana, and on the left Agave parryi ‘Notorious RBG’ (Loree’s name for an unidentified agave purchased at the Ruth Bancroft Garden)

Agaves are awesome (and Loree is the Queen of Agaves), but they’re somehow even cooler paired with ferns, like this Pleopeltis lepidopteris ‘Morro dos Conventos’

Another fern and agave pairing

In pots, Agave victoriae-reginae and Agave schidigera ‘Royal Flush’

Hypertufa pots planted with agaves, sempervivums, ferns, and more

Agave ‘Blue Glow’ (or, more likely, the green form of ‘Blue Glow’, fittingly called ‘Green Glow’)

Yucca rostrata in the back, with six Agave stricta ‘Nana’ in the front

Agave ‘Mateo’ at the bottom, Cheilanthes tomentosa at the top

More agaves, and even a fan aloe (Kumara plicatilis)

Yucca linearifolia

Another beautiful Yucca rostrata and an Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Nanjing Gold’, a shrub from the Himalayas, just finishing up flowering

I finally got to see Loree’s Little Free Greenhouse built by her husband Andrew in the summer of 2023. Many neighborhoods have little free libraries, but little free greenhouses? Not so much. If I were handy, I’d build one myself.

The Little Free Greenhouse was mostly empty (early April wasn’t peak gardening season yet), but I bet it has been put to good use since then

Even plant tags — how thoughtful is that?

And finally a few photos near the gate to the back garden:

Aeoniums outside the door to the kitchen

Hanging pots on the front of the garage: small, but impactful — and both featuring agaves

Closer look at one of them

Wider view of these two pots — and the gate to the magic that awaits in the back garden.

The agave gate was designed by Loree’s husband Andrew. More details in Loree’s post from October 2015.

Click here to see the back garden.

Mosaic artist Jeffrey Bale's garden sanctuary

2026-05-24T11:14:21.276-07:00

One of the destinations on my early April trip to Portland, Oregon was the garden of mosaic artist and garden designer Jeffrey Bale. What little I knew about him I had gleaned from Loree’s post on her blog, danger garden.

As I was working on this post, I did additional research and found that Jeffrey is not just some guy making mosaics, he’s world-renowned. You can see examples of his work on his own blog.

Here’s some background on Jeffrey. When you look at my photos of his garden below, keep this context in mind and you’ll understand better what his garden is about.

Jeffrey earned a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Oregon in 1981. After briefly working at a traditional architectural firm (he lasted all of twenty minutes, apparently), he left to travel around the world, studying the historical outdoor architecture of Europe, Southeast Asia, and Morocco. He was particularly influenced by the stone plazas of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and the traditional Moorish pebble installations at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. When he returned to the United States, he began experimenting with different masonry techniques and eventually transitioned into a full-time career as a garden designer and mosaicist (yes, that is a word).

Jeffrey has developed a low-tech methodology for creating pebble mosaics by setting natural stones on edge into a bed of wet mortar. Rather than relying on uniform, mass-produced stones, he hand-collects them from natural environments, such as beaches in the Puget Sound region and riverbeds in Oregon.

Jeffrey’s personal garden in northeast Portland functions as a primary laboratory for his design ideas. The space — actually two neighboring lots and houses — brings together regional flora, uncommon botanical specimens, reflective water features, and imported architectural elements, such as Indian and Tibetan artifacts.

The garden’s hardscaping is based on complex geometric and organic patterns. Notable features include a Persian rug-style patio mosaic, winding footpaths outlined with Molalla flagstone, and literal representations like a western rattlesnake path winding around the house. His public and private commissions across California, Washington, and Oregon frequently incorporate spiritual and cosmological themes, including a 36-foot-diameter stone labyrinth on Bainbridge Island featuring symbolic lunar rings and a 108-stone Tibetan mala cycle set like a necklace of Tibetan prayer beads.

On that note, let’s start at the sidewalk in front of Jeffrey’s house:

The tulips in the hell strip are beautiful, but they don’t give away any of the magic waiting in Jeffrey’s garden

As I mentioned earlier, Jeffrey owns two neighboring properties. He lives in one and rents out the other, but the backyards are one seamless expanse with no fence to separate them. We’ll get to that in a second. Right now, we’re still in the front.

Rug mosaic and meditation spot right off the sidewalk

I was mesmerized by the moss

We simply don’t have moss...

...this thick and lush where I live

Moss-covered mosaic leading...

...to the steps to the front door of the house where Jeffrey lives

The color scheme of the house reminded me of the Yucatán

The neighboring house, originally a crack house, now a rental

The two houses share a similar color story

Every nook and cranny seemed to have something special

The remaining photos are of Jeffrey’s house. Rounding the corner and walking towards the back garden:

The path around the side into the back is a mosaic forming a rattlesnake. Here’s the head:

And here’s the tail

Looking through the gate...

...into the garden

Metal panel leaning against the house

Looking the way we just came

As soon I rounded the corner into the back garden, my eyes immediately went to the central feature: the Niche Wall. It’s a visual screen from the neighboring house just a few feet from the property line, and it serves both as an outdoor sanctuary and a physical chronicle of Jeffrey’s extensive travels through South and Southeast Asia. (Even to this day, he spends winters overseas, exploring and learning about other cultures.)

According to my research (mostly Jeffrey’s own blog, especially this post), the structural core of the Niche Wall consists of concrete block backing covered entirely in stones that fit so tightly that the underlying mortar is entirely obscured from view. The primary architectural elements are hand-carved sandstone relics—including scalloped window arches, floral frames, and platforms—that Jeffrey salvaged during four winters spent in Rajasthan, India.

The scalloped stone frames heavily reference traditional Mughal and Islamic architecture, mimicking lotus blossom silhouettes and classical Gardens of Paradise motifs. The frames create recessed niches that act as elevated altars. Each niche houses bronze Buddha and Hindu deities collected on travels through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

I had never seen anything like it before and could have spent a lot more time examining all the details, not to mention listening to Jeffrey talk. But we were on a schedule, so time was limited. Plus, there were plenty of other things to see.

Door from the garden into Jeffrey’s house

Of course there’s a mosaic in front of the door

More pieces Jeffrey collected on his travels

Just two of many bells

No space is left unadorned

What looks like tattered flags are actually bananas. I bet that in the summer, when they’re fully leafed out, the two-story house behind Jeffrey’s garden is completely hidden from view.

Here is a detailed post on Jeffrey’s blog in which he describes the creation of his garden.

Jeffrey is a deeply spiritual person, and I’m grateful that he invited us into what is clearly a very personal space.

Stuff about myself you might not know

2026-05-20T18:07:34.753-07:00

Many of you have been following my blog for a long time and know as much (or more) about me than I do myself; I'm not exactly a cryptic species. But if you're relatively new to my blog, there are some things you may not know.

In its May 2026 newsletter, the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society had a feature about yours truly, based on a Q&A format. Nothing earth-shattering here, but I thought I'd repost it in case there are things you didn't know about me.

1. What piqued your interest in cacti/succulents?

My mother had cacti and euphorbias on her windowsills when I was growing up. I got a moon cactus when I was 12. So it seems I’ve been around them forever. As an adult/gardener, my interest really took off when I realized that they make great landscape plants: They’re beautiful, and they need very little care.

2. Role in the club and why.

I’ve been secretary and webmaster for a number of years. These roles play to my strengths. I’m well organized, and I work best behind the scenes.

3. Favorite Cacti/succulent?

Cacti: Echinopsis/Trichocereus hybrids for their incredible flowers. Succulents: agaves and aloes for their architectural qualities and use as landscape plants. I try to put most of my plants in the ground, so that matters.

4. Least favorite caci/succulent or one you’ve killed the most?

Dioscorea elephantipes. I’ve killed more than I can count, either by overwatering or by underwatering. Everybody says they’re easy to grow. Not for me!

5. Favorite local nurseries or gardens to visit?

Hands down the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, only an hour away. The variety of plants they grow, and the design of the garden itself, that’s been a huge inspiration for me. Plus, their climate is essentially the same as ours, so what does well there will typically do well here.

6. Any other hobbies or interests you want to share?

I love photography, and I write a blog, Succulents and More (succulentsandmore.com). I chronicle the successes and failures in my own garden and write about other gardens and nurseries I visit, here and wherever I happen to travel.

7. Advice for new cacti/succulent enthusiasts?

Grow the plants that get you excited. And if you fail, try again. Killing plants doesn’t mean you’re a bad grower/gardener; plants have a mind of their own. In your garden, don’t stick to rigid rules or listen to what others say. Do what you like. The only person you have to please is yourself. (Look for the book Fearless Gardening by Loree Bohl. It might change your life!)

Creeping devil (Stenocereus eruca)

Link to Loree's blog, danger garden.

This and that, mid-May 2026

2026-05-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

I take photos in the garden virtually every day to document what’s going on. Many of these images don’t fit into specific categories, but they’re still worth showing. That’s why I have these occasional “This and that” posts. They’re the perfect vehicles for pictures that might otherwise remain unseen.

Let’s get started with some cactus photos.

Lophocereus schottii ‘Woolly Rhino’ seen from above

Cardon (Pachycereus pringlei) seen from above

My creeping devil (Stenocereus eruca) in the box Kyle made for me in August 2024. It’s doubled in size since then and has made a few offsets.

I recently entered it in the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society Show. It won an Award of Excellence, which netted me $25 to spend at the event.

The first wave of cactus flowers is always the best (see this post), but there’s been a nonstop succession since mid-April. I’ll have a separate post so these photos are just teasers:

Parodia mammulosa var. roseolutea, probably my favorite cactus flower outside of echinopsis/trichocereus

Especially pretty when sidelit by the sun

Gymnocalycium horridispinum subs. achirasense (what a mouthful) with a surprisingly large flower

A promise of things to come

This is the Echinopsis ‘Flying Saucer’ stem that broke off and fell over recently (see post). I replanted it, and it’s already pushing a new flower.

Other succulent flowers, some unexpected:

Lewisia cotyledon, finally flowering — profusely, too. These are succulents native to the high mountains of northern California and southern Oregon where they grow in full sun. I’ve had trouble with these in the past. Now I know that in our climate they really need shade in the afternoon — and, in general, do better when ignored.

Dyckia choristaminea

Dyckia choristaminea flowers may not be showy...

...but they’re cheerful in their own way

Aloe season is behind us. Still, not a week has gone by without at least one aloe in flower. That’s what I love about that genus: There are aloes that flower at any time of year.

Aloe schoelleri, a cliff dweller from Eritrea in East Africa

Its flowers aren’t flashy like some, but I think they’re very elegant

This one was grown from open-pollinated Aloe schoelleri seed at John Miller’s garden in Oakland

The rosette itself looks very much like A. schoelleri, but the flowers are subtly different...

...especially the color, so probably a hybrid. Still, a very attractive plant.

Aloe pseudorubroviolacea right behind the Aloe schoelleri aff. above

These Aloe pseudorubroviolacea flowers are so nectar-rich, there’s sugary stuff all over the leaves

Aloe tomentosa has fuzzy white flowers...

...which I’m crazy about. This year, my older plant (this one) has two inflorescences, and a slightly younger plant on the other side of the sidewalk bed is flowering for the first time

The genus Gasteria (“gaster” is Greek for stomach) is named thusly because its flowers look like little stomachs...or like socks on a clothesline

Agave ‘Sierra Azul’ (Agave cerulata × kristenii) looking cool

Agave parryi and dogweed (Thymophylla pentachaeta) in the sidewalk bed

Mexican tulip poppies (Hunnemannia fumariifolia) reseeding liberally all over the front yard. I’m on board with that.

I’ve removed most of my ‘White Linen’ California poppies because they were getting too gangly...

...but there are a few stragglers, which I’m enjoying immensely

The poppies currently stealing the show are these pink Shirley poppies...

...which I grew from seed...

...given to me by Kyle last fall

Some of the best color in the garden right now comes from penstemons, like this Penstemon ‘Shadow Mountain’...

...and Penstemon ‘Red Rocks’

This pale-yellow buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum) is the kind of plant that is easily overlooked, but it does exactly what I was hoping it would do: soften the edge of the rock border

The same goes for this Cotula lineariloba aka big yellow moon flower

Corner of the L-shaped sidewalk bed...

...featuring sundrops (yellow), catmint (blue), and Shirley poppies (pink)

My most recent planting is the blue Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis var. argentea) towards the back

It was in a 5-gallon can, but it’s still small, and will remain small for years to come

And finally, a spectacular inflorescence at the UC Davis Arboretum, Nolina nelsonii. It towers over me like a mass of yellow tumbleweed. It’s one of my favorite sights in late spring, but one I’ll never get to experience in my own garden because the plant is simply too large.

With hot weather on the way (hello, 90s, here we come), things are likely to change fast.

Dairy Creek Meadows: greenhouse and crevice garden

2026-05-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

In my previous post, I showed you the grounds at Dairy Creek Meadows, the 30-acre rural spread owned by long-time gardeners Craig Quirk and Larry Neill outside of Portland, Oregon. This post is about the greenhouse and the crevice garden that surrounds it, both masterpieces in their own right. I think you’ll be blown away.

Let’s start with the greenhouse. It sits in the middle of a naturalistic perennial meadow designed in collaboration with Laura Crockett of Garden Diva Designs and inspired by the work of Piet Oudolf. The area is fully fenced to keep out the local deer population. When I visited, in early April, most of the meadow perennials were still dormant; take a look at this photo from Craig’s Instagram to see what it looks like in summer.

The greenhouse is actually two interconnected structures from Hartley Botanic, a British manufacturer known for its classic designs and superior build quality. Craig told us that the glasshouses were delivered on two flat-bed trucks. And yes, I do believe they came all the way from the UK.

The greenhouse serves three distinct functions: a living space, a propagation area, and a display space for Craig’s cactus and succulent collection. As you’ll see below, every detail is superbly executed.

Greenhouse in the middle of the perennial meadow, with the newly built potting shed and a repurposed grain silo on the right

I can confidently state that I’ve never seen a private greenhouse this beautiful

From this angle, you can see the two wings connected in the middle

Perennials still in winter mode

The potting shed was built just recently. It’s finished to the same high standard of quality as everything at Dairy Creek Meadows.

Both entrances to the greenhouse feature a semicircular flower mosaic created by Clare Dohna:

The interior is unlike anything I’ve ever seen — from the structural details to the furnishings to the plants. It feels much more like an elegant conservatory than a place to overwinter plants and start seeds. The greenhouse is heated by radiant floor heating. You can walk around barefoot in the middle of winter!

The lights!

Sitting area on the left, walkthrough to the other wing on the right

The “bulbs” are actually ceramics by Berkeley artist Marcia Donahue

A couple of short videos for better context:

The other wing of the greenhouse houses Craig’s collection of potted succulents. At the intersection of the two walkways is a pair of cactus-inspired ceramic sculptures by Los Angeles artist Dustin Gimbel:

Don’t forget to take in the view through the window

Beautiful plants and beautiful pottery

Small agave grouping

Aloe erinacea and Deuterocohnia brevifolia

Short video:

As I mentioned earlier, the greenhouse is also used for propagation:

What’s more cheerful than a flowering dwarf lemon tree when most of the plants outside are still dormant

The greenhouse is surrounded by a one-of-a-kind crevice garden built by renowned experts Kenton Seth and Chris Dixon from 40 tons of hand-gathered stone (I can’t even imagine the scale). It consists of multiple outcrops that form the shape of a butterfly when seen from above. Think of it as a giant jigsaw puzzle composed of rock mounds with carefully calibrated planting pockets. This creates ideal conditions for growing alpine and dryland plants and display them to maximum effect.

According to an article in the Spring 2026 issue of the Rock Garden Quarterly, the build itself demanded stamina as much as skill. The stone, collected and palletized in advance, was set during intense summer heat, requiring precise placement of massive slabs and constant adjustment of form, balance, and grade. With the help of Craig and Larry and an experienced landscape crew, Kenton and Chris shaped ledges, rises, and plateaus that in such a way that the mounds feel like a cohesive whole.

Just like the perennials elsewhere in the garden, most of the plants in the crevice garden were either still dormant or just waking up. I’d love to come back in the summer to see the garden at its most dramatic.

The explanation above should give a bit of context as you look at the photos below.

A couple of videos for context:

On the other side of the greenhouse, there are a couple of Agave ovatifolia planted on top of their own mounds, paired with agave flower sculptures by Dustin Gimbel:

Cacti, too

Dairy Creek Meadows in the kind of property you have to see in person in order to fully grasp its scale and the ambition behind it. The gardens aren’t even three years old, so imagine what they will look like in another three or five years!