Category: Gardening (Page 2 of 185)

Yesterday, I went to a succulent nursery in Whittier that I’ve been to before. It was so fun to see their selection again. They really are an amazing place.

I took a moment to stop by the table I got my tephrocactus geometricus from. There was one there that was blooming! So cool!

But then I saw something even more exciting. They had crested aeoniums!!!
I’ve been looking for them!

At first, I saw big ones in fancy pots for a lot of money. But then I saw smaller ones for reasonable prices. Woo hoo!

I got two of them. One has striped leaves:

…and the other has purply-black leaves:

So what is a crested aeonium? Cresting is when succulents sometimes experience a genetic mutation that causes their stems to fuse together or to crinkle into clumps. Here’s my dark-leaved crested aeonium again, this time followed by a picture of a regular aeonium:

See the difference? The mutation doesn’t happen a lot, so it’s harder to find. Once you have a crested plant, you can take cuttings though. I suspect these are going to get more and more common.

When I got the vase at Mt. Vernon, I was thinking I’d use it for cut flowers from my garden, but over the weekend, I saw some really well done artificial peonies, so I got them. They are perfect for the vase. Peonies were present in colonial America. They were a different species than what we grow today, but still, they are an old-fashioned flower, and they’re perfect for my old-fashioned vase.

It makes me happy to look at. I’ve put it by my front door, so I can see it whenever I leave and whenever I come home.

Every once in a while, an orchid leaf in my bathroom ages out and falls off the plant. The leaves look so interesting to me. There are clearly visible rectangular shapes. I’m wondering if they’re plant cells.

I did a quick search of the internet for an answer. It was inconclusive, but seemed to be leaning toward: no, I’m not seeing individual cells with my naked eye.

I went to a local plant place yesterday. They always have a big selection, and some rare offerings. One of the workers there asked me if he could help me. I told him I’ve been looking for a crested aeonium, and he actually knew what it was. He asked another guy at the store, who also knew what it was. I was so impressed! They said they do get them occasionally, and took my name and number so they could contact me if one came in.

I usually am slow to get anything new, because I have so many plants already, but they had a haworthia that was almost white. It was amazing! I couldn’t NOT get it!

Having a new plant gave me an excuse to do some re-potting when I got home. I did several things.