Uploads from hortulus

Echeveria 'Hummel #1'

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:17:59 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

This beautiful and large-rosette hybrid I received years ago from Ruth Bancroft (I was admiring it in her garden and she just yanked a piece out and handed it to me!!)

Pelargonium graveolens 'Colocho'

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:30:07 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

Years ago, this strange scented geranium sprouted as a seedling in my garden. I gave it to Robin Parer of Geraniaceae who propagated it and named it 'Colocho' (which means 'curly'). It has a pleasant rose scent. There is a form called P. graveolens "Bontrosai' that is very similar but has a lemon/citrus scent.

Pachyphytum compactum

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 08:23:59 -0800

hortulus posted a photo:

. . . showing striking coloration during our very cold (for us) weather of late. We grow this plant in a small pot and sunny exposure outside, so it always colors up to some degree. This 'lean and mean' treatment also enhances the tessellation of the leaf surfaces.

UC Berkeley - Morgan Hall

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 21:21:35 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

Cobaea scandens 'Alba'

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 08:40:43 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

We've got some English ivy that does a good job of blanketing a fence and concealing the property next door, but its very boring. We used to have another vine threading through it, but it was far to vigorous and created its own problems. Our most recent attempt to create interest in this white form of this interesting Mexican vine. The flower show up far better than the purple form and they are interesting to view at the close range of this barrier.

I'm still trying to understand how this vine 'works'. It has a very wimpy root system, tiny stems become much more robust at their extremities, the thread-like tendrils seems impossibly weak and delicate but ultimately coil into strong attachments. It is also one of those 'up and down' vines - something tells a stem to shoot upwards or to hang lazily down with its top-heavy weight. But overall, we are becoming pleased with the effect the Cobaea is creating.

Plectranthus question

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:38:13 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

I received this plectranthus from a neighbor who had no idea what it was. What first caught my eye was that it grew taller than any Plectranthus sp. I'd heard of - 8-10ft or even more!! [that I had no space at all for such a beast was besides the point. I wanted to find out what it was]. True to form this guy does grow very tall (I'm six feet tall and this is shot at eye-level). I prunde it down to keep it in bounds about 3 times a years.

As you can see, there is no purple underside to the leaves, which themselves have a slightly 'stinky' aroma, but not overtly offensive. No noticeable pubescence. The flowers very typical of the genus.

Anyone have an idea as to the ID of this guy?

Echeveria ‘JC van Keppel’ (ISI 1557 1985)

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:45:18 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

We love this little guy - kinda slow, but ultimately making a nice bun of rosettes. Interesting waxy texture, which probably leads to the idea that E. agavoides is one parent, but there is no actually parentage data. Flowers are not known to have been produced.

A selection of our lampshade 'dish' gardens

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:45:17 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

Echeveria pulvinata 'Frosty' in an old tool-box

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:59:07 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

We found this un-named form of Echeveria last year and it has grown into a very elegant form - one of our favorites at the moment. Liz21UK tells me this is E. pulvinata 'Frosty' - it certainly matches other photos of that clone.

My potted Drimia [Urginea] maritima coming into flower

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 07:34:12 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

Its always an event when these bulbs start to send up their flower shoots.

Arum palaestinum

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:15:45 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

This is one of the very first plants I ever grew myself - from bulbs given to me when I was a teenager by a gardener in my hometown (yes, I still have them!). For me, in our mediterranean climate, the leaves are usually withering away by the time the flowers appear in spring. But perhaps that makes this dark flower stand out even more. I've placed it (a potted specimen) in front on this gray-white Centaurea ragusina for dramatic effect, but there is no reason why they could not grow together in the same planting.

The flowers, which attract flies for pollination, are mildly stinky (you have to literally put you know into it to get a whiff) when they first open, and even slightly warm in temperature! The spathe (the enclosing bract) starts to fade to a deep burgundy or puce by the second day, though the spadix (the finger-like flower spike) remains very dark. Eventually, if well pollinated, the short cluster of orange-red berries will form in the place of the flower.

These mediterranean climate adapted bulb go completely dormant in summer, returning with the cooling weather of fall and the promise of rain. The bulbs, if accidentally dug & sliced during this time, contain raphides (needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate) which can be very painful to hands or other tissue, so beware and handle with care (normal handling of this plant seldom if ever causes a problem).

Lotus jacobaeus

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:15:47 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

The so called Black flowered lotus, for obvious reasons. Couldn't resist this offering by Annies Annuals. A quite little plant, now enjoying a warming trend in our weather. The continuous flowers are very surprising - usually takes visitors a bit of time to notice them, but notice they do! They are also very hard to photograph, becoming mere black holes in the photo. it is reportedly a biennial or short-lived perennial, so I'm trying to get some new starts from the only occasional seed pod that forms (have yet to germinate them).

Native of rocky sites on the Cape Verde islands, just off the coast of East Africa.

Urginea [Drimia] maritima

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:49:34 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

This year is the best flowering of these bulbs since I've had them. This pot is quite large and the tips of these spikes are above my head (I'm 6ft). As I passed then tonight they almost seems to glow, so I was inspired to take this picture.

mosaic forest

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:49:19 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

My wife and I walk past this forest periodically as we talk a walk along a foot path between Graton and Forestville (a favorite day trip). I've always been captivated by the dappled light, the various foliage, and the lichen covered tree trunks.

Russian River (Monte Rio) in the morning

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:48:49 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

A view from the river-front landing of the cottage we rented recently. A very peaceful view in the morning.

While viewing this serene scene, I try to ignore the disquieting patch of Ludwigia hexapetala (the yellow green mass along the far side of the river). This invasive water plant has been rapidly spreading throughout Sonoma County waterways causing loss of habitat, modification of the natural environment and even an increase in mosquito borne Nile virus (www.msmosquito.com/PD091704b.html).

A succulent grouping planted in terra cotta drainage pipes

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:49:53 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

A good flowering on Echeveria 'Set-Oliver' (E.harmsii × E.setosa; which I have grown for years), along with Cotyledon macrantha, ×Graptosedum 'Golden Glow' (an old hybrid seldon seen anymore), and in the rear, what I believe is Crassula perfoliata var. heterotricha (which I received from a friend in Mallorca).

Echeveria secunda glauca 'Lenore Dean'

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:44:46 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

During a visit to Betsy Clebsch's garden (sponsored by the local branch of The Mediterranean Garden Society), I spotted this handsome specimen growing in the dappled shade of a Berberis.

Wow! Classic!

Grown in the UK under the name 'Compton Carousel'. Also distributed under 'Serenity' and 'DS2009'.

Rosa 'Veilchenblau', Schmidt 1909

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:32:20 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

The one rose we grow in our garden - always a treat at this time of year, when it's unusual colored blooms cover the west fence bordering our sitting area.

Scented Pelargonium impersonating a vine

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Sun, 29 May 2011 21:14:54 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

Passed this combo the other day in Uptown Oakland - the citrusy/rosy scent caught my attention. This is likely Pelargonium 'Citrosa' - purportedly a gene-spliced creation using Lemon Grass chromosomes, but more likely merely just a hybrid of a Rose Geranium with something like P. citronellum. It is 'cavorting' with the variegated for of Pandorea jasminoides, and holding it own. A friend has P. 'Platinum' growing with vines on an arbor in his garden - these plants, when supported, can grow continually into a vine-like form - a trait too little exploited.

Pelargonium 'Persian Queen'

nobody@flickr.com (hortulus) — Tue, 24 May 2011 08:20:46 -0700

hortulus posted a photo:

. . . in the garden of serialplantfetishist.