More small agaves: Dwarf Butterfy and KichioKan marginata

Of all the small agaves, this one is the most enchanting. Love at first sight. Look at those leaves! Mme.  Butterfly seems ready to take off---full of spirit. Agaves can be a little intimidating--more than a little if we're talking about the big ones like a. americana. But agave isthmensis---Mme Butterfly-- just wants to be admired. Her botanical name, isthmensis means she comes from an isthmus probably somewhere in Mexico. She's occupying a gallon pot and won't need anything larger. If you want to try growing your own, follow the link for a seed source. This one was grown by Native Sons and photographed at Terra Sol Nursery (http://www.terrasolgardencenter.com/)                                                                         

Here is another endearing agave with her circle of offshoots peering out:  Kichio Kan marginata. She is Mrs. 12 x 12. --grows one foot high and one foot wide. Marginata describes her stripes. She's called "Lucky Crown.". Her spines come in yellow, change to orange, then to red and she looks her best in part sun.. What's the difference between Kichio Kan marginata and plain Kichio Kan? Apparently there is one having to do with the stripes. Hard for an amateur to see.

The  really big  striped one that's all over in So Cal  and grows easily to 6 feet by 6 feet is her cousin Agave americana marginata.. Though handsome indeed the Big Guy is not for a small  pot, as the leaves alone can grow to be eleven inches across. There's one down the street that's planning to take over  the neighborhood. .                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Agave Blue Glow

See also her book  Succulent Container Gardens.

Agaves, being desert plants, (we said this before) can stand lower temperatures.. All of them are good bets for inland gardens and points East, as well as the Central Coast.

This one is another mini aloe--- Fatal Attraction (*Native Sons)
4" pot, grows about the same dimensions as Kisso Kan. Fatal Attraction is dressed for the Red  Carpet.

                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                               

(• Native Sons is a wholesale supplier than serves many Cal ifornia nurseries listed on their site. Their catalog alone is an education in low water plants.)

"BOUTIQUE" ?? AGAVES

This is Agave “Kissho Kan” grows 12-18” high and wide, originates in Mexico, is hardy to 0 degrees. . You can see how small it is compared to the plant label. That’s a 4” pot. (Native Sons* grows it.)

“Boutique” agaves (is this LALA land, or what?) is a phrase from from an L.A. Times article by Debra Lee Baldwin (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2010/01/boutique-agaves-small-agaves-potted-agaves.html).

 She’s got a new book coming out this month on container gardening : Succulent Container Gardens. She’s my Muse, can’t wait to read it. Meanwhile, if you go to the LA Times article there are pictures of more classy small agaves including one that’s really spectacular, Blue Glow. (Native Sons)

Mamaillaria longiflora, a Cautionary Tale

Complete Book of Cacti & SucculentsThis photo is from Terry Hewitt's indispensable book, and was taken by Peter Anderson.
Mammillaria are not plants for landscaping around here, unless you live on the side of an arid cliff where it doesn't rain in the winter. Hewitt: "the plant needs to be dry when dormant in winter; it rots if over watered." Yep.
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The longifolia which had done well ---filled up its 2" pot--- lived under an overhang where it didn't get rained on and was generally flourishing.Until, a victim of some demented Mary Poppins,it was seized, repotted,and put it where it got watered in winter. Total disaster--it rotted from the root.

Cactus have such strong personalities, like cats,  that to lose one is not insignificant. And to lose one out of  of careless ignorance is just plain tacky. Feeling awful, went to Home Depot to replace poor longiflora.

No mammillaria longiflora to be found. (longiflora refers to the striped pink and white flower; mammillaria means nipple. As a group the mammillarias are sometimes referred to as Nipple Plants.) What's being referred to is the cone shaped nodule that holds the spines.

You can see the cones more clearly in this mammillaria  pringlei especially the right hand one.(The m. longiflora  substitute  was this group of three pringleii.)

Many mammillaria come from Central Mexico where it rains a lot from May to September Mammillaria can't handle water during those months----however, they need really sharp drainage Put some stones in the pot. Many are cliff dwellers. Save a life--move your mammillarias under shelter so they'll be protected from rain and cold.

Here's another Central Mexican native, a "Golden Barrel" that needs the same care. It's an Echinocactus -"hedgehog like". Round and prickly? This one is Echinocactus grusonii. It will get scarred if it gets cold, nor does it like winter water.A wet hedgehog is not a happy hedgehog.

Bon Appetit

aloe vera and aloe ferox continued

Department of Utter Confusion is - Aloe vera and Aloe ferox on the Internet. According to some of the ads, a.vera is the second coming in medicine. It’s reputed to cure acid reflux, burns, sunburn, gastric distress, irritable colon, cracked, dry feet. AND improve your love life.  The claim is made that Big Pharma doesn’t want you to know about this. ……Too late Big Pharma..


Aloe ferox, also known as Bitter Aloe is a purgative. It may well work on burns. A. arborescens (remember him?) also performs just fine on burns. Many of the aloes seem to create a sort of Liquid Skin effect if you rub the burn with the gelatinous part of the leaf. Aloes have a bitter yellow sap under the skin, then a gelatinous layer.

In S. Africa, a.ferox is made into a conserve--- something you’d serve with meat or poultry the way we use cranberry sauce. The bitter sap is drained off, and the gelatinous part of the leaf is used. Since ferox grows rapidly with water, and the leaves are thick, harvesting the plant for jam is not as mad as it sounds. Where would tequila be without agaves? What would have happened to Isaak Dinesen if she’d grown aloes for jam? No Out of Africa, no fame and fortune, but a prosperous farm?
The recipe is found on p. 129 of Aloes in Southern Africa – by two S. Africans, Gideon Smith and Braam van Wyk.  (See  Aloe Preserve.) This may not be the definitive book on aloes, but it’s close.

Confusion on the Net- aloe ferox and aloe vera

Aloe vera- notice the color of the prickles along the edge of the leaves are white. The leaves are slimmer than those of a. ferox.

The prickles on these leaves of a. ferox are red, and wickedly hooked. Ferox means 'fierce".
                                                                                  aloe ferox