Visit to a succulent nursery

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Azuleja
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#101

Post by Azuleja »

Gee.S wrote:That is a (gasp!) breathtaking price. I could probably pick one up (3-gal) for you for $24 at HD + ship if you really want one, but they are super tender.
I double checked the original photo. That pot is 7 gallons, so without something showing scale I think it's coming across a bit small.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#102

Post by Stan »

At least its a safe price Azure. It wont die from cold,or heat,or dry. Very low chance of too wet. I doubt gophers touch Agaves. I could be wrong..but I've never had one eaten. Yet.

I paid $80 for a Biz in a 3 or 5 gallon and grew it on for 2 more years. Less then a week after planting,it was eaten. You could clearly see the gopher tunnel went in a straight line to the palm.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#103

Post by Viegener »

There's a bunch of nice looking variegated Yucca gloriosa around. The one I bought as a 1 gallon from a big box store last year was labelled "Yucca gloriosa var ‘WW 01N’", which makes me think they're trialing a bunch and waiting to make named selections. It's pretty nice & a good grower.
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Azuleja
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Azuleja »

I thought our Y. gloriosa was on the drip line but was wrong. When I realized it takes all our winter wet and then gets no summer water at all, it suddenly looked prettier. I imagine the variegated will be slower and more manageable so I'm kind of excited about it.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#105

Post by Viegener »

They look great in CA with a little bit of care, certainly better than all those Yucca gigantea (aka Yucca elephantipes & guatemalensis) that live in misshapen clumps across CA sidewalks.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#106

Post by Stan »

Viegener wrote:They look great in CA with a little bit of care, certainly better than all those Yucca gigantea (aka Yucca elephantipes & guatemalensis) that live in misshapen clumps across CA sidewalks.
Well,anything forced to do that wont look as good as the same on the Ponderosa. Y.gigantea is a big impressive plant,that lives on no supplemental water,has edible flowers and seems to really thrive in the bay area..reaching larges sizes then those in drier climates.
If you don't like this,then Yucca's aren't for you.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#107

Post by KLC »

That looked like a neat nursery Azuleja. Thx for posting those. I picked up a 'Jaws' at a DBG sale some years ago, put it in the back seat floor area of my truck, parked in the shade, and went back to spend a few hours in the garden. When I returned my 'Jaws' had some damage. Its all water under the bridge at this point because it grew out of it completely in a season or two, that agave is probably more susceptable to the edema thing than others.

I remember those huge yucca trees when I lived in Cali. Didnt give them much attention because they were so common.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#108

Post by Viegener »

Stan, those look great. Most of the ones I see are mangled because they were planted in too tight spaces. They lose that elephantine form & look like cripples...
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#109

Post by Azuleja »

I don't remember seeing Aloe polyphylla in a nursery before. Thought you might like to see size and price, with a finger for reference. I like you, so I used my index ☝.
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Azuleja
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Azuleja »

I picked out this chubby gasteraloe.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#111

Post by Spination »

Very cool, and good to see the Aloe polyphylla with pertinent info. Thanks for the index! :lol:
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Azuleja »

I stopped at a new nursery today. This one sells mostly to landscapers and other nurseries. Driving by, I noticed some cactus through the fence and found quite a collection of interesting things. Besides a motherload of A. 'Blue Glow' for landscapers, he has big tree aloes, pots full of mamms, tall euphorbias, foqueria, adeniums and other stuff I never see. The giant A. nickelsiae is in a 25 gallon pot 2 feet across. I didn't realize they get so big. The Encephalartos horridus is in the same size pot. I've never seen one in a nursery before. I didn't buy anything but will definitely be going back here. The owner said next time he'll take me back into the greenhouses. He seems to have a passion for xeric plants but said lush shade plants are what's in demand, which is ridiculous.
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Spination
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#113

Post by Spination »

Wow, looks like some really high quality stuff... nice!
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Azuleja
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#114

Post by Azuleja »

I don't know my cacti so I couldn't identify many of them. I didn't get pictures of the big pots of furry cleistocactus but I really love them. They were more than I wanted to spend but he said he has seedlings in the greenhouse that should be ready for 4" pots soon.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#115

Post by Gee.S »

Hey, that's a bunch of nice stuff!
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Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Azuleja »

You'd normally only end up there if you were shopping for a specimen tree. It's on a back road in the country. I think I found my new hangout, lol.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#117

Post by Gee.S »

Yeah, there's a nursery like that in my neighborhood. It's more like visiting a botanic garden than a nursery, largely because most folks won't lay out $500 for a $40 plant. ::roll::
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Azuleja »

I certainly won't be getting a tree euphorbia so yes, most of the enjoyment is just in admiring. The price on the encephalartos was truly horridus. I didn't really price all the smaller things. Three stalks of cleistocactus a couple of feet high were $45. There were some really nice mixed cactus plantings for $20 but he had them made with rocks glued in at the top. If I could get them off without damaging the plants it might be worth it because there were small clumps of cleistocactus in those too.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Azuleja »

I did go back and got a complete nursery tour. In addition to landscapers and commercial developers, they supply crop trees for farmers so it's a big diverse place mostly geared toward volume buyers. 24" boxes go out by hundreds at a time, sometimes internationally. They grow a lot of palms too, from seed. When they're big enough, they get put in rows in the ground. Then later they get dug and boxed. Some were huge trees weighing up to two tons but he said they sell. It was interesting for sure.

Here was my purchase. A great little assortment. I just have to free them from all those rocks.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Gee.S »

Those fuzzy white Cleistos grow like WEEDS! Careful they don't poke you in the eye on the way up!
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Steph115 »

Awesome. Thanks for sharing, Azul. I also had not seen any polyphyllas in nurseries until recently. And then I only saw ~3-4 month old seedlings for $15. That seems like a great price for an A. poly that size compared to what I've seen online. Also, gorgeous landscape plants. Never seen an encephalartos in person - is that what that cycad was?
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

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Post by Azuleja »

$15 for A. polyphylla seedlings does seem like a great deal when just the seeds seem hard to come by. Yes, they have Encephalartos horridus and Encephalartos lehmannii. I had not seen them in person before either. While touring the greenhouses I spied a very small horridus tucked among some other plants. I certainly haven't forgotten it's there. Maybe I'll have a chance to ask after it another time.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#123

Post by Gee.S »

Here is the result of my visit to a succulent nursery. Not planned, just drove by and had to stop. Picked up a weird crested cactus of some sort, and a weird Mangave of some sort. Might not have brought the cactus home, but how could I pass on $15? I doubt the Mangave will last beyond next year, but I'll hope for offsets and bulbils.
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Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#124

Post by Stan »

wow- Missed those latest posts. Those Azul photos of the blue cacti and the E. horridus are going to get me buying lotto tickets again. In her photo no4? I would give my left arm for a Orange Pasacana like sp. that seems to be.
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Re: Visit to a succulent nursery

#125

Post by Azuleja »

That's a beautiful mangave, Gee. They have a lush look. I could use a few.

Stan, I'm still shocked to have found such nice specimens nearby. I can't afford three quarters of them but it still makes me happy.
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