Fouq Experience -- Year 1 (Fouqlore)

[mickthecactus]

Some wonderful pictures on here.

[Gee.S]

One of my Fouqs, F. burragei, has reacted dramatically to the gentle hard freeze (gentle as hard freezes go). Leaves are dry and crispy, and dropping like flies, so its very first leaf drop. I doubt the plant is dead, but don't expect to know how extensive the damage for a while. I do know that if it can't take an occasional night like that, it never had a chance here. I had originally thought F. burragei would prove my most tender Fouq, hailing from the southern tip of Baja.

Definitely not dead. Here it is, 10 days later.

[Gee.S]

My latest interesting experience has been with my F. macdougalii. I have had it about 18 months, and it has roughly quadrupled in size. A few weeks ago when things started heating up, mac dropped all its leaves and went dormant, tho it had been actively growing. It had been constantly leafed out since I brought it home. I continued to water it moderately as I always had, but my guess was it just needed a rest. A few days ago I tried to wake it by deep watering with a garden hose as one might a citrus tree, and I now see it is leafing out again.

I know Fouqs drop their leaves routinely, but I also know my Fouqs are small, and won't grow when dormant.

My small columnaris also dropped leaves at this time, but I know that is normal behavior for this winter grower, so I will not force the issue in the same manner.

[Minime8484]

In my experience, younger plants can be more in tune with the amount of water they receive, so respond to manual waterings. As they get older, they tend to ignore any efforts to "force" them to leaf out, and I let them tell me when they want to go dormant. Almost all of mine are losing their leaves now and will remain mostly so until monsoon moisture (*if* we get any...), at which point they should leaf out (though shrevei doesn't seem to respond at all to monsoons). Then in the early Fall, several go into a second growth spurt before losing leaves again and going dormant for the Winter.

Right now, only F. diguetii and macdougalii have any flowers left, but both have been mostly leafless for the past few weeks. All other species are bare or mostly so. Growth has finally ceased for shrevei & splendens ssp campanulata var albiflora. F. ochoterenae is the only one that seems "stuck"...has scattered leaves for the past couple of months, but hasn't lost them, yet hasn't gotten lush; this species usually has the most significant growth in the Fall. F. columnaris should start showing inflorescences soon.

[Gee.S]

My big exception to the rule here is F. formosa, which seems happier the hotter it gets. It had gone dormant for months thru each of its two winters here and doesn't awaken until (and I'm guessing here) substrate reaches a certain temp in late April, early May. Like all my others tho, it is small, and could develop a different demeanor when larger. But for now, a true heat seeker. My only Fouq large enough to bloom at this point is F. diguetti. So, blooming might also direct these guys toward a different routine to some extent. Give me about five years, and I might have half a clue. LOL

[Minime8484]

I forgot to mention the species that is right in front of my window that I stare at every day! F. burragei defies all other species and blooms profusely through the hottest part of the summer; flowers start off pinkish in the Spring, are pure white in the heat of mid-summer, and become pinkish again in the fall. Leafs coincide with rains with this species, but not flowers.

[Gee.S]

F. diguetii, now about 5' tall, enjoying the mild weather.

Fouquieria diguetii

dig900.jpg (326.15 KiB) Viewed 17280 times

[Gee.S]

A few more of my Fouqs coming along. I've had these for about two years now. They have all grown tremendously. So far, my F. burragei has decided it wants to be a compact shrub, branching furiously at the expense of growing taller, and my F. macdougalii is going for long and lean. I'm guessing these proclivities will change as time marches on.

F. burragei

Fouqs 001.JPG (414.3 KiB) Viewed 17243 times

F. formosa

Fouqs 003.JPG (455.12 KiB) Viewed 17243 times

F. macdougalii

Fouqs 005.JPG (474.78 KiB) Viewed 17243 times

[Gee.S]

I've had two evenings of significant frozen temps so far this winter. The first was worse, going sub-freezing for at least eight hours, bottoming out at 28°F. The only Fouq impacted at all was my F. burragei, which actually weathered the event extremely well. Unlike the hard freeze from the previous season in which it lost all its leaves, this time it only lost a few, and once those fell off, there was no indication that a freeze event had occurred. A few nights ago it hit 29°F and went sub-freezing for perhaps four hours, and this had no impact at all. So I now have a really good feel for exactly how hardy this guy is.

None of my other Fouqs were effected, and with the exception of my deciduous F. formosa, all have remained leafed out thru the season. One point of note, my F. columnaris is without a doubt the happiest plant in my yard all through winter. It LOVES winter, the colder and rainier the better. Hilarious.

F. burragei

Seedlings 005.JPG (422.79 KiB) Viewed 16317 times

[Gee.S]

Two of my front yard Fouqs hanging in after an absolutely brutal summer.

F. burragei

Fouq_Front 001.JPG (620.63 KiB) Viewed 15732 times

F. burragei

Fouq_Front 002.JPG (568.64 KiB) Viewed 15732 times

F. formosa

Fouq_Front 004.JPG (572.52 KiB) Viewed 15732 times

F. formosa

Fouq_Front 006.JPG (464.42 KiB) Viewed 15732 times

[Gee.S]

F. diguetti also came thru this sh*t-show of a summer unscathed. Now 8' tall. F. macdougalii (behind and to the right) is also fine, but remained leafless through the worst of it, so less growth.

F. diguetti

New_Lens 003.JPG (499.94 KiB) Viewed 15657 times

[Tom in Tucson]

Two of my front yard Fouqs hanging in after an absolutely brutal summer.


Fouq_Front 001.JPGFouq_Front 002.JPGFouq_Front 004.JPGFouq_Front 006.JPG

From the healthy look of all of your species, I think the blooming should be spectacular!. Those F. burragei are valuable potential seed producers (which are extremely hard to find). Let us know their progress.

[Gee.S]

The only one that's ever bloomed is the diguetti.

[Minime8484]

Those F. burragei are valuable potential seed producers (which are extremely hard to find). Let us know their progress.

My burragei blooms throughout the brutal summers and blooms into the Fall as well...but, it doesn't have a mate, so never any seeds.

[Gee.S]

Well into year three now, and freshly past the most brutal summer yet. Good news is that all have survived, while all kinds of cacti and agaves did not. These are tough plants, which is one reason I gravitated toward them after a couple of very bad summers in 2019-20.


F. burragei did not enjoy enjoy this past summer, having dropped all its leaves for an extended period, which it had not previously done. Once temps moderated, it leafed out luxuriously, but hasn't grown much this year at all, retaining an extremely compact, shrubby shape. It's on the small side, but really quite lovely.

F. burragei

Fouq 001.JPG (531.36 KiB) Viewed 11856 times

F. diguetti also dropped all leaves this summer (as did all my Fouqs, except one), but was first to bounce back, and has since been growing at a nice pace. It is now budding up for a bloom show. Over all, this has been my best performer, now chiming in at 9' tall.

F. diguetti

Fouq 012.JPG (639.11 KiB) Viewed 11856 times

F. formosa may be the only plant under my care, which seemed to ENJOY this summer. Not only did it not drop leaves, it nearly doubled in size, adding 2'+ of new growth to most branches. This seems the most cultivationally distinct of my Fouqs, in that it loves heat, and actually seems deciduous, dropping all leaves each winter. The fact that it remains seasonally leafless for four months may translate toward it being more resistant to losing leaves through summer, even in harsh conditions, though I've no doubt it would do so were those conditions extreme enough.

F. formosa

Fouq 006.JPG (662.47 KiB) Viewed 11856 times

F. macdougalii didn't enjoy this harsh summer any more than my F. burragei, remaining leafless for months. It has since leafed out, but shows very little new growth, remaining leggy and decidedly un-macdougalii like, to such a degree that I'm starting to question its pedigree. Others I have seen always demonstrate a compact, bushy form. Still waiting for more branching.

F. macdougalii

Fouq 010.JPG (526.12 KiB) Viewed 11856 times

F. purpusii also reacted dramatically to this unpleasant summer. Fouquieria in general seem to require periods of dormancy, and this guy had always been leafed out since I first brought it home. This summer, it dropped all leaves and remains leafless. I suppose it could be dead, but many of its branches are still green, so I suspect it's simply taking an extended rest. We'll see.

F. purpusii

Fouq 013.JPG (529.92 KiB) Viewed 11856 times

F. columnaris has been leafless for months, as it should, and will undoubtedly leaf out soon, now that cooler weather is descending upon us. This species seems the absolute flip-side of F. formosa, going dormant in summer, and actively growing in winter.

F. columnaris

Fouq 014.JPG (645.22 KiB) Viewed 11856 times

[Tom in Tucson]

Some comparisons of plants in my collection compared to yours:

Your F. purpusii looks like it may have suffered some cold damage in the past. If it was within the last year, it may still be recovering, and concentrating on renewing its stem growth instead of producing leaves. All 3 of mine produced new stems and leaves this year.

That F. macdougalii looks like a nice F. splendens. Both of mine produced new stems and leaves this year.

F. formosa range of distribution in square miles and altitude range are almost as large as F. splendens. So it's not too surprising that it seems to be about as tolerant to high and low temperatures too.

My 2 F. diguetii (from Baja Sur and Sonora), are performing just like yours this year.

My 2 F. burrageii behaved differently. The one in partial shade produced leaves, but no stem growth. The other one in full sun produced leaves in July, but dropped them in August. It also had no new stem growth, unlike last year.


The species in my collection you didn't mention:

F. shrevei was not phased by the heat, and suffered no ill effects, producing new stems and leaves this year.

F. ochoterenae did as well as F. formosa.

F. leonilae was the best performer of all.

F. fasciculata was grown in partial shade, and the bases of the largest ones were afforded additional shade with cloth. They produced new stems and leaves this year.

My hybrid (F. purpusii x F. fasciculata) did almost as well as F. leonilae.

I had to delay seed sowing this year of every species until the heat let up in September.

[Gee.S]

That F. macdougalii looks like a nice F. splendens. Both of mine produced new stems and leaves this year.

Yup that's where I was kinda going. Found it at BB 3 years ago in a 5-gal for $20, so I guess I can't complain much about a mislabel. And fact is, I don't really have room for a good-sized macdougalii where it's planted, so it would have become a maintenance problem. F. splendens takes up a lot less horizontal real estate, so I may be better off for it.

[Tom in Tucson]

That F. macdougalii looks like a nice F. splendens. Both of mine produced new stems and leaves this year.

Yup that's where I was kinda going. Found it at BB 3 years ago in a 5-gal for $20, so I guess I can't complain much about a mislabel. And fact is, I don't really have room for a good-sized macdougalii where it's planted, so it would have become a maintenance problem. F. splendens takes up a lot less horizontal real estate, so I may be better off for it.

If you can squeeze one in, it's worth noting that this Fouquieria macdougalii was found planted at a local nursery in a shady location which still bloomed.

[Gee.S]

Yeah, I probably will pick one up. Arizona Cactus sales frequently offers it @ 5-gal/$40.

[Gee.S]

That F. macdougalii looks like a nice F. splendens. Both of mine produced new stems and leaves this year.

So, as this guy continues to grow, it is now clearly not F. splendens. Nor is it F. macdougalii, of course. Pretty sure at this point that it is my second F. diguetti. Would have rather it been labelled correctly, but I'm not complaining.

[Tom in Tucson]

That F. macdougalii looks like a nice F. splendens. Both of mine produced new stems and leaves this year.

So, as this guy continues to grow, it is now clearly not F. splendens. Nor is it F. macdougalii, of course. Pretty sure at this point that it is my second F. diguetti. Would have rather it been labelled correctly, but I'm not complaining.

If it is F. diguetii, at least it's not as tender to low temperatures, and seems as heat tolerant as F. splendens.

[Gee.S]

That F. macdougalii looks like a nice F. splendens. Both of mine produced new stems and leaves this year.

So, as this guy continues to grow, it is now clearly not F. splendens. Nor is it F. macdougalii, of course. Pretty sure at this point that it is my second F. diguetti. Would have rather it been labelled correctly, but I'm not complaining.

If it is F. diguetii, at least it's not as tender to low temperatures, and seems as heat tolerant as F. splendens.

I have another much larger, classic bell-shaped diguetii here. It does GREAT here, one of my happiest plants! I had always noticed these two wax/wane in unison. Now I know why. LOL