Visit to a succulent nursery

[mcvansoest]

Gee, what about Mammillaria chionocephala or Mammillaria formosa? I think the flowers might be light pink.

From the picture the flowers look like they have yellow and red stripes, which combined with the over look of the plant gives it a pretty classic M. Karwinskiana ssp. nejapensis look. There are a lot of those out there, whereas M. chionocephala and formosa are less common to come across in my experience. The M. formosa flowers are generally much more white with pink stripes, whereas M. chionocephala tend to be much more white.

Of the remaining 3 Mamms in your pictures two (the third and fourth) are M. mystax and M. plumosa respectively, I think. The second one is really hard without flowers.

Here is a picture of M. formosa in flower this spring:

DSC_0069.JPG (89.67 KiB) Viewed 3335 times

[Azuleja]

Cool, thanks! They're all fairly uncommon around here. The nursery folks didn't even know if they were Mammillaria or not.

[Gee.S]

Gee, what about Mammillaria chionocephala or Mammillaria formosa? I think the flowers might be light pink.

From the picture the flowers look like they have yellow and red stripes, which combined with the over look of the plant gives it a pretty classic M. Karwinskiana ssp. nejapensis look. There are a lot of those out there, whereas M. chionocephala and formosa are less common to come across in my experience. The M. formosa flowers are generally much more white with pink stripes, whereas M. chionocephala tend to be much more white.

Of the remaining 3 Mamms in your pictures two (the third and fourth) are M. mystix and M. plumosa respectively, I think. The second one is really hard without flowers.

Here is a picture of M. formosa in flower this spring:

DSC_0069.JPG

Agree 100% with your IDs, exactly what I was thinking. The other looks for all the world like a Mamm I've only seen in habitat, M. heyderi, but it's probably something else...

[Spination]

Anyone recognize the brown stemmed aloe in the last picture of the first post?

I'm going to make a guess based on this plant I have and it's appearance in this photo back in December 2014. While I can't swear it's the same, it's very similar.
Aloe spicata

2014 12 02 Aloe spicata d X800.jpg (323.79 KiB) Viewed 3336 times

[Stan]

I saw a S.cylndricus for sale at..Home Depot. I remember when they and a few others were first spread around in the early 2000's. I passed on the HD plant because I remember they have wicked tips as they get to size. I'm not so sure they will do well outdoors here. Before,it was a warm greenhouse. Fast growers there. But so was just about every plant.

[Gee.S]

^ I have 'em outside here. They probably wouldn't be too keen on your cool temps. And I don't mean your extremes, just your everyday coolness. Sans like it hot.

[Azuleja]

Here's the mammillaria in flower. I haven't seen the flowers open any wider. I don't know if I keep missing it or if it's unhappy about something.

[Gee.S]

Lottta Mamms have little flowers like -- completely normal.

[Azuleja]

I returned to a nursery I last visited in January. For this neck of the woods, they have an impressive selection of agaves and other succulents but it seems like no one buys them. They keep getting more and while some are priced high, there are also deals to be had. It's a dangerous place for me to visit.

The last time I was there I saw two A. utahensis v eborispina, and they were both still there. They sat out all winter in the rain and lost some lower leaves but overall didn't look too worse for the wear. This was in a 2 gallon pot with lots of roots. Now it has new digs.

[Azuleja]

In addition to Agave 'Blue Ember' I saw Agave 'Blue Flame.' I grabbed a Blue Ember and would have jumped at a chance to grab Blue Flame too, but they were over $40 a pot. They also had standard ovatifolia, vanzie and frosty blue. I went specifically looking for vanzie, but didn't even buy it.

[Azuleja]

I posted the Blue Ember in the gallery but here it is with my Blue Glows for comparison. It's not the same at all, but kind of fills the same niche in my mind. I really like Blue Glow but Blue Ember has nicer color and more elegant spines. Blue Glow is fast growing and easy though so we'll see how they compare over time. The lower leaves of the Blue Ember are a little yellow from being sunk down deep in wet peat.

[Azuleja]

Here are a few photos but there were interesting things tucked all over. It's weird, but I get a little overwhelmed trying to choose plants in person when there are a lot. The Sansevieria hallii you guys said was a good deal last time was still there too.

Note: Dyckia 'Cabernet' is nearly spineless but still needle sharp and NOT friendly at all.

[Azuleja]

Lastly, not xeric, but really cool and not something I usually see.

[Spination]

Nice. I'm surprised at the high price of Blue Flame - maybe because they're well grown large plants? I have several offsets from mine, when I cored it. I was only interested in the variegated ones. I'd be happy to get rid of one or more of the plain ones ... I think there's 6 of those.

[Gee.S]

Nice haul Azul! The utahensis you grabbed grows exclusively in limestone, so may do well enough if potted up in exceptionally well draining media. Blue Flame is a BB staple around here, though I only rarely see them in nurseries or about town -- too sun sensitive for this part of the world.

[Azuleja]

There isn't a lot of rhyme or reason when a 2 gallon Blue Flame costs more than a 2 gallon eborispina. When I unpotted it, I could see the root bound outline of a 4" pot with a mass of new roots growing down from there. Judging from my time lapse photos, it had been losing leaves faster than it was growing them. Hopefully I can turn that around.

Spiny, if I don't find Blue Flame again around here I'd love some of your coring rejects. I've seen it grown to mature size at HBG and Succulent Gardens in Castroville. It should be much more popular in California landscapes.

[Spination]

No problem. So far, I have the murph with your name on it, and your Wilee pup has already doubled in size...getting closer to when I can separate from Mom, which is also growing fast and a second pup also just made an appearance. I'd be happy to send a Blue Flame along with them.

I agree with you. Why the Blue Flame is more expensive than the eborispina doesn't make sense to me either.

[Azuleja]

Awesome, thank you. I look forward to the day when I have lots of extras and things to share around. I'm sure there's a tipping point where you go from plants that are growing to ones that are overflowing.

Here's an overhead shot. The pot is 9.5" across. I hope it doesn't lose many more leaves. The good thing is that it's already acclimated to sun.

[Spination]

That's a lovely specimen. Judging from the size, I'd say a lot of years invested growing it. I have some I've had now 4-5 years, and none are nearly that big... so my impression is they are slow growers. Nice acquisition.

[Gee.S]

I've had quite a few utahensis in the ground for many years now. They're a little tricky here, and those that look best are the most sun-tolerant. Most utahensis cannot manage full sun here, but some can. Take the others out of full sun, and they become considerably less compact and attractive, even when full sun would fry 'em to a crisp.

[Spination]

I had potted up one of mine last year to a one gallon, and have been pretty much ignoring it. Just took a look, and it's a lot bigger than I remember! I'm thinking now I must have been really holding back it's growth underpotted. Guess it must be happier now. It does have a different look to it than yours, but I thought you'd like to compare just for kicks. Much more narrow leaves by comparison, and perhaps slightly longer terminals.

2017 05 27 A utahensis b X800.jpg (241.95 KiB) Viewed 3274 times

[Azuleja]

Nice, I always enjoy seeing other examples. Yours should have that very wispy, flame look when it gets more full. You just never know what you'll stumble onto if you're out looking.

Ignoring things seems to be the best way to get them to grow in some cases. In my case, the plant was ignored into a nice large size and then months of wet soil cost it a whole ring of lower leaves that probably took years to grow. I hope it isn't in too much shock from unpotting and having its old soil removed. I'm going to move it into a part shade quarantine area for a bit.

[Spination]

I think that's a good idea. When I do radical repotting (like removing all old soil), I usually give a shot of B-1 solution for it's first watering/soak. I buy that in 1 gal size from the nursery which seems to last me for 1 year. It's supposed to reduce transplant shock and stimulate root growth. I do that with new bare-root acquisitions as well, and also mellow conditions for a few weeks.

Inspired by the photo I just took of the eborispina, I grabbed the next one, and potted it up to 1 gal size. Knowing they like extra good drainage, I cut the normal cactus mix with extra pumice to mix in for these. Noting how they were the same size when I potted up the first one, and now seeing the difference, I can only wonder what took me so long. I think it's the same answer as always - too many plants! Tomorrow, I'll go for #3.

[Stan]

Besides some plants to lust for..the prices sound great. Not the usual specialty nursery pricing.

[Stan]

That Opuntia turpinii looks like its straight from Socotra. Very exotic.