New Plants: From the Chicago Flower and Garden Show

Last Friday, my husband and I made our traditional trip to see the Chicago Flower and Garden Show. I will be posting about my overall impressions of the show, and a couple of features I particularly enjoyed, in the next couple of days. In the meanwhile, here are the plants I purchased at the show.

From the top left, according to their accompanying tags: Monadenium aff. schubei; Aloe harlanii; Crassula 'Buddha's Temple;' and front and center, Dyckia 'Burgundy Ice.'

A closer look at Monadenium aff. schubei. I love the color. This is my first plant of this genus, and I'm looking forward to learning how to grow it.

This plant was labeled Aloe harlanii. I am more familiar with the name Aloe harlana, and even more familiar with the idea that plants sold as such are usually Aloe hemmingii. It's a pretty plant though.

Crassula hybrid. This 'Buddha's Temple' is quite different from the 'Buddha's Temple' I purchased at the show last year (from the same seller), as can be seen in the shot below:
Two Crassula, old on the left, new to the right

Dyckia 'Burgundy Ice,' a very nice succulent Bromeliad.

The plants are all from Ted's Greenhouse in Tinley Park, IL, which always has a nice, and busy, booth at the Garden Show.

In Praise of Echeverias--First Time Bloomer

I worry a bit about my succulents all winter long. I tend to think of most of them as tender container plants that must spend the winter indoors, rather than as houseplants. (Sansevieria, Crassula ovata, and Euphorbia are the notable exceptions. As long as they aren't in the dark, those plants really do seem just as happy indoors as they do outside.)

Echeveria can be especially problematic. Some of them get quite leggy, even with the best indoor light. So I especially prize those that don't.

Here is my Echeveria chihuahuaensis, in a picture from last September:

Echeveria chihuahuaensis (I believe) nicely colored up from the sun

The same plant, a few days ago. (The excessively blue tint of the photo is the result of the nearby fluorescent lights.)

The tips of the plant aren't as red as they were in the sun, but the plant is staying nice and compact. And it is getting ready to bloom. There are three stalks: The well-developed one on the left, the smaller, reddish one on the right, and a tiny one near the center that can be seen if the picture is opened full-size. (It is in front of the leaf that is near the largest bloom stalk.) I've heard that the more ordinary Echeveria species (as opposed to some of the fancier hybrids and cultivars) are less likely to get leggy in home conditions. I have no idea if this is true across the board, but I've noticed that like E. chihuahuaensis, Echeveria pulidonis, Echeveria purpurea, and Echeveria lilacina seem to stay compact during the winter.

A Blooming Mystery

We're not big on efficiency here among the leaves. As I've mentioned before, I have a tendency to misplace plant tags. I don't keep formal records of my plants, or of plant-related information or tasks, though I've made half-hearted attempts at spreadsheets in the past. I do have an excellent memory for the most part, but there are times when it fails me.

Unidentified succulent plant

Apparently this time it has failed me spectacularly. I don't remember where I purchased this plant, or how long I've had it. It doesn't particularly bother me that I don't have an ID for it now; it does bother me that I don't remember if I ever had an ID for it.

I'm inclined to think that it is an Echeveria or a Graptoveria. The leaves suggest the latter to me, however the flowers are very Echeveria-like.

Three views of the flowers. In form, they look exactly like the flowers of all the other Echeveria varieties I grow, and the color is similar as well.

If anyone knows what this is, I'd be happy and grateful to hear from you. In the meantime, I think I'll have another go at making a spreadsheet to keep track of things.

I Missed One--Blooming Jade

When I was photographing plants for bloom day this past Monday, I forgot to take pictures of one of the plants I really wanted to share.

I'm not completely sure which Crassula species this plant belongs to, but I believe that it is some form of Crassula arborescens, maybe C. arborescens 'Blue Bird.'

Blooming Crassula variety. The flowers were washed out quite a bit by the flash.

Not very clear shot showing the pink color of the petals. After several attempts at photographing these flowers, it seemed that I could achieve color, or clarity, but not both.

Whole plant

I have several Jade plants, which I love, and grow, for their foliage and form. I love flowers as much as the next person, but they are almost always secondary for me as an indoor plant grower. The plants I grow strictly for flowers, like Hibiscus, Hippeastrum, and jungle cacti, are the exceptions that prove the rule.

But Crassula ovata and Crassula arborescens are reluctant bloomers in home culture, so it is a little exciting when they do so. My Crassula ovata 'Gollum' flowered during November a couple of years ago. It is a large plant, and there was one tiny flower cluster on one branch.

Crassula ovata 'Gollum' blooms from November of '08. The flowers were white, and I had a hard time capturing a clear picture with my old camera.

Crassula ovata 'Gollum' whole plant, photographed in November 2009

I realize that even though my love for foliage is the primary reason I choose and grow plants, a lot of my blog posts focus on flowers. That is probably for two reasons. The first is that flowers are photogenic (mostly--I've already demonstrated in this post that getting good shots of them is sometimes problematic.) The second is that flowers demonstrate a plant doing something. Sometimes it is hard to come up with something to write about if your subjects just sit around not doing anything. You know, like houseplants.

Variegated Haworthias, Expected and Unexpected

Some months ago, I saw a picture of a variegated Haworthia limifolia, and knew that I just had to have one. The regular green H. limifolia is probably my favorite Haworthia anyway, and variegation just seemed like icing on the cake. So I started looking. Nothing was available locally. None of my usual mail-order sources seemed to have any. And while there were plants available on eBay, either they had been bid up to a level beyond which I felt comfortable, or they were too small for the price + shipping, or they were from overseas sellers. I am not comfortable with buying plants from private sellers located outside of the United States at this time. I want to be as sure as I can that all customs and conservation regulations are being complied with. It is the least I can do to help protect the environment and natural habitats, both here and abroad.

But just recently, I found a nice-sized plant from an eBay seller in California that wasn't overpriced or the subject of a bidding war. The variegation isn't as bold as many I've seen, but it is still pretty nice.

Variegated Haworthia limifolia

And then just the other day, when I was rearranging my plants to accommodate those that had been brought in from outdoors, I noticed something. One of the Haworthia fasciata plants that I had bought a few years back, probably from Home Depot of all places, had grown a variegated offset.

Haworthia fasciata, with four white-striped leaves.
(The variegation can be seen in better detail when the photo is clicked for the larger version.)

So I'm going to be keeping an eye on all of my Haworthia plants, to see if anymore have surprises in store for me.

Bringing In, Bringing On the Blooms

Maybe they are feeling a bit stressed by the change in the environment, since they've been brought indoors where it is warmer and less sunny. Maybe it is just the right time of year. But anyway, several of my succulents have decided that now is the time for producing flowers.

Aloe 'Doran Black'

Aloe greenii x lineata with bloom stalk. This will be the first time this plant has flowered in the four years I've owned it.

Unidentified Euphorbia. This is the third round of buds since early spring for this plant.

I meant to cut the rosette of this Echeveria runyonii from its leggy stem to re-root, but never got around to it. Small offsets are forming at the base of the stem.

E. runyonii blooms up close. It is hard to get a good picture because of the reflective nature of the plant's glaucous coating, which is why the flowers seem washed out in both pictures. They are much more orange in person. Also your blogger needs hand lotion, since her fingertips appear to have developed a glaucous coating of their own.

Echeveria 'Black Prince' just getting started. Its flowers will be red-orange, if I recall correctly.

Unidentified Echeveria. The "rosette" to the left is actually atop a bloom stalk, which is hard to see at this angle. I think this will be the first time for flowers from this plant.

One thing that makes me think that it just happens to be blooming season, for the Aloes at least, is a recent trip to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, where their grouping of Aloe thraskii either in bud or in flower.

Aloe thraskii group at the CBG earlier this year

Plants in bud yesterday, with a blooming Yucca (I think) in the background

Closer pictures of an A. thraskii in bud

Plant in bloom

Finally, at least one cat's curiosity got the better of him during today's photo session:

Luke says "Hi!"

Haw, Haw, Haw

It's funny. Haworthia is not one of my favorite genera. I don't usually come across one in a store and think, "Oooh, nice plant. I've got to have it!" (This is my general reaction to almost all Aloe, every Echeveria, several Sansevieria, a bevy of Bromeliads and, well, I won't go on.) But I accumulate quite a few Haws anyway, because I love making Haworthia dish gardens. You get all the charm of a succulent mixed bowl, without the worries that occur when planting species with incompatible needs together. I've shared some of my bowls before in this post and this one, and now I've got a few more. Quite a few of these plants are NoIds. Haworthia are tricky to identify, and I admit to not trying that all that hard. They tend toward a lot of similar subspecies and varieties, not to mention crosses with both Aloe and Gasteria. I lose patience trying to pinpoint what's what.

Five new bowls, three mixed, two with a single species

Haworthia limifolia var ubomboensis, (bottom) and xAlworthia 'Black Gem,' (top left) both acquired in trade, share this bowl with a NoId plant

Haworthia gracilis, (or some subspecies thereof) at the top, and a NoId

A variegated plant that I think is some form of Haworthia attenuata

From the bottom left: Haworthia limifolia, something that is probably a Gasterhaworthia, and at the top, a complete NoId

Yet another unidentified variety

I enjoy adding mineral specimens to each bowl as decorative elements, along with the aquarium gravel I use as top dressing. I now have a total of nine bowls, and that number will probably increase, as several of my older plantings need to be divided due to new growth, and there are always new plants waiting to be snapped up.

I'm Going to Miss Them

One of the things I really like about the northwest suburbs of Chicago is that it is a nursery-rich area. I greatly miss living in the New York metropolitan area, (it will always be Home) but I have to admit that when it comes to places to buy houseplants, suburban New York is somewhat lacking.

So one of the first things I did, once I became comfortable finding my way around on my own here in Illinois, was to check out the various nurseries in the outlying areas. In 2004, I discovered Geimer's Greenhouses, in Long Grove. I will never forget the first time I walked in. They had a nice selection of houseplants, but what really floored me was the array of cacti and succulents. I had never seen so many for sale in one place in my entire life. The variety was impressive as well. They had things I had previously only seen offered for sale by specialty mail-order companies. Sansevieria species other than S. trifasciata. Lots of Haworthia varieties. Succulent Peperomias. Euphorbias. Okay, some of the larger plants were out of my price range. But there were reasonably priced smaller plants as well. That first day, I purchased an Aloe juvenna, a mystery Aloe that might possibly be Aloe sinkatana, a Peperomia dolabriformis and Sansevieria ballyi. After that, I made it a habit to visit Geimer's at least three times a year, (Long Grove is a bit too far from home for frequent casual shopping ) and I never left empty-handed.

Mystery Aloe, possibly Aloe sinkatana, purchased in 2004. I don't really care what it is; this is my favorite of the Aloes that I own. This photograph is from last summer, but the plant is still going strong. When I purchased it, the main stem was about the size of the two pups seen here, and the pups were just getting started.

The Sansevieria masonia on the left, the dark Sansevieria trifasciata variety at the rear center, and the Sansevieria kirkii var kirkii to the right are all from Geimer's. (The S. kirkii var pulchra 'Coppertone' in front was purchased elsewhere.)

Well, on Thursday, I decided to stop by on the way home from the Chicago Botanic Gardens, and discovered, to my dismay, that Geimer's will be closing as of Labor Day. Apparently, they hadn't been doing well enough lately to be able to renew their lease, and announced their upcoming closing last spring. Somehow, I missed this information when I visited in spring and early summer. Statement from their website here. If you click through to their gallery page, there is a picture of their succulent selection near the bottom. That is what I saw when I first walked into the place six years ago.

Ten plants purchased from Geimer's on Thursday. I purchased eight of them for under thirty dollars, (full price would have been nearly $100) then went back and purchased two more (The Sansevieria parva on the far left, and the grey Euphorbia mammillaris to its right). Also pictured, Sansevieria dawei, Agave victoria-reginae, Aloe nobilis (I think) and Sansevieria kirkii var kirkii. (Yes, I just had to have another one.) There are also yet-to-be identified Gasteria, Haworthia, Ledbouria and Crassula varieties shown.

When the cashier commented on my considerable savings, I said that I would be have been happy to pay full price if it meant that they were staying open. And I really meant it. I've only known Geimer's Greenhouse for 6 of their 82 years, and I wish it could have been more.

In Praise of Succulents: Euphorbia edition

In a post from last November, called An Unexpected Favorite, I shared my thoughts on my largest Euphorbia lactea. I also mentioned that I find Euphorbias in general fascinating, and a little scary, what with their often vicious spines and equally vicious (and viscous) sap. But I delight in their dangerousness, not unlike girls who go for bad boys. And like certain so-called bad boys, who are real sweethearts once you get them home, these have all been a pleasure to have around the house.

The Euphorbia lactea that I wrote about previously. The non-crested portion of the plant continues to grow at a much more rapid pace than the crest. I have finally noticed some growth in the crest this summer.

Another view of the same plant on the porch along with the NoId Euphorbia I wrote about last week, and two small crested E. lactea. At least I think the pinkish one is an E. lactea.

Euphorbia milii. There are two different varieties in one pot. As seen here, the variety with the darker, more rounded leaves has pink flowers. The plant with the longer paler leaves has bi-colored flowers that are predominately yellow.

Known in my household as the "Evil Pointy Plant of Death" my Euphorbia tortirama, here and below, is currently in bloom.

I took particular delight in taking some pictures of Euphorbias during my last few trips to the Chicago Botanic Gardens:

Euphorbia abyssinica variegata, the full plant in all its convoluted glory above, and a closeup below.

I'm sorry that I didn't note the name of this species, but I love its variegation, which can be seen more easily here below. The flowers in both pictures are from a nearby Aloe. Edited to Add 9/9/10: I saw the tag today. The plant is Euphorbia pseudocactus.

Last, and certainly not least, is a Euphorbia lactea crest that puts my little plants to shame.

Of course, I haven't had 100 percent success with Euphorbias; I've lost both Euphorbia obesa and Euphorbia suzannae in the past. But those small setbacks have left me eager to try both again in the future.