tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12385985813997214102024-03-19T05:40:15.623+00:00Spiky obsessionSpiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.comBlogger472125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-5262363366401362022019-09-29T21:19:00.002+01:002019-09-29T21:19:52.803+01:00Finally time for a mangave update: part 1So as those of you who have followed for a while will know, I LOVE mangaves. Sadly in the UK these are few and far between. So, over the last couple of years I have made a concerted effort to get as many as possible, including a shared order to Plant Delights nursery in the USA. It has been a successful couple of years and I now have over 30 varieties.<br />
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So time for an update on all the mangaves and manfredas, it may be a little photo heavy.<br />
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Where to start, the first plants were the manfredas. There used to be a lot more, but I managed to leave most at the last house. There are two forms of manfreda undulata: chocolate chips and cherry chocolate chips which was new this summer. The chocolate chips flowered last spring which set the plant back, but at least it has produced offsets.<br />
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They need a good re-pot, maybe come spring. I overwinter them in an unheated greenhouse and they have been fine down to -7c when kept totally dry. I'm not sure they would like it any colder.<br />
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Then there is the manfreda guttata that flowered over last winter.<br />
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The flower started at this time last year, it flowered once, then a second time, then a third and then bulbils appeared on the stalk, so it really is the flower that keeps on giving .<br />
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Again it seems fine if kept dry over winter, so I've 3 planted out at various places around the rockery. The bulbils and offsets mean I have a lot of these now.<br />
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The manfreda maculosa below is new this summer.<br />
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The last one seems to be listed as manfreda or mangave guttata "jaguar". Again a new one this summer. It has been slow to settle in but is finally starting to grow. It's supposed to be one that would cope outside in London suburbs, but will be pampered this winter and planted out once I have spares.<br />
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The ones that were left behind were manfreda virginica which was planted in the garden for about 3 years and a form of manfreda guttata called "Spot" which as the name suggests has larger spots. If you have either of these to trade please let me know.<br />
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Onto the mangaves. There are two that you can get relatively easily in the UK: mangave bloodspot and magave macho mocha. I have two m. bloodspots.<br />
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The plant on the left I've had for years and it's never actually grown. I now know that it's probably to little space and water that is the issue. The one on the right was new this summer and is a slightly different colour and grows at a much more managave like rate.<br />
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They seem to be fine in my unheated greenhouse so will be there again. If I ever get another I'll try one outside as I've heard of others in the the UK doing well in the ground.<br />
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The same goes for mangave macho mocha. Since last year I have been treating the mangaves less like agaves and giving them more water and space. The result has been dramatic and it has easily doubled in size. Finally looking like the stunning plant I've seen in photos.<br />
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You can see in the photo that I also have the variegated form mangave espresso.<br />
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The variegation is definitely stronger in bright sunlight, almost losing it in the greenhouse over winter.<br />
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During the search for new plants, a friend announced he had an un-named form, he said it hasn't done much for him, and sure enough it has sat there for me refusing to budge.<br />
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So the UK mangaves. My good friend Paul produced two before he died. They are nice compact plants, making them good for a small garden. They also offset nicely so over the years I have been giving them to good friends and trading to collectors. They are both crosses with agave obscura (is that the old or new name I can never remember). The first is a. obscura x manfreda maculosa.<br />
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It has a nice upright form and the leaves have a triangular shape to them as you can see the brighter the light the better the spotting.<br />
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The second is a. obscura crossed with manfreda virginica. This as you would expect has longer more drooping leaves.<br />
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These are marginal for me, in terms of hardiness. Even kept dry they suffer in a bad winter, although they do come back. This one flowered last spring and had nice compact flowers, not as big or many as agaves, but better than manfredas.<br />
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A friend had two agaves in flower at the time; agave mitis, and a suspected horrida. I managed to get pollen from both and hand pollinated the flowers. The seedlings are now at the end of their first summer, and out of 40 that germinated I managed to keep 18 alive.<br />
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There now seem to two distinct forms: the mitis ones<br />
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The second form is perhaps the more interesting, it has a good blue colour, nice spines and more upright shape.<br />
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Next year should see these properly develop and then I can decide which ones are worth growing on. Either way I'm excited about having my own mangaves and maybe even naming them if they show promise. As both agave parents are planted out in the UK so hopefully the offspring will have some hardiness.<br />
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Then through contacts the Walters Gardens forms started to arrive. If you don't know them, go to Mad About Mangaves page (<a href="http://madaboutmangave.com/Mad%20About%20Mangave.html" target="_blank">link here</a>) and look at the amazing variety of mangaves they have produced. Most of the forms from now on originate from this amazing mangave producer. The first lot started arriving last summer, in no particular order.<br />
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Mangave bad hair day. I'm still undecided on this one, it probably gave me the most trouble. Firstly it didn't like being inside over winter, so had to be moved into the greenhouse. The it didn't seem to like being in a pot. So finally given it is supposed hardiness I planted in the new rockery.<br />
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It is perfectly happy, but given its form I can't decide if it works in the ground or should be put back in a pot. What it does have going for it, is that it should be totally hardy for me. <br />
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The mangaves seem to fit into different groups around leaf shape, colour and offsets. I had thought the wavy leaf forms would be some of my favourites they have proved to be quite slow growing and a little awkward to decide how to pot. The first two that turned up were mangave catch a wave and mangave falling water. They both behave very similarly, I would say a medium growth rate, not offsetting.<br />
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First up mangave catch a wave.<br />
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Then mangave falling waters<br />
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I'm guessing these two may be ones that improve as they get bigger.<br />
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Not all the plants have been so restrained, mangave kaleidoscope seems to want to take over the garden, I only got it in August last year and have already taken off four offset and there are 3 more.<br />
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I wish it would put more effect into growing and less into offsets, but it's getting there. It is another one that I want to test for hardiness, not that is is listed as totally hardy for me, but I have so many offsets I can afford to test the main plant. Again like m. bad hair day it probably needs to be in a pot where it can flop over in a natural way.<br />
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Those that know me won't be surprised by my view of the looser less structured forms, I do like the structural plants and this runs through all my succulents. The exception in the first set of mangaves is m. moon glow. The reason is the colour, even young it really lives up to its name.<br />
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That's the closest I have managed to get to the colour, it is properly blue. It has grown at the same speed as the wavy forms, and like those hasn't offset yet. I think this one is going to be one that deserves being somewhere on display. Not quite hardy for me, and given that it hasn't offset it will be put somewhere and kept above -5.<br />
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The ones that have stood out from last year purchases are the more structural ones, the faster grower has been m. mission to mars. <br />
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It is already a decent size and a good structural form and colour. It will make a really good focal point but will no doubt also stand it's ground if grown among other plants. It should be hardy for me, although sadly it has not offset so I am not sure I would risk it until I know I can get a replacement. The growth is going to be a bit of a problem with the rapidly growing collection. As mentioned above it makes a huge difference how they are grown: large pots and more water gives you much more growth. I am now considering restricting both he pot size and water to try and slow them down a bit.<br />
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The other fast grower is m. pineapple express. This has to be one of my favourites and it offsets nicely as well which is a bonus.<br />
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I love this one and I've had it in one of the most prominent locations in the garden. I would love this to be hardy and to be able to plant a few in the garden. Sadly I don't think it stands a chance in a bad winter and may struggle in an average one. Given I have a few spares I am actually going to see how it copes in a cold frame this winter. Fingers crossed I would love to be able to grow a few larger ones and don't have to space to store them somewhere warmer.<br />
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From one that has really performed to one that is ticking along, m. lavender lady. You can really see the parentage in this one and sadly that means it is not hardy at all.<br />
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You can see the potential in this one and also that the colour is going to vary greatly depending on where it is grown. I think I will probably move it to a smaller pot, it hasn't grown to fill the pot like the others, plus it would make it easier to bring inside over winter. It has no hardiness at all, listed as Tropical, whatever that means. It is sad that it needs to be inside, hopefully it will be worth it.<br />
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The the final one from last years searching is m. silver fox. This is the most agave like of the first group and has an even better colour than lavender lady.<br />
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As you can see it is a fast grower, sliver blue in colour as the name suggests. Another one that likes to send out pups. It's marginal for me apparently, so I'm going to try one in the cold greenhouse to see how it copes. I'm looking forward to seeing this one develop into a specimen plant as it will be a one to have out on show.<br />
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So that was up until the end of last year. I will get onto this year in a second post.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-17136931614946271072019-07-07T22:23:00.000+01:002019-07-07T22:23:14.142+01:00What's left behindI've been taking lots of pictures of the agaves recently. From different angles, close ups, almost everything execpt the whole plant.<br />
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One of the sets of photos has been around the spines. At this time of year they are at their best. This agave parryi 1684 has a range of colours from yellow to almost black as they age.<br />
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Looking at this photo the bud inprints really stand out. These depressions produced by the previous leaf before they unfurl, leaving the perfect impression of what is no longer there.<br />
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Not all agaves produce them and some are better than others. They come in different forms, the depressions like these, then there are some where pail powder hasn't formed as thickly like agave ovatifolia.<br />
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Combine the impression with a bit of powder and you get really defined inprint, like agave montana.<br />
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It gives a pretty special look to the leaves.<br />
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When the spines are more ornate the effect is even more special.<br />
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I believe in art they call it have a term negative space, and it's thought that the space left between what is draw / painted is as important as the what is marked. It seems with agaves that the space left by what was there can be as dramatic.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-72126438503561012712019-06-30T23:44:00.001+01:002019-07-01T17:54:00.765+01:00The sun is out at last.It's been a glorious sunny weekend here, the first of the summer sadly. Lots of work in the garden, so expect an update soon. In the mean time, over lunch I noticed the sun shining through the edge of the agave parasana fireball.<br />
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<br />Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-59482258712790476252019-06-19T19:51:00.000+01:002019-06-19T19:51:09.625+01:00Succulent rockery revampI mentioned in previous posts that the main succulent rockery needed a bit os a revamp, the post can be found <a href="https://spikyobsession.blogspot.com/2019/04/planning-changes-to-succulent-rockery.html" target="_blank">here</a>. At the time the rockery looked like this:<br />
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The agave salmiana had already been removed along with the other plants being dug out, or moved to other locations in the bed. The rock was ordered, set out and finally we had a break in the rain and it was possible to plant it up. First filling the gaps in the exisiting section. Where the aloe striatula was we planted a catus, a trichocereus pachanoi.<br />
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What looks like the wire cage around it, was testing out things that could be used to provide a cover for winter protection. There's still a couple of gaps to be filled, but they can be filled with pots until I decide what will fit.<br />
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Where the agave salmiana was there is now a little agave asperrima. My plant is only small so here is a photo of the mother plant at Crete Lodge.<br />
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The new plants still need to fill out to make that section more balanced with the left hand side. <br />
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As you can see the aloe polyphylla is flowering nicely this year.<br />
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The other side of the railway sleeper is the new extension to the bed. The first plants to go in were the aloe polyphyllas, just infront of the post you can see the one that has been planted. In the pot next to it, is the tripple headed that will stay in the pot this year and be planted next year when better established.<br />
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The main plants in this section are the twin yucca rostrata. This looks so much better now it is in a gravel bed and can be seen more clearly. A good trim helped as well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyodgRlLSmk29nZoLm-4IY49vj763eSR0_JToOANDw593jVl1IGzSW6HqldgK4y-Yw8yIsPdIL312oLuSnL7z7m6wbWC0RyznbxwZ2-PNYq7JbVA8fppKubvp7yjqUoM1IcY4QNSR_1w/s1600/agave-montana-not-01-june19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyodgRlLSmk29nZoLm-4IY49vj763eSR0_JToOANDw593jVl1IGzSW6HqldgK4y-Yw8yIsPdIL312oLuSnL7z7m6wbWC0RyznbxwZ2-PNYq7JbVA8fppKubvp7yjqUoM1IcY4QNSR_1w/s320/agave-montana-not-01-june19.jpg" width="320" /></a>The second larger plant was suppose to be an agave montana. Again thanks to Melissa at Crete Lodge. She found them for sale marked as agave montana, but they are obviously not pure montana, so either a hybrid or something totally different. Sometimes you find plants which are just being sold with the wrong name, and then you find plants which are just oddities. As we have no idea what it is, we have no idea how hardy it is, or how big it will get. It all adds to the fun.<br />
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Also in the bed you can see the agave mitis var albicans. This is a lovely form of A. mitis, much rarer and probaly not as hardy. It has been fine for me and as the idea will be to cover this bed to some degree I though it was worth a try. The aloe saponaria variegata has proven hardy in the existing part of the rockery.<br />
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The other larger plants to go in here are the manfredas and in the future possible mangaves. I have planted two manfreda gutattas as an initial test. They have been fine cold wise when kept dry. Plus with the flowering plant offsetting I have lots of them.<br />
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There are already quite a few smaller alpines mixed in, the great thing about rockeries is the play you canget between the plants and rocks.<br />
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Lots of space to fill out, which this year will be filled with pots. <br />
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It all looks a bit small compared to the established parts, so you will have to imagine to picture it all equalled out in a few years time. I'm pleased so far and if it ever stops raining it will look great in the sun.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-68862576674583537722019-06-15T18:46:00.000+01:002019-06-15T18:46:04.559+01:00I may have over done the propagatingSo the last post showed the set of echeveria comptons carousel. Those are not the only plants I've been propagating. In fact there is one shelf in the greenhouse that looked amazing <br />
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It was probably a bit of an ebayers dream, on the right we have the e. compton carousel, on the left agave filifera marginata. Probably not as commercial are the middle rows of mangaves. These are the manfreda virginica x agave obscura produced by a friend and the one that flowered last year. Given that Paul died shortly after producing them and didn't give out many, that is probably 30 - 40% of all the ones in existance. The seedlings are coming along and are just hidden behind the larger agave filifera marginatas. There are definitely at least two distinct types forming, so once they have grown a bit more I'll have to update the post on them. Then in the back are the manfreda gutatta bulbils.<br />
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The agave filiferas came from my large bowl. It had been left alone for two years and had got a bit out of control.<br />
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The main problem was the weeds growing up between the plants. It was getting too painful pulling them out, so time for a quick repot. <br />
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I have kept three interesting ones, the largest, a good medium sized and a very pale one. They should look great as a set once the smallest one has filled out a bit. I decide to keep them separate as the large one has turned in to such a feature plant it deserves to be displayed a bit more prominently.<br />
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The sad thing is, on the other side of the greenhouse there are another two shelves full of gasteraloes, aloe vipers and more mangaves. I think it is fair to say i have a porpagation problem. This was not all for nothing, I have realised I don't like selling plants on Ebay as it is a hastle, so instead prefer to sell / trade on mass. So during my trip to Norfolk I unloaded most of these. So now I have lots os space again.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-8586318146384479082019-06-08T21:00:00.000+01:002019-06-08T21:00:02.698+01:00Anual trip to Crete Lodge exotic gardenSo yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Crete lodge exotic garden again. Melissa and Keith have continued their tireless work in the garden and it was looking better than ever. Sadly the memory card in my camera seems to have got scrambled, so I lost a lot of the photos, but some had been downloaded first.<br />
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The sunken garden is a good place to start as there is always something in flower.<br />
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Look at the size of that agave ovtifolia. Sadly it is starting to suggest it may flower, the same for the agave weberi and with the horrida in the first photo already flowering that would be three flowers in that section of the garden alone!<br />
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Ther are so many sections to the garden and that is before you even get to the cactus house and other greenhouses. The biggest section is the main succulent bank and the new sections the other side of the path. Looking down from the sunken garden you get the first glimpse over the green roof.<br />
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Melissa is particularly proud of the new pot.<br />
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The bank has some of the largest agave montanas scattered across it.<br />
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A bit further down and you come one of the newer parts of the garden. <br />
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I love the combination of the succulents with the traditional UK gravel garden plants.<br />
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Every angle gives you a different set of plants<br />
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The bank carries on around to a section full of yuccas and palms, these photos didn't make it, so back up to the terrace, via a lovely little olive bed. Keith does all the main structural brick work and then Melissa does the decorative fronts. The whole garden is covered in these lovely little sections meaning no planting opportunities are missed.<br />
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The terrace has some feature agaves as well. The larger one maybe about to flower but this time I had lost count of the number.<br />
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Annoying all the other photos were lost. So I'll juts have to go back another time and re-take them. Those on facebook can go to their page, found <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cretelodge/" target="_blank">here</a>. It is always an inspiration to visit and obviously I always leave with a plant or two, even if I'm not allowed to liberate everthing I would like.<br />
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I'll leave you with one last photo looking down the main succulent section, it is hard to believe this is the UK.<br />
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<br />Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-68848803329815713712019-06-03T23:05:00.000+01:002019-06-03T23:05:00.130+01:00Starting againThe pot that gets the most comments, especially on here, is the large bowl of echeveria comptons carousel. It probably stood out as these are suppose to be difficult, so a bowl full is quite rare.<br />
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The mild winter meant they got a bit tatty, so I decided to start again and cut the whole thing up. The plants are at a good stage now, so I thought I would show how to go about dead heading these in the hope that others find it useful. Having cut the heads off, they get cleaned up, all dead leaves removed and checked for any issues. Then place them on a wire shelf to dry. I tend to leave these for a couple of weeks, this not only gives them time to callus over but also for roots to start.<br />
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At this point they are ready to be planted up. No water for the first few days and then grandually over the next couple of weeks you can water a little bit more each time. This seems to be a good rule for them in general (after re-potting, after purchasing) - start slowly with the watering.<br />
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Don't worry if you lose a few leaves, especially if you get a sudden hot spell at this stage. You will probably find a few leaves mark, but they will grow out and within a couple of months you won't notice. After a couple of weeks if you try to gently move the rosette it should hold firm showing the roots have taken and the plant is good to go.<br />
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Not sure what I am going to do with 10 pots full of these. Over the next couple of years they will each form clumps and I would guess two repots will be all that's required to get one back into the large bowl again. I guess I have some good trading material for this summer.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-40363459299570630522019-05-28T21:47:00.000+01:002019-05-28T21:47:44.059+01:00Some things are meant to beA couple of year ago I experimented with hypertufa, making a couple of test pots. They were nothing special at the time, but slowly moss started to grow on them and they have turned into much more natural pots. I have been looking for something to go in them and was surprised to find a little agave filifera at the local garden center. They are just made for each other.<br />
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The agave has a certain compacta look to it, which would be great. Sadly it is probably just a young plant, so will need some sort of intervention to keep it small. Either way for the next couple of years it is going to be put somewhere to be admired.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-16173548950008087202019-05-24T01:11:00.000+01:002019-05-24T01:11:06.315+01:00Echeveria laui flowerI have said it before, there are few echeverias that have the drama of echeveria laui in flower.<br />
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<br />Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-35953863778876974852019-05-21T22:35:00.000+01:002019-05-21T22:35:32.902+01:00It's echeveria seasonThe garden and pots are are full of flower spikes at the moment. The best are in the echeveria elegans river, which looks amazing at this time of year.<br />
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In the evening they are backlit which adds to the drama. The bumble bees love them<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KuqHi5Yvy48CHYIzk-FDJSdab0ZBkFTmMzQOCEiY5Cp1Pa_ZM1aXVLvEJ5yqSJatIdDbyKMX5ZcU_2Tvg-cOQSdkm1a_J_M7J1zrL62V7DA-9lHaZLuwwzOzOJ7rA8KQxRWTpbuV2Ps/s1600/egg-02-03-dec18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="683" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KuqHi5Yvy48CHYIzk-FDJSdab0ZBkFTmMzQOCEiY5Cp1Pa_ZM1aXVLvEJ5yqSJatIdDbyKMX5ZcU_2Tvg-cOQSdkm1a_J_M7J1zrL62V7DA-9lHaZLuwwzOzOJ7rA8KQxRWTpbuV2Ps/s320/egg-02-03-dec18.jpg" width="213" /></a>The concrete egg is full of echeveria cuspidata var zaragoza, which is one of my favourites. Sadly it isn't hardy for my garden so has to be moved inside over winter.<br />
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The flowers are are a nicer colour than the very pale elegans.<br />
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While out enjoying the evening sun, I thought I might as well plant up the aloe aristatas. I have been trying to get some to survive for the last few years and they seem fine in the main rockery. They have got to a decent size now and have properly started to spred<br />
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I have been growing on a pot to plant at the fron of the cycad rockery. The hope is they will contrast well with the echeverias.<br />
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<br />Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-18435709987064591592019-05-03T22:44:00.000+01:002019-05-03T22:44:09.509+01:00Exciting mangave updateSo last year was a good mangave and manfreda year, with flowers on two manfredas, more on that in another post, and the mangave flowering. So a quick recap: the mangave was produce by a friend and is hybrid between manfreda virginica and agave obscura<br />
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The pollen was provided by friends over at Crete Lodge exotic garden. They seem to have agaves in flower every year now, this time there were two agaves flowering at the same time. An agave mitis and one labelled as agave horrida, although they suspect it is not.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_2XlVkWJOfc64c5gY_o-WEQrvGef-4D_cAVMA204E7gb-dQExct51TRGju0DFMMW0LSJZPTQmxEM0Zuo1mhcF-CZpnss_gtmQZOHCrKJwcVLRCzJ7z73vv7SG2wXgIfkq5bV2-VEqQ4/s1600/agave-parant-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_2XlVkWJOfc64c5gY_o-WEQrvGef-4D_cAVMA204E7gb-dQExct51TRGju0DFMMW0LSJZPTQmxEM0Zuo1mhcF-CZpnss_gtmQZOHCrKJwcVLRCzJ7z73vv7SG2wXgIfkq5bV2-VEqQ4/s640/agave-parant-1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Melissa at Crete Lodge</td></tr>
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Isn't that wall amazing, such a shame that the agave left such a big gap. <br />
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So the last time I posted progress on the flower spike there were seed pods. It seemed to take forever but finally these opened and amazingly there were seeds. These where sown and placed in a heated prop. To be honest I was not that confident anything would germinate.<br />
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I was wrong, one month later and there were around 40 seedlings.<br />
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The problem was that in my eagerness, winter was the wrong time to sow them. They needed to be kept alive until spring and I'm terrible with seedlings: too much water, too little water. So I'm really surprised that 4 months later 19 are still alive. I'll take 50% surviving any day.<br />
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I know not very interesting to look at yet. It is only in the last few weeks they have really started to grow, most are now sending out their 2nd proper leaf. How good would it be to have a few new mangaves of my own making. I really hope that some of the horrida (or not) parentage comes through. I do like my toothie plants.<br />
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The funny thing is, with the two different pollen donars I would guess I am now the largest mangave producer in the UK. Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-16626901160207054372019-04-29T22:31:00.001+01:002019-04-29T22:31:54.568+01:00The aloe polyphyllasFor many people aloe polyphylla is the must have aloe. The beautiful spiral and the fact that it is one of the hardiest aloes both adding to its attraction. I have three now, that is if you count the cored multihead one as one plant. It's still growing well and may be crunch time to decide what to do. Leave it so as not to risk loosing it, or cut it up to at least give two plants.<br />
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There are 6 heads in total all about the same size. I figure I could cut down the middle to give two clumps with roots, or cut two heads off to keep a multi-headed plant and separate the rest with or without roots. Either way, some of it is going to have to planted out at some point soon, they are getting too big for pots and grow so much quicker in the ground.<br />
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The second plant is one given to me a friend after I managed to kill all my seedlings. We both got seeds from the same place at the same time, only he managed not to kill his. I am slowly getting better with seedlings due to my mangave hybrids and a few tests on random seeds, so maybe I'll have to try again. Anyway it has been potted into a 30cm pot to give it one more year in which I can bring it inside. I will probaly just place it where the plant will be in the new section of the rockery.<br />
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I think in the Uk they need to be about 30cm at least to survive planted out, even then I will most likely cover it just to give it that little extra protection.<br />
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The final plant is the large one. It sailed through winter without any damage.<br />
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The exciting news is that it is flowering again, having had a year off last year.<br />
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It will be a couple of months before the flower is fully open, but good to know it is back to flowering.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-28921773992543061432019-04-20T21:18:00.000+01:002019-04-20T21:18:48.024+01:00Moving the agave salmianaIt was not possible to put it off any longer time to clear this section ready to expand the rockery.<br />
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The aloe striatula, large agave salmiana and the covered agave ferox all needed digging out. The right side of the railway sleeper was cleared yesterday and the lower palm fronds removed to make access a bit easier. Given the size of the plants, and the length of the terminal spines, time for a little protection.<br />
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The aloe striatula came out nice and easily. As there are others in the garden they were just cut up. The little agave ferox also came quickly. The soil is 50% gravel so the roots pull out without requiring too much force.<br />
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It is funny to think this was exactly the same size of the agave salmiana when they were planted, especially given that the full name is agave salmiana var ferox. Then onto the big one. Digging the roots out was easy, getting it out of the spot was not. In the end it was manhandled into a big sheet.<br />
This could then be dragged / carried from the back of the house to the front where it would be replanted. So the first section of the extension to the rockery is complete.<br />
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In the front, space had to be cleared in the central bed. I haven't shown much of the front as it's a bit more mixed. The central bed is a large oval, which is the perfect spot to let the agave get to its full size.<br />
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Once some space had been created, the agave was lifted into position and slipped almost perfectly into place. It was nice that it went without issue and too many more stabs.<br />
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It's a little sad how small the agave looks in its new home. It will grow and no doubt given a few years will swamp the other plants in there. Currently the best view is from above.<br />
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Not a bad start to the weekend. Sadly the rockery stone is not going to be here until next week, so I'll continue removing the plants from the main rockery. Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-82267761418272226922019-04-16T23:25:00.000+01:002019-04-16T23:25:53.540+01:00A short visit with plants. Part 1.Last weekend I finally got to the island of Madeira. It was only for a few days and with the in-laws, so there was limited time to visit gardens. We did manage to sneak in a few gardens though. I had been warned in advance that Madeira is not famous for succulents; a lot of rain and no frosts make it perfect climate for too many other plants. So the next few posts will contain lots of photos, but very few succulents, hopefully the gardens will be of interest, just for something different.<br />
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First morning we went to one of the orchid nurseries,<br />
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This is pretty much in the centre of Funchal, only 1km from the front. However it is all up hill, and in Madeira that really means up hill. So having recovered, it was a pleasure to be greated by this set of aloes inside the gate.<br />
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This was the only larger aloe I saw on the whole trip. In the garden you get the advantage of those steep hills.<br />
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The outside area did have some lovely other plants. I expected the tropical flowers, but didn't expect to see so many different trees.<br />
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Anyway you don't visit for the trees, and as soon as you get into the nursery it is clear why you are there.<br />
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It would be pretty amazing if that was the whole place, but it wouldn't be Madeira if it was. No you have this:<br />
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The photo shows two of the main sections, turn around and you get even more:<br />
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I loved that they use tree ferns to create deeper shade. You can see the whole site is on slope, there is no flat land anywhere. There is another section the same size on top of this. It was an amazing collection and if the orchids were not enough you can look up and notice that the vine above the main path is a jade vine.<br />
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The flowers are such a stunning colour, and if possile the buds are even better. <br />
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It takes some getting used to, having so many spectacular plants everywhere you look.<br />
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You could spend hours there photographing every flower, and smelling them to find out where the different scents were from. When you do finally leave you are greated by the owners other interest which is bromeliads. Initially it is just the odd pot<br />
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Then you are out into the path between the shade houses.<br />
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There was a little spanish moss starter wall,<br />
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It is such a simple idea to form balls or boxes with a little bit of spanish moss inside and then in a few years you have your full waterfall.<br />
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It doesn't matter what they look like, they will be hidden before you know it. I did try a few years ago, and forgot to water so lost my little clump. I am tempted to try again.<br />
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There were some nice clumps of tillandsias as well. If only mine would grow into clumps like this.<br />
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As an introduction to Madeira it was perfect, such plant extravagance you simply don't know where to look. Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-57424574810949200912019-04-13T10:37:00.000+01:002019-04-13T22:46:43.281+01:00Planning changes to the succulent rockeryThe cold continues, so time to think about the planned changes to the main rockery. It has filled out so much over the last year.<br />
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So some changes needed over the summer. First a few of these plants need to be removed. The aloe striatula has got too big, so will be removed. This will also allow a better view of the garden from the house. few of the small or medium sized agaves will most likely be repositioned to allow for the continued growth. <br />
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Then the rockery will be extended. Currently it changes just before the large railway sleeper. The other side of the sleeper has been empty or storage while the garage was removed.<br />
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The orginal idea in the garden plan was for this to be more traditional planting. The succuelnt rockery has worked so well it will now be continued the whole way along the bed. It will mean ordering more stone, but will be worth it as it will give a lot more space.<br />
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Linked to the extension, is sorting out the more jungle section. This was a bit of fun to see how the plants would cope if just left to fight it out. There was one clear winner: the agave salmiana.<br />
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It is already over 1.5m across so action needs to be taken before it's too late. That whole section will be dug up, very carefully, and the plants relocated to the front garden. There is a large circular bed in the front and it will be planted in the centre of that and can take over there instead. Hopefully as the front gets less sun, it will be little slower.<br />
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It is amazing how much everything has all grown, especially in the last couple of years. This photo is from March 2017.<br />
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Anyone who says agaves and yuccas don't grow should take note.<br />
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So that is going to keep me active for a bit. Once the rock arrives I can get started, assuming that we do finally move into spring and summer. I don't like damging roots / plants when there are still frosts.<br />
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There will probaly be photos of who gets lets damaged when it comes to digging the agave salmiana up. I know who my money's on.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-83204714935986792592019-04-08T16:46:00.000+01:002019-04-08T16:46:19.676+01:00It's back to winter and shopping<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPNvXDLx7brVdf_ZDpdD9ki3jqDjQ-oQr6_KdkBGcftAX91N1VrJz5F5-M1U7HEbwh9_i99z6Z1cGc1Z71Z0hg2yOYr3O_0weuFTMOcRETsrsyuDn2dOljF0YAB2R7X_1jYZ56I__LHw/s1600/cactus-mart-purchases-apr19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="684" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPNvXDLx7brVdf_ZDpdD9ki3jqDjQ-oQr6_KdkBGcftAX91N1VrJz5F5-M1U7HEbwh9_i99z6Z1cGc1Z71Z0hg2yOYr3O_0weuFTMOcRETsrsyuDn2dOljF0YAB2R7X_1jYZ56I__LHw/s400/cactus-mart-purchases-apr19.jpg" width="266" /></a>The last post was all about things warming up and starting to get the plants out of the greenhouse. Then this week it is back to winter again and all the plants are back inside again. Such is the joy of UK springs.<br />
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Thankfully this weekend was the first cactus mart of the year, so time for a quick trip to the Kent coast with another succulent fan. Some chapters of the British Cactus and Succulent Society hold these sales every year, and the main sellers turn up to kick their year off in style. The trick is to arrive before they open to ensure you are at the front of the line, that way you stand more chance of picking up that one rare plant someone has brought along. Saturday was no exception and the place was packed so it was pretty much impossible to take photos while there. Instead just some pictures of the purchases.<br />
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It is strange that there are always one or two plants that everyone has, then next year you can't find them anywhere. This year in the succulents it was the echeveria agavoides forms that were found on every stand. You were lucky if there was one echeveria ebony in previous years, then this year not only did everyone have them, but there were hybrids, and different forms.<br />
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This one was just labelled as a cross, so we'll see how it turns out. Then there were lots of other agavoides forms including: bordeaux, red leaf, red edge, Taurus, etc. I'm torn about all the different names to the red ones, especially when they are small, but they seemed to be the plant of the show. Next year it will be something else.<br />
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There are always a few new aloes, usually from the KG stable. I stopped buying them a few years back but thought this one was a little different, so aloe gargoyle made it into my basket.<br />
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Recently I have been adding gasteraloes as they seem to been quite cold hardy for me. You often find gasteraloe flow at these sales but no others, One of the sellers had two different ones and no one else seemed interested so I snapped them up. First up gasteraloe de Tige.<br />
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The second is gasteraloe d' due<br />
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Much greener and slimmer leaves on this one. I can't find the name online anywhere so not sure if it is correct or not. Both had 3 or 4 pups, so those were removed and potted up ready for trades.<br />
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The other group of plants that has been sneaking in to my greenhouse are the haworthias. There are always a lot of haworthias at these sales, it is one of the larger groups of succulents. I tend to like either the compact forms, so limited myself to two haworthia parksiana, one normal form and one hybrid (shown below)<br />
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Then the agaves, more have been sneaking into sales in recent years, but here there were very few and they were almost all americana or something common. There was however one that stood out, agave shrevei ssp. magna.<br />
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It has really dark almost black terminal spines and a great leaf shape. Looking forward to seeing it develop. It's not hardy for me, but should be ok if kept dry, so a pot one, which will also help limit its size.<br />
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I didn't manage to get the main plant I was after; an aloe erincaea. No one had them this year, having been one of the big plants last year. I already have a nice one I want to top cut, which should work, but just in case I want to find a reserve. Apart from that quite a successful day and a good way to take my mind of the return to cold weather. Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-79686938475411847012019-03-29T19:07:00.000+00:002019-03-29T19:07:32.930+00:00Another ceramic pot experimentI am sure many of us are constantly on the look out for unusal plant pots for our succulents. Back in January, just happened to pop into a shop and found this one.<br />
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It really reminded me of a clump of sea anemones.<br />
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Back home and time to think what to plant in it. The planting holes are not large, and potting was going to be difficult. So slow growing and perhaps something that could just be planted and left to get on with it. Mulling over ideas my pot of deuterocohnia brevifolia came to mind. This little bromilaid, also known as <span class="st"><em>Abromeitiella brevifolia</em> f. chlorantha, forms nice mounds over time. My pot had put on a growth spurt over last summer and was looking good.</span><br />
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<span class="st">Wouldn't it be amazing to have each hole planted with these; over time they would envelop the pot forming a multitude of little mounds. I considered splitting mine, but it was too perfect, so one project led to another and a second pot was purchases.</span><br />
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<span class="st">Doesn't it look good in its new home, It is bigger than it looks, the pot is 22cm. </span><br />
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<span class="st">Now just the problem of finding another plant with enough heads to fill the 20 holes. It took a while to track down a large enough plant, and it arrived yesterday. It was straight down to seeing how many plants with roots it could be split into.</span><br />
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<span class="st">6 good plants straight away. A few more delicate splits, some with roots and some without, resulted in 14 plants. Next job to decide which holes to fill. I though it would look better initially to leave some empty, to allow watering and to give something different while the plants establish.</span><br />
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<span class="st">It took quite a few attempts to settle on this one. Then time to fill it, and the realisation that this was a really stupid idea. The holes were between 1 - 2cm and with a plant, many with root, getting soil in was going to be difficult. How any times in succulent gardening do we use unusual tools. Todays a teaspoon.</span><br />
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<span class="st">It took about 30 minutes to spoon the soil mix into the holes, shaking the whole thing to get it spred evening through the pot. Another 15 minutes to top it up around the plants. The the real fun started; how to get the gravel around the base of each plant. I tried the teaspoon, my hand and finally resorted to a pair of tweezers and placing 2 or 3 small pieces of gravel at a time. Yep 1.5 hours later and the pot was finished!</span><br />
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<span class="st">Should be fun as it fills out, initially forming individual mounds and then as these join together into one amorphous blob. It was a lot more work than expected, but should be worth it.</span>Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-42359508248754788062019-03-28T21:34:00.000+00:002019-03-28T21:34:41.112+00:00Wheeling out the first potsTo free up some space int eh greenhouse, or more correctly to move the pots that were on the floor stoping access, the first pots have been moved out. Nothing sensitive at the moment, so it ia mainly the echeveria agavoides forms.<br />
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From left to right: bordeaux, ebony, red edge and finally my seed grown ebony without coloured tips. They have really taken to their pots. I'm planning on taking the offsets off these to keep them as single plants, there are other pots with clumps in.<br />
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One of the other pots, is the Tonka truck.<br />
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To think i spent years trying to grow this orostachys spinosa, loosing it every winter as I thought it as a hardy alpine. Simply moving it under cover over winter was all it needed. Now I have a truck full.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-72288255178146188582019-03-25T22:46:00.000+00:002019-03-25T22:46:05.582+00:00Shifting from winter to summerThis weekend was another sunny one, so time to start unpacking the greenhouse and uncovering the succulent rockery. It is a little earlier than I usually do this and still a little risky, but with no work trips in the next month I can move things back if any heavy frosts are forcast.<br />
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The succueltn rockery is planted to be hardy for London winters, this means the covers are more to keep the plants in top condition. It therefore doesn't take long to take the two long vegetable cloches off.<br />
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There doesn't seem to have been any damage and if this summer is anything like last the growth will be amazing with such an early start. Most of the plants are well known to be hardy, like the yuccas, agaves and aloe polyphylla.<br />
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I was looking at the agave parryi hk1684 and like everything it has grown so much since being planted. This has to be my favourite form.<br />
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Then you have the odd test plant. In the Uk gastroaloes are becoming more common. These seem to be quite hardy and even in last cold winter they were all fine in my greenhouse so last summer one was planted out as a test, gasteria armstongii x aloe aristata. It sailed through without problems.<br />
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There are a few major changes planned for the rockery this year. Things have grown much quicker than expected and some of the plants have got too big, or just don't work in their locations. So hopefully will have some good updates on the changes as we get into summer.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-70927102509146989932019-03-17T19:04:00.000+00:002019-03-17T19:04:11.522+00:00Plants are waking upIt's that time of year again, alternating between the joy of plants waking up and the fear of them rotting. The UK has had a very mild winter so hopefully this will reduce the amount of end of winter damage. We just need spring to be not too wet and just for once to move smoothly from winter - spring - summer.<br />
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Anyway it's time to start waking the plants up and getting back into the garden and greenhouse. This is about checking how the plants have done, removing any signs of rot and checking for bugs. The greenhouse is looking good.<br />
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The manfreda / mangave bench is looking the best it ever has. I kept a closer eye on these this year having learnt that they do not like to totally dry out even over winter. This made a big difference and even the small manfreda guttata offsets that I removed at the end of last summer, are not looking bad. The mangave fans may spot some surprises / future posts in there.<br />
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The echeveria agavoides 'ebony' in the black bowl has formed a really good shape. It's lost some of the colour as expected, but will colour up as soon as it can be moved outside. The large bowl is more established.<br />
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This year they seem to have held their colour much better than previous years. Hopefully this will mean an even darker colour when they go back into their summer spot. The bowl is now full, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens as they start to push up against each other.<br />
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It's good to be back in the greenhouse again and thinking about projects for the year. Lots in the pipeline, so hopefully we'll have a good summer.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-12067537682185085122018-10-29T22:54:00.001+00:002018-10-29T22:54:57.666+00:00Close but not quite thereI often have to travel to Africa for work, which should be perfect for the plant addiction. Sadly between the location and pressures on time it never quite gives the tourist or plant opportunities. The latest trip was to The Gambia which was strange for several reasons; firstly two other people were going as well (I have always been on my own before) and the research centre was right next to a beach.<br />
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The flight was actually the highlights scenery wise. Flying over desert is usually pretty spectacular if you happen to be looking out of the window.<br />
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The flights meant there was time for a quick trip to the beach.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0X8hu6a6_43SOAru1lnYlJpfK8jcx2BlTIgEOtjjurHDey9wexVJIBwCmudagM3gKe723LlOak1jzzJIJ3vqMyZ9Xym5r1SOn6a3HB9otbW58FDeUpF4z7j2y7FbgDJKRlGpHdw2WCW8/s1600/boabab-tree-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0X8hu6a6_43SOAru1lnYlJpfK8jcx2BlTIgEOtjjurHDey9wexVJIBwCmudagM3gKe723LlOak1jzzJIJ3vqMyZ9Xym5r1SOn6a3HB9otbW58FDeUpF4z7j2y7FbgDJKRlGpHdw2WCW8/s320/boabab-tree-1.jpg" width="240" /></a>There is a list of plants I dream of seeing in habitat, mainly aloes. One that is right up there are the ancient boabab trees. For me these are one of the iconic views of Africa. So I was a little surprised to find this walking around the office.<br />
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I managed to track down someone who knew that it was planted shortly after the research centre opened. It should be there for generations of researchers to enjoy. Even at this size there was something special about it.<br />
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Boabab juice is a stapple for locals and it was fruiting season. After a couple of days I started to notice trees and fruits all over the place. Sadly they are not the massive 1000 year old trees you see in photos. I didn't get out of the capital so it was hardly a representative sample.<br />
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Some of the more touristy places make the most of their trees.<br />
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I'm guessing that as these mature the floor of the tree house is not going be quite as flat. Mind you that will probaly not be for a hundred years or two.<br />
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While it was great to see my first boababs, these are not quite the specimens I dreamt of. So can't cross that one off the list quite yet.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-77802316893619983252018-10-05T23:11:00.002+01:002018-10-05T23:14:31.341+01:00Can finally cross one off the wish listWe all have those elusive plants, that torment you from a far. One of mine, was agave titanota black and blue. Always loved the various titanota forms (true and false). A blue form, with very dark almost black teeth was going to make it to the wish list.<br />
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After a few years it has finally arrived in Europe in larger numbers. When a little one turns up, you have to go for it.<br />
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It may be a while before it reaches it's full potential.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-17624003741025298012018-08-17T19:35:00.002+01:002018-08-17T19:35:26.953+01:00Aloe polyphylla: update 2So it has been a month since the last aloe polyphylla update. A few heads have been removed to try and root. This seems to be a slow process, time will tell what happens to them. The remaining heads will be left, at least for this year. There are 6 still attached to the original plant.<br />
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All except for one of the oringinal leaves have been removed and I'm pleased to say it hasn't slowed the growth. <br />
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I'm going to leave it in the ground for another month, then dig it up to protect it over winter. In a couple of years, it should be big enough to plant back out again. A 6 headed plant is going to need a LOT of space!Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-26651954257584242412018-08-14T23:32:00.000+01:002018-08-14T23:32:51.869+01:00The gardens being overrun Anyone who grows succulents knows that many are easy to propogate and you can quickly go from a single plant to a clump. With many plants we expect that and make the most of it. The stream of echeveria elegans in one of the rockeries started as a series of individual plant, look at it now.<br />
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This clumping habit is something desired.<br />
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Then there are the plants that we wish were a little more controlled but we know divide, or send out multiple shoots. Aloe striatula would be the main example of that in my garden. I am constantly having to cut off side shoots to try and keep it under control, look at all that new gorwth.<br />
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I live in London, I shouldn't have to worry about an aloe out-growing its location! But then we know this is what it does so it is to be expected.<br />
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Then you have the surprises. Some plants may be known to offset, but you don't think about it, or at least you expect them to be well behaved. Agaves would fit into that category; I expect offsets on some of them, want them in fact, but never expected them to become a problem. Enter agave bracteosa. Firstly it is prolific. The odd offset is fine, I do not need 10 or 20, especially as it seems to like London and be growing at a good rate. Then to add to the issue, it seems to view gravel and rocks as no barriers to trying to take over the entire rockery and is sending out runners that come up in all sorts of locations.<br />
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How? Why? I have given away many of these and pulled up many more. It seems every time I look closely under rocks or plants I find new offsets. I don't get actual weeds in the rockery, instead I spend my time pulling up agave bracteosas. Perhaps to be expected, it is probably behaving as it would in the wild, after all it is known to be one of the best for Uk climate.<br />
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Aloes on the other hand are not known to be well suited to UK winters. There are limited numbers that can be planted out and so it was a surprise that a variegated aloe saponaria survived at all. Each year it gets better and I posted a little while back that I had to move the clump it had formed. The best variegated plant I re-planted in a better location has grown nicely.<br />
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But we are not here to celibrate the plant or it's clump forming habit, this is another one that likes to explore. For the last couple of years I have found this coming up further and further from the original clump and it was starting to become a problem.<br />
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The cactus had to be dug up to remove the runner and this was only one of the areas they were appearing. This is the UK, I do not expect to be over-run by wondering aloes.<br />
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So does anyone else have problems with unexpected wondering plants?Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1238598581399721410.post-69619433635524102182018-08-12T18:28:00.000+01:002018-08-12T18:28:30.757+01:00The planted agavesAfter my potted post on some of the potted agaves (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/">here</a>) and having seen the agave report on the blog Piece of Eden (<a href="https://pieceofeden.blogspot.com/2018/07/all-agaves-2018-edition_27.html" target="_blank">you can read it here</a>) I thought it was time for one on the planted agaves in various rockeries. I have tried to limit the number of varieties especially as they do not get protected over winter.<br />
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<b>Agave Montana</b><br />
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There are two of these in the main rockery and two it the front. The largest was one of my first planted agaves, it was one that was moved from the old garden.<br />
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The second had a bit of a tough start to the year, as it was covered by the aloe striatula. Back in the sun again, it seems not to have noticed. <br />
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The two in the front are much slower growing. They don't get fed, or watered and don't get as much sun and it shows.<br />
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You can see the smaller one is very shiny green. It looks a little different to the rest and I wonder if it had a bit of Gentryi mixed in. It was the reason I bought it, time will tell.<br />
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<b>Agave filifera</b><br />
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The other plants that were dug up and moved from the last house are agave filifera. The largest one seems to have stopped getting bigger and now is just increasing in height.<br />
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The second plant you can see in the background, it is a little strange as it has no white marks on the leaves.<br />
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Neither of these have offset yet which is strange. They grow at a good rate, and don't show any signs of root problems, just no pups. They also breeze through our winters.<br />
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<b>Agave bracteosa</b><br />
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If agave filifera refuses to produce pups, this one doesn't stop. The main plant is at the top of the main succulent rockery.<br />
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As the wall if often used as a seat, it is nice to have something there that doesn't stab when you sit down. <br />
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As it has offset the pups have moved around the garden and given away. The largest is in the cycad rockery.<br />
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It doesn't get quite as much sun, so is slower than it's younger brother the other side of the garden. This one is much younger, but the psotion makes it a noticeably faster.<br />
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<b>Agave ovatifolia</b><br />
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Again the largest is at the top of the main rockery, not such great positioning on the seat front.<br />
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It grows at an impressive rate and shrugs off the winters here. The second one in that rockery is seed grown. I only kept a few seedlings and this was the best of the bunch. It is very white in colour.<br />
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The third plant is in the front and is one of the named forms, agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' . There is no doubt it is whiter than the standard form. Leaves from the near by trees, got into the crown and caused the brown spots. That wont be happening next year.<br />
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This one also has wider leaves than my other two. It will be interesting to see if these differences continue as it grows. I had wondered how the position would affect this one, it gets less sun and is considerable more exposed. Apart form the leaf damage it is fine.<br />
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<b>Agave parryi HK1684</b><br />
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This is one of my favourite agaves. Smaller than many of the other forms but with very compact form and the spines are a great colour.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhISEUrYD1IF7ardHuFVGnY0D-axe7IwcwydbMsCjGYjrWyCIFywt3hezeL29uEnS5UpxApE6NysG-vAnqX6C5a2J3rssJsPfTHeYooWWsijHwzTNwVkMGAc51otP8GPfVCQRAAVdVHc/s1600/agave-parryi-hk1684-09-aug18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhISEUrYD1IF7ardHuFVGnY0D-axe7IwcwydbMsCjGYjrWyCIFywt3hezeL29uEnS5UpxApE6NysG-vAnqX6C5a2J3rssJsPfTHeYooWWsijHwzTNwVkMGAc51otP8GPfVCQRAAVdVHc/s640/agave-parryi-hk1684-09-aug18.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It is planted next to a agave parryi compacta<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5zSvgqGNLIcLZug5uUkk1yHa29OFnNygrQ0EAl5sVc4KjLTL-fa8qlly56vov71MeT5aeybhj-QDucso5cRbVsOILLIXvVJivl8BpORbyDhUd_6VXtPN_CjmM0WK7cR5ZmX8l7VpT3w/s1600/agave-parryi-hk1684-08-july18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5zSvgqGNLIcLZug5uUkk1yHa29OFnNygrQ0EAl5sVc4KjLTL-fa8qlly56vov71MeT5aeybhj-QDucso5cRbVsOILLIXvVJivl8BpORbyDhUd_6VXtPN_CjmM0WK7cR5ZmX8l7VpT3w/s640/agave-parryi-hk1684-08-july18.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was a tiny offset when i got it and has finally started to grow properly. It may have to be moved so there is space to grow. The parryi hk1684 has one pop just out of view and this one that has been grown on in a pot. It's actually the same size as the parent when i got that one.<br />
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These get a simple cloche cover over winter, mainly because i don't know where i would replace them if they were damaged. Plus it's nice to have them in perfect condition.<br />
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<b>Agave x nigra</b><br />
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This one has just managed to hang on in there. Every year it gets damaged by winter and then just recovers by the end of summer. It is a lovely agave, but for some reason just doesn't seem to like my garden. I tried moving one to a different location and that rotted altogether.<br />
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This one is going to be dug up shortly and moved, it would be nice to have it looking better. It puts out lots of pups, so I'll probaly take one of those as a spare as well.<br />
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<b>Agave salmiana var ferox</b><br />
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The only agave that actually sacres me, mainly because it has gone from this:<br />
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To this in only 3 years.<br />
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It is now well over a meter tall and almost 1.5m wide. I always knew it grew to a very large size, it's just the speed of growth that is alarming. You can see that it's been given no space and is almost in total shade. The plan for this area is to clear it, the agaves will be dug up and this one moved to somewhere else in the garden where it can be given more space. A great agave, no probalems with my winters, but think carefully before planting.<br />
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<b>Agave gentryi</b><br />
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I feel a little guilty about this one. It is another great agave and mine has just become swamped.<br />
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It's in there somewhere. The wierd thing is, while slow it continues to grow and shows no damage despite these conditions. I have the jaws version as well in a pot, with all the planned moves in this section I'll have to decide on what to do with it.<br />
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So there you have them. I did say I've limted the number of varieties in the ground.Spiky Obsessionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04336642361281619338noreply@blogger.com4