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WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUCCULENT PLANT, AND WHY?

  • May 02, 2013 8:30 AM
    Message # 1283833
    In anticipation of our next So Cal Hort meeting on Thursday, May 9 featuring Tucson based nurseryman, author and photographer Scott Calhoun the Sharing Secrets question of the month is:

    What is your favorite succulent plant, and why?

    Let us know and share your answers with other members in our Sharing Secrets Forum in the Memberlodge Section of our website.
  • May 02, 2013 10:36 AM
    Reply # 1283958 on 1283833
    Deleted user
    It has to be agave. I have been educated by reading Scott Calhoun that the history of the agave --- chockablock with passion, greed, lust, murder, mayhem --- is the history of the human being at its worst. 

    But the agave has another history --- human nature at its best. The Native peoples of the Cahuilla tribes of Southern California respected, loved, and honored the agave. In spring they harvested the agave "hearts" and roasted them on site, following an ancient and revered ritual. These delicious hearts were a great treat in the annual food cycle of the Cahuilla. At other times, the Cahuilla people tended to their wild gardens of agave --- planting the pups in the agave habitat, taking are of their wild crop. This gentle interface --- human and crops in the wild --- deeply moves me.

    The gathering during traditional times was carried on by men and boys, accompanied by story-telling and the singing of religious songs associated with agave. Certain agave-gathering areas were associated with specific tribal lineages.

    The Maki Museum in Banning carries on this tradition. One weekend in April people gather the agave; on another, the agave is roasted in traditional pits in the old way.





  • May 02, 2013 10:49 AM
    Reply # 1283969 on 1283833
    Deleted user

    My garden is known for being irresistible to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Two succulents deserving lots of credit for being beacons to flying and fluttering companions are Jupiter's Beard- (Centranthus ruber) and calandrinia spectabilis.  

     

    Last modified: May 02, 2013 11:14 AM | Deleted user
  • May 02, 2013 11:44 AM
    Reply # 1284009 on 1283833
    Dudleyas, because they look nice and require almost no maintenance.  (See at SCHS Event Photos)
  • May 08, 2013 4:36 PM
    Reply # 1288814 on 1283833
    Anonymous member (Administrator)
    So many are wonderful - how to choose? I think my current favorite are epiphyllum cacti, just because my two plants are covered in outsized flowers right now and I never have to do anything to them to promote this miracle. Later in the summer, I will be thrilled when my stapeliads bloom - yay for weird, stinky flowers! See my pictures in the Event Photos.

    I also love Dudleyas, but I'm too wimpy to appreciate most agaves - too toothy for me.
  • May 08, 2013 5:08 PM
    Reply # 1288835 on 1283833
    Anonymous member (Administrator)
    Many possibilities, but one succulent that I always admire is Crassula multicava.  I enjoy both the foliage and the flowers, and even the tiny plantlets that scatter after the bloom fades.  Looking good in ground or pot, it's easy to grow.
  • May 09, 2013 8:22 AM
    Reply # 1289318 on 1283833
    All of 'em!  If it has a novel texture, color, shape, or form, I want it!
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