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Cacti & Succulents

Front yard bay area Fat Plants..

stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area

15 years ago

Pachypodiums,lamerei,gaeyi,bispinosum and a dwarf saundersi.

The lamerii is in front of the Beaucarnea recurvata and the gaeyi is the one with the golden trunk. To the right and in the corner of the Cyphostemmae juttae photo you can juuust pick out the saundersii. Also the P.bispinosum in a sea of Mexican poppys. A little understated flower alone,the many buds left will help when they open. A pic of that later..

All inspired by Caudex success in the bay area.Some people on the net have some great talent,Caudex,Palmbob,Gonzer stand out. And i dont throw that word around easily.

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Comments (6)

erict
15 years ago
Holy moly, what is that HUGE aloe/agave-like yellow-edged plant in pic number 3?
caudex1
15 years ago
Wow! That's great!! How cold does it get in your area?
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joscience
15 years ago
EricT: That is an Agave americana or Century Plant. They are a common landscaping plant in the Southwest. The variegated ones (like stanofh's) are much more striking than plain ones and make a spectacular addition to most any garden. They eventually throw an inflorescence that can easily reach 30 feet tall! Sadly, the mother plant dies after blooming, but what a way to go out!!!

Stanofh: Thanks for sharing these pics! I assume this is your garden? It sure looks terrific. The Cyphostemmae is awesome. Will the leaves green up as they get older, or is that about the color they will stay? Also, are you sure that is P. geayi? All the P. geayi I've seen have much darker, more slender leaves with pink veins (including my own)...
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
Original Author
15 years ago
The leaves on that gaeyi were black a week or two ago.Why they changed to green and almost indistinguishable from lamerei i dont know.All last summer they were black-or close to it.
It is a generally frost free climate. And usually hot free also-lol.This year the low was 36. The highest low in my time for a winter. Highs in summer average 74-78..going up to the rare 100-102.
Cyphostemma leaves become blue green later.Yea,it's quite a turnaround from the brilliant red in spring.
...and ,Thanks!
caudex1
15 years ago
I'm still looking that darn saundersii...

juttae foliage is great early on in the year, a brilliant reddish burgundy(I'll post mine in another thread).

36, that's roughly 15deg warmer than here! There's a few more fat ones you could grow out there depending on the rains.
joscience
15 years ago
So, after seeing your picture, I read through a couple of my books and searched around a bit on the internet. Apparently, the greener, more lamerei like leaves are the healthier appearance. The darker leaves are from stress, most typically a lack of water. Most Pachypodium really want a *lot* of water when in growth. It's hard to convince myself to water them more than I do, but apparently I'm being over cautious to a fault. I've lost the flower buds on my P saudersii the last couple of years by not providing enough water...

In any event, you've done a splendid job with the yard. I wish my neighbors grew such interesting plants! And seriously, thank you for sharing the pictures!

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