If you want to feel a bit safer about not rotting the unrooted cut trunk, you can let it air dry for a longer period of time by setting it within a 15 gallon sized black plastic nursery can and allow the leaves to support the plant's trunk within the pot. I've done this with mature cut Agave attenuata, and left it in a bright shaded spot for a couple of months to form roots before replanting. This extra step may not be necessary for you in southern California, especially if you have good draining soil and not pure clay. Now is as good a time as any if you don't get frost in your garden, as this species is pretty much in active growth mode year round. I find that chopping the mother plant is often a necessity when it has been forced into a space too small to accommodate its natural tendency to lean out towards the light as it grows. They do reroot pretty easily, although you may lose some of the older leaves from moisture stress until it forms new roots. I usually cut the trunk so that there is at least a foot of clear trunk below the lowest leaves, and also remove several circles of older leaves after cutting, as they are likely to wither and yellow in any case.

Tom, The very spikey one was sold as O. engelmanii, and it has large pads when compared to humifusa. The other one has even larger pads, but fewer spikes. It was labeled simlply as Opuntia species. I haven't been able to identify it yet. This year (right now in fact) it has several fairly large ripe fruits. The O. humifusa does get all shriveled and even a purplish color in coldest weather, but come next spring it bounces back and grows like a weed. I've had that one for over 40 years, but when I had the yard relandscaped, large mats of it got trashed. I did manage to save a few clumps, and they spread quickly. It was not unusual to have 500+ blooms on the original clump, as it was over 10' in diameter. The soil under the stones is average, and I didn't amend it. There is weed cloth under the stones. I didn't amend because I formed slight mounds for drainage, and also the front of the house is in blazing sun all year and also has full air circulation so it dries out well. Most of the plants you see are in the third year, but the ice plants are about 10 years old and were replanted when that area was constructed. The Yucca is about 15 years old.

Thanks!.I'm over here in the eastbay,Hayward. I think the Hercules flowers are the only pics on the net.No matter how much i looked,didnt find any.So,even i was wondering what they were going to be like! My advice to anybody is if you want a branching tree Aloe-Hercules might be the hardiest.If you want a tree Euphorbia cactid,E abysinnica might be the hardiest of those and E.ammak the fastest growing(haven't tried E.ingens)and almost the same in cold hardyness.E.ingens could be best of all.A neighbor planted a 6" dish garden plant 5 or 6 years ago and its a very bushy 6' now. I didnt see a bit of damage from the freeze on it..and they have it in the middle of the front yard-no cover whatsoever. Global or urban or both warming has really added to the menu of tropicalia to be grown in the bay area. If it keeps us above 32..the sky's the limit..

I have a book on South African succulents but cannot find it at the moment. I have noticed that most books that have both cactus and succulent in the title are 90% or more cacti and very little on succulents. If you know the title of the book you want, you can do a multi-site search at addall.com, which will include alibris and Amazon, among others. I will have to look for Chuck Everson the next time I am in Vista. There are some good nurseries there and also some in Oceanside.