Please help ID this plant?

snuffles CA

5 years ago

Hi everyone, I adopted this plant from a friend about a year ago and it has grown 3x bigger now. Any clue what this is?

Thank you in advance.

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Comments (6)

Embothrium
5 years ago
Perhaps a Beschorneria. Whatever it is it is way overdue for a bigger pot. At this point it will need a lot bigger pot if you are to keep it going.
snuffles CA
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you so much! Yes it looks like it. I will repot into a bigger pot soon!
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gyr_falcon
5 years ago
Lucky you! I have a fondness for Beschorneria plants, despite their rather unruly flower stalks, and keep bringing more of them home from nurseries. I don't know why they are not more widely grown in gardens--they are tough, easy plants. Maybe it is because they flower only when they darn well decide to, and not a year before. :)
snuffles CA
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you! I saw pictures on the web of their flowers. They looked great to me, didn't look too unruly. Do they require a lot of water? I'm in So. Calif and very dry weather and soil in fact. Do you have a picture of your Beschorneria army? Have they bloomed regularly for you?
gyr_falcon
5 years ago
I live in South OC, with sandy, nutrient poor, soil, so our growing conditions are likely fairly similar. My army isn't an orderly group; I've used the plants as structural contrast in various parts of the garden. Although I am working towards filling in some to form groups, that is a work in progress as I find plants offered that are more in my price point (the prices have almost doubled since I bought my first).

Mine are all in-ground, and they seem adapted to whatever watering the surrounding plants get. Some individuals started blooming about 3-4 years in ground, but others have not yet. Delays might be due to the poor soil, or that some have a bit less sun due to trees that have grown and now block some light mid-day. After bloom, the flowering one very, very slowly declines, but basal plants take it's place, so it is not missed when it gets removed.

I had both the variegated 'Flamingo' and the regular bloom this past spring and the difference in the flower stalks' color is noticeable. Not a great photo, but Flamingo is the pinker one in front, and you can see the less colorful species one just behind the white echium flower stalk. The species one is a basal plant that is blooming, from the original plant that bloomed in 2016.

I also grow B. albiflora, which has more of an agave form and seems to prefer a little more sun protection and more water), and had B. wrightii, which I unfortunately lost after it flowered.
snuffles CA
Original Author
5 years ago
Your Beschornerias look great! I'm liking them more and more and think I'll plant it in the backyard next to the short agave or barrel cactus for the same reason as yours, structural contrasts. I like that they are drought tolerant and will not stab me. Currently it's getting a lot of shade but when I plant it in full sun, the color will fade a bit.