How to Manage Aloe Mite Amazing tips

How to Redo an Overgrown Succulent Garden Amazing tips

These tips and ideas will show you how to design and redo your overgrown succulent garden. Every few years, I tackle the one I see from my office window. I don’t know about you, but I’m not crazy about how rosette succulents like aeoniums, echeverias and graptopetalums get trunks over time. This is because new growth comes from the center of the rosette and old leaves wither and fall off. Fortunately it’s an easy fix.

March, 2019. The last time I replanted this area was two years ago, when I installed the fountain. I’m pleased at how plants have filled in and how little maintenance the area needs. Well, maybe I should get after that ivy. Note how the planted clam shell at left repeats the fountain’s basins, and how a pot at upper right echoes the red of the aeoniums.

Begin by picking a vantage point: This is the window, pathway or sitting area from which you view the space. It’s also where you’ll “stand back” as you redesign it.

In my YouTube video, How to Refresh an Overgrown Succulent Garden, I take you through the garden’s transformations. Here’s how it looked in Sept., 2012

Off with their heads: Snip rosettes, leaving one to two inches of stem as a cutting anchor. Yank out the old plant, roots and all, and discard it. (I find this very therapeutic.)

Blank slate time: Remove weeds and anything overgrown and untidy. Prune remaining plants as needed and get rid of pots that may have snuck in and cluttered the space.

A palette of cuttings and new nursery plants, prepped and ready to go into the ground.

Staging area:  Since succulents come in every hue, I like to sort them by color and size. Keep in mind that anything without roots needs shade or it’ll sunburn.

Shop for statement plants: These might be agaves (ideally non-pupping), an aloe that grows tall, a plump-trunked ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata)—whatever lends drama, fits the area, and that you’ve been lusting after.

Know your microclimates and plant accordingly. I delve into this in my book, Designing with Succulents (2nd ed.) In fact, the entire book is about creating beautiful succulent gardens. It’s my proudest achievement. <blush>

Check or install irrigation: It’s a pain to add pipes and risers after a garden is planted. Don’t skip this not-fun step—unless of course you want to hose-water on midsummer days.

Prepare the planting area by sifting out roots and rocks, then adding fresh soil.

Rework the soil: Spade and turn it, remove rocks and clumps of roots, and mix in compost and pumice. If the ground is hard to dig, just top it with planting mix.

Get creative:  Add focal points and delightful discoveries such as large pots, a fountain, an outdoor sculpture, or a mini-trail amid small cacti and euphorbias.

Mound the soil: Use more than you think because mounds settle over time. Pack firmly and arrange rocks around the rim to retain the soil.

Add a dry creek bed or path (optional): This meanders between mounds and gives you access into the planting area. Set rounded stones, pebbles and cobbles below grade, in a swale…unless you just want a pathway, in which case use gravel or pavers. See the section on dry creek beds in Designing with Succulents (2nd ed.).

Plant cuttings: Cluster and combine cuttings in ribbons and vignettes. Set larger ones in back, smaller in front. Place low-water succulents like cacti atop mounds; finer-leaved, thirstier ones farther down. Use green in the background. Position aloes and jades in sunny spots so they’ll redden.

Apply topdressing: Use crushed rock or decomposed granite to give the garden a finished look. Topdressing also inhibits weed growth, moderates soil temperatures, and conserves moisture.​

Learn more on my site and YouTube Channel:

Articles:
— Great Ideas from Patrick Anderson’s Garden. Patrick’s renowned garden in Fallbrook, CA, is an outdoor gallery of sculptural plants and art pieces.
— Ten Succulent Front Yard Essentials. Find out how designer Deana Rae McMillion orchestrated a lawn-to-succulents transformation.
— A Dozen Succulent Design Essentials. See beautifully planted mounds and a small but outstanding dry creek bed in a garden by Michael Buckner.

Videos:
— Succulent Garden Design, with Laura Eubanks Celebrity designer Laura Eubanks has lots of videos on her own channel, but this one—which we made together—gives a great overview.
— Jim Gardner’s Succulent Showcase  Get ideas from a decades-old garden in Rolling Hills Estates owned by a retired MD who’s also a savvy collector and artist.
— Why You Really Need Rocks, with Steve McDearmon  A landscape contractor skilled with succulents explains how he selects crushed rock and boulders and talks about irrigation.

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What You Need to Know About Dudleyas Amazing tips

Recently a writer with The New Yorker asked me what people need to know about dudleyas and the plants’ likelihood of survival out of the wild. She was researching the recurring thefts of Dudleya farinosa, a succulent native to the Northern CA coast.

Dudleya farinosa poachers. Photo courtesy of CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

It seems that in Korea, China and Japan, succulents are hugely popular among housewives, students, and other residents of small spaces. Dudleyas, related to echeverias (rosette succulents from Mexico) are collectible novelties that sell for up to $100 apiece. Some say their appeal is their resemblance to lotus flowers.

No plant—succulent or otherwise—is free for the taking, even from public land. Yet poachers fly into San Francisco, rent cars, and stop by Home Depot for cardboard boxes on their way to California’s rocky ocean cliffs. They slither through mud, dislodge boulders, rip silvery succulents from near-vertical perches, then scurry off to a post office.

Dudleya farinosa in habitat

Dudleya farinosa grows on near-vertical rock faces.

The CA Department of Fish and Wildlife has increased its vigilance, and with the help of the CA Native Plant Society, has been keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior—like people emerging from hiking trails carrying ropes and bulging backpacks from which telltale stems and roots protrude. But by the time the poachers are caught, the damage has been done.

“It’s senseless,” I told the The New Yorker‘s “California Chronicles” columnist. “It harms our coastal ecology, makes it easier for weeds to become established, and kills beautiful plants.” Instead of flourishing where people can see them for years to come, “those stolen dudleyas will just turn squishy and rot.”

It’s not easy to replant a dudleya, even in its own habitat. Photo courtesy of CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

How to Keep Dudleyas Alive

The common name for dudleya is “liveforever” because some can live 50 to 100 years—in the right spot. Wild plants, like wild animals, do best in their native habitat.

Dudleya farinosa, like many Dudleya species, requires near-vertical rocky hillsides, plenty of sun but not too much, and no summer water. It also likes moist ocean air. Most noticeable in larger species such as D. brittonii (native to Mexico)and D. pulverulenta (Southern CA), flowers that form on the tips of long bloom spikes produce seeds that fall far enough away from the mother ship that her offspring don’t compete with her for nutrients.

By summer’s end, after months without rainfall, a dudleya’s oldest, lower leaves have dried. They still cling to the stem, protecting it from heat, sun and desiccation. The plant hunkers down, goes dormant, and folds its upper leaves over its vital core. A dudleya during the season of Santa Ana winds looks like a pile of withered foliage, maybe with a few dry flower stems sticking out. It’s tempting to try and revive a sleeping dudleya, yet if you water it, you risk it rotting.

A dudleya’s older leaves dry and cling to its stem.

Dudleyas grown by nurseries are domesticated compared to those on Cliffside’s and better suited to residential gardens. Plant them in a rock wall or at an angle in gritty, fast-draining soil like decomposed granite, so water drains away from their roots. It’s best not to grow dudleyas in pots because water can pool around their stems. Inland, protect them from hot afternoon sun in summer. The powdery coating (farina) that makes certain species silvery-white acts as a sunscreen by reflecting UV rays, so it’s best not to touch the leaves. Not to mention that doing so will leave fingerprints.

Kelly Griffin’s Dudleyas

I suggested that The New Yorker interview dudleya expert Kelly Griffin, succulent product development manager for Altman Plants, the largest grower of succulents and cacti in the US. Griffin, a renowned breeder of aloes and agaves, is also an avid dudleya hybridizer. In my recent YouTube video, he shows the Dudleya cultivars he’s testing in his own garden.

Dudleyas in Kelly Griffin’s garden

They’re indeed beautiful: Large, lush, floriferous and full of vigor. Should the unthinkable happen and native dudleyas become rare, Griffin’s hybrids are certain to live on in cultivated gardens. This isn’t unprecedented, in fact it’s the case with other widely grown succulents no longer in the wild, like Aloe vera and Echinocactus grusonii (golden barrel cactus). However, it’s uncertain whether Northern CA’s plundered dudleya population will ever be the same.

There are two distinct types of dudleyas: Those that form colonies of multiple rosettes with pencil-like leaves, and those with solitary, wide-leaved rosettes. This is Dudleya greenii, native to the Channel Islands off the CA coast.

 

Roadside Dudleyas

In San Diego County where I live, dudleyas are fairly easy to spot. Steep, rocky escarpments within a few miles of the Pacific are potential habitats. After winter rains, the plants plump and produce new growth. They do best where they don’t have to compete with weeds, and they tend not to face south because it’s too hot in summer. When driving Highway 76 (the Del Dios Highway) between Escondido and Del Mar, look for silvery stars clinging to rocky outcroppings. It’s gratifying that dudleyas within sight of thousands of daily commuters are out of reach. There’s almost no place to park, and even if a poacher dared, drivers whizzing past would be witnesses.

Related Info:

Read the New Yorker article: Succulent Smugglers Descend on California. 

See my YouTube video: What You Need to Know About Dudleyas

Listen to the Radio New Zealand interview that resulted from my being interviewed by The New Yorker.

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A Garden of Collectible Succulents in Corona Amazing tips

Do you collect special succulents that you’d like to grow outdoors in your garden? If you’re in Southern CA, do visit the cactus and succulent garden at Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona Del Mar, CA. It showcases so many great tips and ideas!

Pat Roach and I pose in Sherman’s succulent garden.

Imagine…a dear friend who lives in LA had never been to Sherman Gardens! I’m in San Diego, so an Orange County botanical garden was the perfect place to meet to celebrate the fact that we’re finally the same age. (She’s a math teacher but kindly didn’t say that I’m six months older and always will be.) So on a bright early-spring day, Pat Roach and I became ladies-who-lunch at Sherman’s la-dee-dah garden cafe.

Initially a home that later became a nursery, Sherman’s 2.2 acres now are a venue for weddings and other events. It includes lathe houses, beds of annuals and roses, fountains, a koi pond and tropicals. It’s on busy Coast Highway, but once beyond the fence, you’re in a different world. Outdoor areas are themed and make smart use of every square foot.

Pat and I first met when she took my design class, so at Sherman we spent most of our time in the cactus and succulent garden, which beautifully blends specimen plants with rocks and boulders. Designer Matthew Maggio is a horticulturist knowledgeable about how the plants grow in habitat, which is always a boon to effective placement and cultivation. Matt redesigned and replanted the 1,200-square foot area 12 years ago, and continues to help it stay looking good.

One of its focal points would work in any size garden: a large, shallow terra-cotta pot set amid boulders. Burro-tail sedum and Senecio repens cascade out of it, and echeverias surround the lovely agave in its center. Photos I’ve taken of the pot over the years show a succession of agaves, each variegated to echo a Furcraea foetida ‘Mediopicta’ nearby.

2007: The wide, shallow terra-cotta pot showcases Agave ‘Joe Hoak’.

 

2011: Same terra-cotta pot, redone with variegated Agave vilmoriniana. Notice the furcraea in the background (the two plants visually blend together), and the addition of red bromeliads.

 

2019: Now large, the furcraea appears to explode behind the pot. In it, with wavy leaves, is variegated Agave gypsophila.

My photos from earlier visits also show a large Dasylirion wheeleri midway down the garden’s long, narrow bed. It has since been replaced with bromeliads, aloes and agaves, perhaps so visitors can better appreciate how blue Senecio serpens forms a meandering river and visually unifies the bed’s diverse plantings.

2005: Dasylirion wheeleri dominates the long, narrow bed, which doesn’t yet include colorful mosaics.

 

2011: Although the long bed now has colorful rocks, succulents and bromeliads, the dasylirion still shouts, “Look at me!”

 

2019: Bromeliads and agaves have replaced the dasylirion, and mature tree aloes lend balance, height and interest.

 

Sherman Library and Gardens is at 2647 E. Pacific Coast Hwy, Corona del Mar, CA. Hours: 10 to 4 daily. Closed major holidays. Free parking. Adults $5.

On My YouTube channel:

Succulent Design Ideas from Sherman Gardens

In this 4-min. video, I take you on a tour of the highlights of Sherman’s succulent garden

Plant IDs:

Agave attenuata ‘Variegata’ sparkles at one end of the long bed.

 

Stems of Euphorbia cooperi suggest a series of bells.

 

Dioscorea elephantipes, lower right, resembles a turtle’s back.

 

String of pearls (Senecio rowleyanus) appears to flow into balusters below it.

 

Agave nickelsiae (formerly Agave ferdinandi-regis)

 

The garden’s climate and proximity to the ocean make this collection of ice plants (mesembryanthemums) possible.

Euphorbia horrida ‘Snowflake’ in Sherman Gardens’ euphorbia section

 

Plenty of sun and growing amid rocks help to turn Aloe dorotheae red

 

Haworthias at Sherman Gardens include (clockwise from top): H. cymbiformis ‘Variegata’; H. truncata; H. limifolia ‘Variegata’; H. retusa (or possibly bayeri).

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Critique: Newport Beach’s Grand Succulent Garden Amazing tips

If you’re planning to design, revamp or evaluate a succulent landscape, find out what I like and what dismays me about Newport Beach’s grand Civic Center succulent garden. It’s large-scale, but its plusses and minuses apply to waterwise gardens of any size.

From my YouTube video, “Newport Beach’s Grand Succulent Garden”

Opened in 2013, the Newport Beach Civic Center graces a coastal community of homes with an average value of $2,000,000. The complex cost $140 million and is a masterpiece of modern architecture within sight of the Pacific. Overlapping, S-shaped awnings atop a series of sleek buildings suggest ocean waves. The multi-acre succulent garden along the complex’s north side is a public park.

It has a nice layout, with wide, serpentine paths that invite strolling and rolling (everything from baby carriages to wheelchairs). There are multiple plantings of large specimens—Dracaena draco, Aloe bainesii, Beaucarnea recurvata and columnar cacti. These likely were mature at installation in order to be in scale with their setting, and doubtless were craned-in at no small expense. Filler plants include agaves, dasylirions, aloes, puyas (a succulent bromeliad), golden barrels, aeoniums, Senecio mandraliscae, and silver-leaved Cotyledon orbiculata. Warm-toned gravel enhances the design, holds moisture in the soil, inhibits weed growth, and lends visual continuity. In light of the fact that structures across the street have water-thirsty lawns and tightly pruned shrubs (landscaping that doesn’t make sense on so many levels), what’s not to love?

Silver and blue succulents dominate the Newport Beach Civic Center garden

Highly toxic euphorbia

Well, Euphorbia resinifera, for one thing. I like the mounding growth habit of this African succulent, which suggests a short-spined cactus consisting of squarish, columnar green stems. It grows slowly into ever-expanding colonies. However, this cool-looking plant is quite hot…and not in a good way.

Euphorbia resinifera has short, sharp spines and—typical of the genus—milky sap.

Its milky, resinous sap contains resiniferatoxin, which is similar to capsaicin in peppers but a thousand times hotter. On the Scoville scale, resiniferatoxin ranks at 16 billion units, 4.5 million times hotter than a jalapeno. So if the sap should enter an open wound or eye, the sensation would be like a blow torch. Of course that’s only possible when Euphorbia resinifera grows where someone could fall on it, break its stems, and get scratched by its thorns…like along the downward curve of a pathway in a public garden frequented by kids on scooters, skates and bikes.

Adding a curb would create a barrier that keeps kids from careening into Euphorbia resinifera. 

A missed opportunity

Another succulent in the garden, prickly pear cactus (Opuntia sp.), is far from pathways…which is no surprise because it’s obviously unfriendly.

Prickly pear cactus (lower center) grows well away from foot traffic.

Yet Opuntia species that lack spines are nowhere to be found, and they would have been suitable anywhere. Opuntia cacanapa ‘Ellisiana’, shown below at a nursery, grows tall (upwards of 6 feet), offers a pleasing silhouette of ever-branching ovals, forms a sculptural green backdrop, starts readily from cuttings, gets by on rainfall alone, and is entirely harmless.

Spineless paddle cactus at a nursery

Silver swords and serrated leaves

Spare-no-expense plants such as Puya venusta (a succulent bromeliad) and Cleistocactus strausii (a fuzzy columnar cactus) blend together in a surreal, silvery harmony of starbursts and snowy poles. But IMHO they’re a bit too texturally inviting to be at toddler-level.

Silver swords combine with bromeliads near Civic Center windows. From my video: “Newport Beach’s Grand Succulent Garden”

Yes, of course, parents should teach children not to touch unfamiliar plants, especially any that are spiny, thorny, toothed or bristly. But what about plants that touch kids? Over time, the puyas have become crowded and some, seeking light, have grown horizontally. Here’s one that had to be cut back from the pathway, which has destroyed the plant’s symmetry and bloom potential.

A truncated Puya venusta at the Newport Beach Civic Center succulent garden

I also wonder if the area that this silver grouping occupies—north-facing, close to the building and beneath its wavy eaves—is sunny enough for puyas to bloom. After all, that’s what they’re known for: eye-catching, truly-blue flowers.

Big silver puyas bloom blue.

Best-ever beaucarneas

On the plus side, the garden showcases how to mound and topdress soil, use planted islands, and how just a few sculptural succulents can create an intriguing, low-maintenance, low-water landscape. This is illustrated by a grouping of Beaucarnea recurvata. (Its common names “ponytail palm,” “elephant’s foot palm” and “bottle palm” are misleading—these tree succulents aren’t palms.) Like many agaves and cacti also in the garden, beaucarneas are from Mexico. They’re easy to come by, inexpensive even in 5-gallon pots, grow fairly rapidly when in the ground (about a foot a year), tolerate mild frosts, and have intriguing Dr. Seuss-like forms. What makes each “succulent” is its bulbous, water-storing base (caudex). In summer, the trees’ topknots produce feathery sprays of cream and pink flowers.

Beaucarnea recurvata in bloom

Out-of-control agaves

But for me, the most perplexing aspects of the garden are its rows of century plants (Agave americana) that occupy large beds between walkways and street. I suspect that what must have seemed brilliantly economical six years ago has become a maintenance nightmare. Though quite common and often free for the asking, century plants eventually get as big as Volkswagens and produce numerous offsets (“pups”) from shallow roots.

Trimming a century plant like a pineapple removes problematic foliage, but it’ll pup regardless

These large agaves’ thick leaves are wickedly toothed along their margins and tipped in sharp spines. I suspect that after a few years, century plants began encroaching on walkways. The need to prune some of them likely led to the aesthetic decision to trim all of them so they looked the same.

As shown in my YouTube video, “Do’s and Don’ts of Growing Century Plants,” Agave americana produces pups (clones of the mother plant), which in turn spawn grandpups.

 

These pineappled century plants (Agave americana) are in my YouTube video, “Newport Beach’s Grand Succulent Garden”

En masse these agaves resemble a pineapple plantation, but that doesn’t offend me. What does, is that agave leaf pruning and pup removal are labor-intensive. Moreover, many municipalities won’t accept agave green waste—the plants are too fibrous, spiny and slow to decompose. I’m curious how thousands of sliced-off century plant leaves, each nearly as large as its machete-wielding gardener, have been (and will continue to be) disposed of.

Agave alternatives

There do exist large, statuesque agaves that are not especially treacherous and don’t pup like feral dogs. Two that would have worked well here (if it were possible to source them in quantity) are Agave guiengola and Agave ovatifolia. But using better-behaved agaves is just one alternative. Also from the Southwest US and Mexico are low-maintenance, low-water succulents such as yuccas, dasylirions and hesperaloes. They’re dynamic planted in multiples and don’t bloom-then-die like agaves do.

If I were to give the Newport Beach Civic Center’s succulent garden a letter grade, it would be a C+. I’d like to give it higher, but online info indicates that numerous large and expensive specimens (like Aloe thraskii, a tree succulent) that had been planted early-on, died. Perhaps they couldn’t tolerate being transplanted or were sited incorrectly. Regardless, my sad conclusion is that inadequate horticultural research prior to the installation of this grand succulent garden wasted time, taxpayers’ money and potentially terrific plants.

Related Info:

On this site…

Succulents for Coastal Southern CA Gardens (plant list)

No-Water Succulents for Southern CA (garden of Mark and Cindy Evans, Laguna Beach)

On my YouTube channel…

Watch the video of my visit to the Newport Beach Succulent Garden

 

Don’t miss my video about the pros and cons of a large succulent that’s often free: Agave americana

 

Agave expert Kelly Griffin and I show half a dozen lovely, non-pupping agaves.

 

Books by Debra Lee Baldwin

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Fun and clever ways to display succulents Great Tips

Succulents can be arranged in so many clever ways! Whether you're putting something special together for a gift, or just want to add some more succulents to your home, I've put together some of my favorite projects below. Before you jump in, you'll want to make sure you have the right supplies. [...]

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Plant Expert Tony Avent on Mangaves Amazing tips

Tony Avent, Plant Delights Nursery

According to plant expert Tony Avent, owner of Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, NC, “the world of mangaves is exploding. The colors and forms continue to break new barriers of previously inconceivable foliage.”  Founded in 1988, Avent’s nursery is a premier source of rarities and natives, and offers more than 1,400 kinds of perennials via mail-order.

Plant Delights’ Spring ’19 catalog includes two dozen recently introduced Mangave cultivars. “The parade of amazing new mangaves hasn’t slowed,” Avent says. “Once people see and grow mangaves, they realize how fantastic they are.”

Here’s more from Avent on these intriguing Manfreda–Agave crosses:

Breeding Mangave

“It started back in the ’90s on a visit to Yucca-Do Nursery in Texas. They’d collected seeds from a manfreda in Mexico, and two of the seedlings were five times as big as they should be. They had spots like manfreda but were enormous, and their structure was agave-like. The blooms were just not right. Agave celsii had been growing in the next valley, and we realized, OMG, we have a Mangave!

Agave celsii

“We started breeding them at Plant Delights, and after five years of crossing, we could see the potential. It’s like when Dan Heims got started with Heuchera. We do a lot of trials, but taking on mangaves was just too much. We gave all our breeding stock to Hans Hansen, an incredible plantsman and hybridizer at Walters Gardens in Michigan. The mangaves sat unnoticed in the back of a greenhouse until the cover came off the building. When exposed to ultraviolet light, they turned all these incredible colors.

Hybridizer Hans Hansen is Director of Plant Development at Walters Gardens, Zeeland, MI.

“We send pollen off of every agave that flowers to Hans. What he’s done is create agaves with purple and red spots. They’re fast growers with hybrid vigor. A mangave plug grown from tissue culture takes 12 to 16 weeks to fill out a quart container, then another two weeks to fill a gallon. Agaves, in comparison, take 63 weeks. Hans grows a thousand seedlings, selects 100, then 50, then 25. Then he picks one or two to keep and sends us a few discards to trial. That way we have the advantage of knowing what the crosses will do.

“I’ve never felt the need to second-guess Hans. He’s very keen on what he’s created and understands what’s cool and how to use the plants—their garden value. It’s been challenging for him. He’s in Michigan breeding for the West Coast, but he realizes how good these plants are, and he’s persevered.

Mangave characteristics

Mangave ‘Bloodspot’

“So far we haven’t seen any mangaves that are monocarpic like their agave parents. ‘Bloodspot’ flowered and produced 50 offsets. We’ve never lost a mangave to flowering. Manfredas, if it’s too cold—upper 30s, low 40s—become deciduous. They also may go summer-dormant where temperatures are high.

“Mangave roots tend to conform to the pot size, like agaves. They may be screaming, but they’ll stay small in a small container. Leaf fragility…some are more brittle than others. Early ones were incredibly brittle. The way we solve the breakage problem when shipping them is to let them dry down. Leaves that become flaccid don’t break.

“Manfreda virginica is insanely hardy.” — Tony Avent

“Mangave cultivars are not necessarily winter hardy. It depends on their parentage. Manfredas are found in Zones 4 through 8, from the Midwest to southern Illinois, central North Carolina, Florida, central Texas and central Mexico. They’re dry-land plants, but are more tolerant of overwatering than agaves. Even in a hurricane, a mangave will keep on going. As for extreme drought, mangaves are probably not as tolerant as agaves, but again, it depends on the parent. You can’t say of any genus, ‘They’ll all do this.’

“Mangaves are fantastic in containers. They’re not great indoors—they lose their color without UV light. If need be, overwinter them inside, then take them outside in the spring.

Mangave ‘Blue Mammoth’ is among the most hardy.

“Mangave ‘Blue Mammoth’ has been the most hardy in our trials, to 7 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s an Agave ovatifolia hybid that forms a 2-foot-tall by 4-feet-wide rosette of jagged blue leaves with olive spots. Other mangaves that go to Zone 7 are ‘Falling Waters’ and ‘Bad Hair Day’.

Another new genus: Hansara

“We offer Hansara ‘Jumping Jacks,’ the first tri-generic hybrid, which we named after Hans. Agave, Manfreda, Polyanthes and Hosta are all closely related. So Hans started making tri-generic crosses, aiming for highly fragrant flowers, Mexican color, and hardiness. Crosses of Hosta and Agave are the most difficult to make.

Hansara ‘Jumping Jacks’ combines the genes of Agave gypsophila ssp. pablocarrilloi, Agave macroacantha, Manfreda maculosa, Polyanthus tuberosa, and Polyanthus howardii.

“‘Jumping Jacks’ forms a 14-inch-tall by 27-inch wide clump of narrow, succulent, gray-green foliage, sparsely spotted purple. When mature in 2 to 3 years, it produces a 6 foot-tall, highly branched flower spike of lovely yellow flowers but with an insignificant fragrance.

Mangaves in the stratosphere

“Mangaves like ‘Red Wing’ have foliage colors that don’t look real. Variegated manfredas as parents will launch mangaves into the stratosphere. What’s been done so far is maybe 2 percent of what can and will be done. In California and Mediterranean climates this is an opportunity to rewrite what people do with their landscapes.

“Every day there’s something new and exciting with plant hybridization. It’s a great time to be alive.”

Learn more about mangaves…

Mangave ‘Kaleidoscope’ in my garden

Go to my page, “Testing Mangaves in My Garden.” I’m trialing more than 30 Mangave cultivars in my Zone 9b Southern CA garden. This is a report on the first batch of 14 that arrived two years ago…[Continue reading] 

See the mangave page on the Plant Delights Nursery website.

Connect with hybridizer Hans Hansen on his Facebook page: “Mad About Mangave”.

Watch my Mangave videos:

Come on a mangave treasure hunt with me as I track down a dozen cultivars that have been in the ground and in pots for two years. All have done well but some better than others. I evaluate their progress and consider how to help each attain its full beauty and potential.

 

Mangaves are succulents with agaves in their parentage. Many of these 21st-century hybrids are lilylike, with flexible leaves, and do well in gardens that get frost…even snow! Watch me unbox some freckled beauties never been seen before…including a rare Hansera.

 

With 18 exciting new Mangave cultivars to find a place for in my garden, I design and plant my new “Mangave Terrace” and perform “C-sections” on potbound cultivars rarin’ to go.

 

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