Starting with January 2010, what I’ve seen, what I’ve grown, what I’m still growing…
January 2010 Agave ‘Mr. Ripple’ photo by MB Maher — I have one pup left from this massive beast of an agave that will forever remain caged in a container
January 2010 restio Thamnochortus insignis. I drifted away from restios for years because of their eventual ginormity but this winter returned to the fold with 4 one-gallon Chondropetalum tectorum, the so-called dwarf cape rush. Miscanthus and muhly grasses were moved to give this restio a spin as possibly a better companion for winter-blooming aloes than grasses that need a cutback.
January 2014 Acacia merinthophora, the Zigzag Wattle — in my own garden Acacia podalyrifolia is at peak bloom with Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ budded up and ready to go in a couple more weeks
January 2014 Shrub-like Helleborus argutifolius was a constant presence for years, an exuberant reseeder. There’s a couple small seedlings under Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ but too small to bloom this year
January 2014 Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca, growing up a tuteur. Its seedlings are about 2-3 feet tall — so difficult to capture its rue-like beauty in photos. Xera Plants carried the variegated coronilla in 2020 and hopefully will again.
January 2015 dramatic giant Aeonium ‘Cyclops’ — this January the aeoniums are represented by small offsets of species tabuliforme, pseudotabuliforme and a leggy ‘Zwartkop’
January 2016 Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’ in better days — since being moved (twice!) to hide its decline in appearance in August it has declined overall
January 2016 Kalanchoe thyrsiflora in bloom at the Huntington
So many lovely plants! I have a supposedly dwarf Chondropetalum tectorum (probably elephantinum) that I love despite the fact that it covers up 3 ‘Blue Glow’ Agaves and hangs over into the street. I’m always attracted to Ozothamnus, although they’ve all been short-lived for me, and I’m completely in love with that Acacia.
Kris, I started grabbing and growing every restio I could get my hands on over a decade ago, and now I’m reading that there was a lot of confusion back then over what was what and lots of misidentification. So it makes sense to systemically grow them again, right?
So many lovely plants! I have a supposedly dwarf Chondropetalum tectorum (probably elephantinum) that I love despite the fact that it covers up 3 ‘Blue Glow’ Agaves and hangs over into the street. I’m always attracted to Ozothamnus, although they’ve all been short-lived for me, and I’m completely in love with that Acacia.
Kris, I started grabbing and growing every restio I could get my hands on over a decade ago, and now I’m reading that there was a lot of confusion back then over what was what and lots of misidentification. So it makes sense to systemically grow them again, right?
Your January looks very different from my January. Guess which one I like better?