Thursday, December 27, 2012

The state of the spikes, in December…

I’m a little late in posting these photos; they were taken back on December 5th, but what the heck! Better a late record than none at all…

The last agave report was posted back in mid August. Not much changed in the 2 months following it, but in the next two months we received upwards of 15” of rain, hardy the ideal for plants that love dry winter months. I’m afraid this is a true test of whether or not I've provided adequate drainage for these poor plants. Here's how they were looking at the beginning of December...

Starting in the upper right hand corner…Puya coerulea, Opuntia engelmannii var. linguiformis (Cow’s Tongue Prickly Pear), Agave with tentative ID of A. lechuguilla, Agave ovatifolia in the center and up in the left hand corner a gifted Opuntia...

Agave parryi 'JC Raulston'

Another gifted plant, this a pup from the monster Agaves in this garden.

Unknown Cylindropuntia from my visit to Hillside Botanical Garden.

Agave americana (with the Puya coerulea on the left).

A pair of A. ovatifolia.

Agave montana

My original 'JC Raulston.'

Opuntia humifusa all deflated for winter…but showing off some lovely red fruit.

Agave bracteosa

This unknown gifted Cylindropuntia is not looking so good…

Agave americana, which almost gave up the ghost last winter, it's bravely fought back to this point…

And another A. americana. The leaf damage you see isn't from the rain and cold but rather from our 102 degree day last August...poor thing got sun-burnt.

Maihuenia poeppigii (the oldest)

Maihuenia poeppigii (a newer one)

Hybrid form of Echinocereus triglochidiatus v. gonacanthus

Another pair of A. bracteosa

Opuntia x rutila

Opunita basilaris ‘Sara’s Compact’

Another Unknown Cylindropuntia from my visit to Hillside Botanical Garden.

Now to the back garden and one of the mounds next to the patio…

Things grew a lot over the summer but I think this A. bracteosa grew the most.

Aloe striatula. I lost one of these a couple of winters ago. Since I have two others I decided to risk it and see what happens…

The same goes for the purple Dyckia in the center of this photo. I've lost two of these in the past…hopefully this one will make it…

The other spiky planting area…

A. gentryi ‘Jaws’

Another view…

And another A. bracteosa…

Finally we end with this mashed together planting, these were so small when I put them in this container last spring! I intended to lift them for the winter, but I haven't managed to do so.

So what will January, February and March bring to my spikes? We shall see...

32 comments:

  1. Beautiful glorious spiky goodness! They look wonderful! I can't believe just how much it has rained in the last few months. I forgot that it gets this bad. But I'm glad to see everything doing well for you. †h¡nk that my agaves are all fine. I know one has a spot :( but I think it's just an isolated issue.

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    1. Here in Portland we are 15" ABOVE normal for annual rainfall, and just think that includes a completely dry 3 months! I forget the exact standing but this is something like our second or third wettest year on record. Damn.

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    2. that is absolutely insane! Just think, 3 dry months, where have those days gone?

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    3. I was just reading my fav weather blog this morning and discovered this unsettling number: "The October-December rain total is around 22″ here in Portland" yikes!

      http://www.kptv.com/link/492613/fox-12-weather-blog

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  2. This has me smiling to see these spiky plants far from home and handling the wet weather well for the most part. They have a good home there.

    The last one made me laugh because they are so cute as pups but grow into such huge monsters my neighbor is already worried about one of mine. Probably not so much up there as here.

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    1. Yes you're right. Unfortunately they don't get to be monsters here, but still I should do something about all those guys crammed in the container!

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  3. Hey DG - I hope they will all make it this year! It sure turned soggy fast! Happy Holidays!

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    1. Seriously, that saying about the switch being flipped was so true in July and again in October! Happy Holidays to you!

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  4. Yea for beautiful spikiness! They're looking good! Let's hope for a really winter even if it means more bugs. Won't that just mean more food for the birds?

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    1. A mild winter? Yep...I'm willing to see what it means as far as the bugs. Looks like even though we've made it to a new record for latest frost we won't escape completely as this weekend is looking colder...

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  5. Very encouraging ...maybe I'll be inspired to add more spikes next year! Looks like a few dry days ahead !!! Happy new year

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    1. I about passed out when I saw that long row of orange circles on the Weather Channel forecast...I hope it really happens. Happy New Year to you to!

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  6. So far so good, apart from a couple of them everything else is looking fine and dandy :) hopefully the following months, the rest of the winter will be mild in your area (and on ours too!) and be kind to the spikies!

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    1. "be kind to the spikies" could be the new "keep calm and carry on" don't you think?

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  7. I think you need more room - but nice! Both of your "Unknown Cylindropuntia" photos look like C. imbricata, or maybe some natural cross of that with C. spinosior.

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    1. Ya it will be interesting to see if I have to move those plants in the back garden. I fear that come May they won't all be looking so vigorous, but I would LOVE to be proven wrong!

      Thanks for the Cylindropuntia suggestions, I'll look into those...

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  8. They look pretty good, but winter will be tough. I think you should send a good amount of rain down south and dry out for a bit, okay?

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    1. Damn I wish I could...nothing would make me happier! I'll get to work casting spells and such...

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  9. I'll cross my fingers that everything pulls though unharmed :-)

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    1. Thanks Scott, I'll take every bit of luck I can get!

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  10. Your spikes are looking pretty robust! Especially the A. bracteosas - I'm inexplicably seeing them as little long-haired dogs that are about to shake off the water and jump right back in the pond! Like Linda, you inspire me to add more dry-lovers this coming year. Keep documenting for us!

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    1. Truth be told I do these "state of the spikes" posts mainly for myself to document the progress (or failure) so the fact that anyone else might find them helpful is extra wonderful, thank you!

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  11. Everything is looking terrifico! I love how you've put all the various textures and colors together. You've got some nice gravel there that shows off the various blue greens. Happy 2013! David/:0)

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  12. So far, so good. They've passed the water torture test, now we'll get to see how they handle the cold. I'm heading out to wrap up a few things (plants this time, not packages).

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    1. I'm a little concerned about the cold, since they've soaked up so much water the last 2 and a half months. We shall see! So I didn't realize you had marginal plants in the ground...what are you wrapping?

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    2. the infamous Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies', the Rhody sinogrande and the water pipes.

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  13. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KJJlEjhQELg/UM0Wc0wXlVI/AAAAAAAArRw/lUCgZwV20Dc/s640/state+of+the+spikes+125.JPG

    What is the little rosette in the lower right corner of this pic?

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    1. It's a Saxifraga x longifolia.

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    2. One of the many plants you can grow that would need life support if grown here... http://nargs.org/nargswiki/tiki-index.php?page=Plant+of+the+Month+October+2009

      I might try it in a pot.

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    3. I hope you do! (good luck)

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