Hardy Succulents - Aizoaceae

McDonough wrote:

Rick, do you bring all these plants to plant sales, you are a propagation-meister!  

Regarding my addiction to propagation, our Minnesota Chapter NARGS plant sale and I have a symbiotic relationship.  I am the biggest single donor, and our Chapter has incorporated as a non-profit organization according to state and federal guidelines.  My donations are a significant tax break for me.  Besides, I'd hate to see the extras just get thrown away.

Re: Delosperma bosserianum in particular: the seed was six years old, and they were so tiny that I wondered about their viability.  Hence, so many seedlings in that one pot.  I must have thrown away half of them as it was...

I haven't sold any of them, as I am not done testing and futsing with them. I am hoping to be able to raise them out of the soil as is done with many other caudiciforms, to expose the caudex.   Anyway, for the last few years I have instigated a "no houseplants" rule for our sales.  They never sell, donors bring the ugliest specimens (in general), and I am left with have to dispose of them at the end of the sale.

(edited for correct bosserianum spelling)

Hi Mark - going back to your original post - this is probably useless information, but your plant looks exactly like my seedlings of Faucaria tigrina looked.  Now that they're bigger, the leaves are longer and the plants look less chunky.  So I would say you don't have this faucaria, but maybe it's something close.  I'm not familiar with the faucaria the other poster mentioned.

all the best,
Vivien Bouffard

Vivian
Welcome to the forum it was good to hear from you. I would love to hear about any other aizoaceae you grow and any cultural information you have on them.

Mark, an interestining conundrum regarding the epithet bosserianum:  more than one site claim their information source as the IPNI, yet list it as bosseranum -without the "i" !!!

I think you're right though, D. bosserianum must be correct.  If anyone has access to The Kew Bulletin. 33(3): 521 (1979), we would know for sure as that is the first publishing, I assume.  I changed my previous posts to reflect the correct spelling.

I don't have too much experience with these plants.  I just like growing various things from seed so I can see what they do right from the beginning.  It's really fun to see how plants like faucaria, aloe, and agave develop.  The seed for the Faucaria came from JL Hudson; I shouldn't think they would be anywhere near hardy here in Norwood, MA.  I haven't ordered from Silverhill, but one of these days will place an order with Mesa Garden in NM.  My friend Art Scarpa, who founded the Cacti & Succulent Society in MA, tells me that Silverhill gets a lot of their seed from Mesa!  Their prices are low, their listings extensive, and no phytosanitary stuff to pay for!

All I have in the way of delosperma is the most ordinary stuff, which winters over pretty well, but is a bit shy in the blooming department.  Probably wants more sun, which is in short supply at my house.

Vivien

Great to see all those delos in your garden Mark!

I have Ebracteola wilmaniae opening its flowers on warmish days.

I am attaching two pix of the two best pink flowered delos (in my opinion), both of which are very tough. The first is Delo. 'Lesotho Pink' introduced by David Salman, I believe from seed he got from Silverhill. It has gorgeous winter foliage color (a deep purple) and has never shown signs of cold damage here.

The second is 'Tiffendell' collected by my colleage Dan Johnson, who has a sharp eye. It gets enormous here (over a yard across) and likewise never has cold damage.

Although the winters here perhaps are milder than yours, you have more sun and warmer summers and more sun in the fall. I think the plants need sun to harden off in the fall.

Kelaidis wrote:

The second is 'Tiffendell' collected by my colleague Dan Johnson, who has a sharp eye. It gets enormous here (over a yard across) and likewise never has cold damage.

Love to have this one but I can not seem to find a commercial source. It looks like a real show stopper! Maybe in a year or two it will be making the rounds at the nurseries.

PK  have you ever compiled a list of the hardy Aizoaceae you grow in your garden? I for one would be very interested!

Aloinopsis spathulata is a little gem I have had moderate luck with. It will do great for two of three years until I hit a snowy winter with a lot of freeze thaw cycles then it rots off. I keep trying it in increasingly, sharply drained substraits in the hope of hitting the perfect combination.

A very attractive plant!

Thought I'd revive this topic with a few pictures of another hardy Aizoaceae.

These shots are of Chasmatope musculinum. I have had this plant for five years and it has proven to be hardy for me. It is a woody slow creeper and cuttings are easy as it likes to root as it expands in size. As you can see it blooms in early spring usually starting from mid May - late May for me. 

Mark
Good to see your garden emerging.

Weiser wrote:

Thought I'd revive this topic with a few pictures of another hardy Aizoaceae.

These shots are of Chasmatope musculinum. I have had this plant for five years and it has proven to be hardy for me. It is a woody slow creeper and cuttings are easy as it likes to root as it expands in size. As you can see it blooms in early spring usually starting from mid May - late May for me.  

What's hardy for you isn't for me, I'll bet! Although it is less cold here than many other places it is too wet and too little Sunshine!
But I will try more Aizoaceae to if I can find any hardy enough!

McDonough wrote:

Just catching up with this, and upon reawakening the topic, John somehow I missed commenting on your photos of Chasmatope musculinum.  I love learning about all of these hardy succulents, inspired by each new species and cultivar I learn about.  This one sure is unique, reminiscent of a dandelion genetically slammed together with a succulent, a very cool plant!

After being under 5-6 feet of snow, the troughs on the sunny south side of a garden shed next to my driveway, sufficiently warm and sunny in this microclimate to melt away the snow, suddenly the troughs are exposed and visible again.  Actually, this is the time to worry, because it is usually the wild swings in temperature and moisture in spring that does the most damage.  

Although you had and still have more snow than I you are catching up Mark! That's the advantage of living far south ;)

:o You are still a southerner to me!

cohan wrote:

Hoy wrote:

:o You are still a southerner to me!

To me too! You're all warm zone gardeners to me ;) Even Lori  ;D

Trond, the same name I gave you, Martin, who John mentioined in this thread, has grown a lot of mesembs in Denmark, in various degrees of cover etc.. still an excellent source for info for you :)

:) ;) ;D

I'm a southerner (from a Canadian perspective) living in a northern climate (more like Tronds).  I managed to dig my way into my cold frame and several Delosperma seemed to have survived.  They can never make it outdoors here with the exception of D. basuticum.  I am amazed that my Stomatium (species unknown) survived!  I hope it blooms this year so I can get an ID.

Mark, hope you get a lot of flowers too!

Mark your Stomantium looks just like mine...I may have an ID!  And if patula survived for you, that increases the chances that I also have patula since we have similar hardiness zones.  I have 4 plants so I will plant one in my best-drained site and see what happens.

Great to see your mesembs doing so well, Mark. And as for your inquiry, John, we have had over 100 taxa of mesembs make it through at least one winter: most of them are marked 17 or 18 on Mesa Gardens list (where many originated). There will surely be several hundred. I have compiled these in ab ook that should have been published this year, but I dragged my feet!

Sorry I have been absent: too much happening at work and in the garden!

Thought you guys and gals would like to see my latest photos of Delosperma sphalmanthoides. It is in full bloom right now.

John, that Delosperma sphalmanthoides is spectacular! 

The flowers seem much larger than other delospermas, or is it just that the foliage is smaller?

RickR wrote:

John, that Delosperma sphalmanthoides is spectacular! 

The flowers seem much larger than other Delospermas, or is it just that the foliage is smaller?

It's all smaller!! This is a tiny Delosperma perfect for a trough. The whole mat meassures about six inches across. The leaves are gray/green, half an inch long all pointing toward the sky. The flowers are half an inch maybe, a little smaller than a dime. It only puts out a flush of bloom in early spring.
Just an example of macro and zoom capabilities. Just giving you the ant's eye view!! ;)

McDonough wrote:

My Stomatium ?patulum is blooming.  I was seeing little yellow buds, but they never seemed to open.  Lo and behold, this is a night blooming plant! 

Mark
Forgive me while I chuckle.  ;) I made the same mistake six years ago.  :rolleyes:
Glad to see it doing well for you. Try this name for it Stomatium mustillnum. I find it to be very hardy and have never had dieback or damage on mine. I get two flushes of bloom one in the spring and another in the fall after the heat of summer passes. It is definitely a keeper!!  :)

Can't believe no one commented on your fabulous delo pic: your Tiffendell comes from the one on my earlier posting. I believe it traces to a collection by Dan Johnson at the Tiffendell resort. I suspect Tiffendell Magenta could be a closely related plant (I think they are in the lavisiae complex), many people have been up there...

Thrilled to see them doing well and that your Stomatium is blooming!

Somehow I missed your last posts, Mark. 

They are indeed an enviable bunch!  The color on the Delo is most intoxicating.

Pretty silent on the mesemb front: thought this would be worth your checking out. I think I've had it three winters now. David Salman (High Country Gardens) gave it to me as a host gift when he stayed with me  few years ago. The flowers are well over 2" across btw...

Last year it started blooming in November. No sign of blooms yet. It opens fresh flowers all winter, with the big show in March and April. I think it is one of the most dazzling rock garden plants in my garden (and I may have over 1000 taxa nearby). Only source right now is Mesa Gardens...

Quote:

PLANTS!, such a cursed addiction!   

That's what the voles say, here.

Bob

I wish I'd been there to pick up a few Vernonias: I saw this in Kansas this year (at the Dyck arboretum) and fell in love with it. Came home and there were huge clumps at Kendrick Lake and Mike Kintgen's garden. Grrrrrrrrr. I hate not being the first to grow a plant in Colorado!

Just remind me, Mark, next May or June and I will load you up with delos, Mark!

Voles find mesembs to be irresistible treats. Squirrels too, but voles are faster out of the gate.
As I watched my collection of Delosperma dyeri clones being eaten to the ground (at night, of course), it occurred to me that maybe a vole-ridden garden wasn't the best place for them, so I moved the survivors next door, where they were spectacular last year.
It's too out in the open for voles to tread safely.

Bob

And even more cold hardy, Delosperma basuticum;

Very attractive plants, Mark and Rick! Now I wonder whether my plants at my summerhouse have started flowering in the cool weather.