Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Wednesday Vignette & Succulent Sale

Last weekend, a friend and I attended the South Bay Cactus & Succulent Society Show and Sale held at the South Coast Botanic Garden.  Afterwards, we walked the garden, ending up in the Japanese Garden.  We were initially pulled in by the Wisteria blooms hanging from the adjacent arbor but the real draw was a colorful visitor hanging out next to the Koi pond.

A month ago, the arbor sported nothing but bare branches

This colorful mallard was trying to take a peaceful nap next to the Koi pond despite the fact that people like my friend and I kept snapping his photograph.  His eye kept popping open and I could almost hear him thinking "are they gone yet?"

He didn't move anything other than his eye so he wasn't all that perturbed by our presence.  Two weeks ago, I'd heard a rumor that a pair of ducks was nesting near the pond but I hadn't sighted them then.  I didn't see his mate on this visit either, although I noticed a flutter in the bushes nearby and his vigilance suggests she 's probably close by.  It'll be wonderful if the Koi pond hosts ducklings in a few weeks.  In any case, the watchful duck is my Wednesday Vignette.  For more, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


I took photos of the succulent sale too but, as the lighting was poor, I'll share just a few of these.

There were fewer artistic displays than in prior years.  This one featured succulents paired with driftwood.  The arrangement in the left-hand corner was entitled "In the Forest of the Night."  The one in the middle was called "Phoenix Rising" and the one in the right corner was called "Gone with the Wind."

This table was my favorite display.  Among other things, it featured (bottom row, left to right): Aeonium 'Berry Nice', Mammillaria parkinsonii, and Mangave 'Spotty Dotty'.

Other specimens that caught my eye included these (clockwise from the upper left): Sansevieria 'Twisted Sister', Cleistocactus winterii crest, Copiapoa cinerea, Hydnophytum formicarum, Lithops lesliei, and Pachypodium brevicaule


I'd hoped to locate some Mangaves for sale but all I found were a few small specimens of Mangave 'Bloodspot' and I already have one of those.  Of course, I didn't walk away entirely empty-handed, although I was more restrained than usual with regard to my purchases.

My purchases included an earthstar (Cryptanthus, not shown in this photo), Boophone disticha, 2 Dudleya cymosa, and an Arctostaphylos 'Louis Edmunds'.  The latter wasn't part of the CSS sale but rather one of the plants for sale in the botanic garden's courtyard.


I haven't planted any of these except the Cryptanthus but I've designated spots for each and, as soon as the temperature drops a bit, I'll get them planted.  Monday's high temperature reached 95F here and Tuesday's was only nominally better.  Cooler temperatures are forecast for the balance of the week but it remains to be seen whether that'll be the case.  Have you noticed that weather forecasters seldom acknowledge the variations in their day-to-day predictions?


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

22 comments:

  1. Poor duck! Looking forward to seeing where you put your new Arctostaphylos!

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    1. After a cautioning by a friend who repeated notice I'd read elsewhere about the flammability of Arctostaphylos, I expect I'll put it down on the back slope, where it's reasonably far away from any wood structures. We do live in a high fire risk area.

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  2. A handsome, if a bit preterbed, mallard. I always enjoy seeing images of your cactus and succulent sales; they're so different from ours up this way.

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    1. This sale seemed less well stocked than those CSS has held previously but then perhaps my expectations going in are always over-sized.

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  3. Thank you for sharing this beautiful photo's. And I hope you've found a place in the garden for your new beauty's.
    Have a wonderful day.
    Rosehugs Marijke

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    1. Everything will find a place, Marijke, although some poor performing plants may get booted out in the process!

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  4. I like your selection of vignettes, with the purchases my favourite of course!

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  5. Lots of desirable and interesting succulents there: I’ve never seen anything like that lithops lesliei.

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    1. There was actually an entire table dedicated to Lithops if various species. One of the common names for plants in the genus is "living stones," which describes them pretty well I didn't used to care much for them but they've grown on me (pun intended). They flower too.

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  6. I always think mallards are beautiful, and they're so fun to watch. That Wisteria looks very healthy. Love the succulent selection at the sale, too!

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    1. The botanic garden has a host of beautiful Wisterias. They're thugs of a sort, though, so I'm pleased to enjoy them there. Actually, I've been trying to get rid of one in my own garden for as long as we've lived here and I still haven't entirely succeeded...

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  7. I could go on for days about our weather forecasts vs. reality...it’s especially bad in the winter when temps are predicted to drop for a couple of days but then warm up three days later. It’s usally more like seven to ten but they never talk about that.

    Nice haul!

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    1. The same frequently happens here with heat forecasts. I guess weather forecasters as a group may prefer to offer hope rather than bad news but it'd be more helpful if they were just honest.

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  8. That mallard certainly looks completely relaxed with your camera! I love that little Mammillaria parkinsonii! :)

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    1. My guess is that this isn't the mallard's first visit to the garden, Amy. I came across him again in the same area of the botanic garden earlier this week and he was equally chill. No sign of a mate, though.

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  9. Hello Kris, the first picture is a marvel! so beautiful.
    These birds look painted. I can not get enough of looking.
    Your pictures are beautiful.
    Beautiful sharing.
    Good weekend.
    janicce.

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    1. I loved the colors of the duck's feathers too, Janicce.

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  10. Finally your Boophone! Enjoy!

    Everything is flammable in a wildfire--'Louis' will never be large enough to be a particular danger. The firemen told me size is a big factor. Far more threat from nearby Eucalyptus and Washingtonia weeds throwing embers.

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    1. I put the Boophone in a large, deep pot yesterday, where I hope it'll be happy. Denise says it can be difficult. Thanks for the feedback on 'Louis Edmunds'!

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  11. Hi Kris, Very inviting arbor. I've never seen such artistic arrangements of cacti and succulents. Enjoy your new plants.

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    1. Thanks Sue. I've got almost everything planted.

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