Dr. Z Yoga

Coppola dealbata is a tough beast with a great taproot. Staged in the perfect vessel. Plant and vessel by Kurt Oviedo ❤️‍🔥

Conophytum burgeri. I bought one last year. In springtime I definitely needed another. When the opportunity came to get a lot of tiny seedlings I didn’t hesitate. I’m a big fan of Steven Hammer and of course solomon_square I think one of these came from Steve and the other from Solomon. Yesterday I thought I killed them, but they just needed a drink. Overnight they went from looking really dead to looking extremely happy. At Intercity Mr. Hammer spoke on the topic of mesembs, as he is prone to do. The big takeaway from the session was that mesembs are readable. When they need water they get deflated, smaller and wrinkled. When they are well hydrated they look like this and feel like a firm grape. Someone thought that they look like an onion, which is true after last year’s leaf drys out and gets stretched out by the emerging new leaf. So the colloquial name for this is Burger’s onion. There are a lot of cool dumplings out there, but this may be the best!

I love xerophytic plants, but I have a collection of edible figs that’s about 30 years old. They get micro doses of drip water every day and are doing well. Every year I see these little fairy mushrooms. They come on their schedule. It’s such a great reminder that we are the visitors on this green planet. 🌎

Plant therapy arrived today from Dr. Bill PlantaSeca

I have a huge love for

They are very amazing when they flower. I think this one might need a year to get strength for that. I have others to tide me over.

Fortunately a new vessel arrived today from Juan Villanueva I’m loving the Oreo glaze he does. Thanks Juan!❤️🔥🔥🔥

The combined wisdom of the internet says that this creature has a compound palmate leaf with 3-6 leaflets, usually 5. This specimen has large single leafs growing on the younger stems from the caudex. The leafs from the plant apex are palmate with 5 leaflets.

The leafs are really beautiful in the morning with low angle light.

3 leaflets

5 leaflets

Even though it’s been really hot my plants get a nice dose of dew every night.

Pseudobombax ellipticum



Happy plants.

Note to self. Dendrosicyos socotranus does not like blazing hot conditions when in a container. Both of these trees were indoors with a western window exposure. The smaller tree has better roots. A couple of weeks ago they both started to go dormant from heat stress. I relocate them to my plant ICU. It it northern facing with some morning and afternoon sun in measured quantities. Both are leafing nicely now.

I enjoy a handful of games including this jigsaw puzzle app https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jigsaw-puzzles-for-adults-hd/id642831690 It is particularly fun because you can import your photos and set how many pieces are in each puzzle. 🧩

Yesterday I took a drive down to Long Beach for the sale event at mezcalanursery If you’ve never been there it is worth a drive. They have a huge inventory of everything. The sale event brought in many area growers of desert plants. I scored this beast from Desert Creations I inadvertently left a couple of very nice plants at the Intercity show. Thankfully the organizers tracked me down an Artie is helping to bring them to the LA Cactus and Succulents meeting next week. The level of community spirit at Intercity makes it a truly incredible event even after the show closes.

Bursera paradoxa in nature grows into broom style trees. This is a fast grower. It more than doubled in height this season. Then I pinched the apex to encourage branching. The sap is very aromatic. Cool tree to have in the collection and not super common in sales. This came from Edgar Vargas via Oscar at Green Touch Nursery