Landscape Cacti and Succulents Nursery
Were you at the Spring Plant Sale? Did you see the variety of cactus, some from Mexico, many from the Andes, in 4" pots, and did you take some home? Are you now the owner of a big thrilling yucca or a nolina or a dasylirion? Did you snap up one of the new hybrid aloes or agaves, always a highlight of the sale? Are you wishing you had been there, or that you had gotten not one but two or three of something? Read on!
Every day that the Garden is open a choice selection of plants from our propagation area is available in the entry plaza. Our aloes and mini-gardens are on the steps leading to the shop, and our agaves are on the rack at the back of the plaza, set against kindred plants! Many of the plants are vegetative divisions from UC Botanical Garden accessions. And as we always want to remind you, our plants are raised sustainably in exterior exposure by dedicated volunteers.
The Landscape Cacti and Succulents propagation area is across the street from the garden entrance. On Thursdays from 10:30 to 1:30 we are open for sales. We offer the usual well-priced one and two-gallon specimens and super deals in five-gallon cans--one of the best reasons to come across the street on Thursdays! We'll help you load your car! On May 30th we will reopen for sales directly from the propagation area. We hang our sign out when we are open.
Nursery Availability Spring 2013
*Items listed are subject to prior sale
Agave angustifolia var. marginata
Agave attenuata
Agave bovicornuta
Agave bracteosa GA
Agave celsii 'Nova'
Agave colorata
Agave colorata 'Supreme'
Agave cupreata
Agave Ferdinandi-Regis
Agave filifera
Agave geminiflora
Agave gentryi (glaucous blue form)
Agave gentryi cv 'Jaws'
Agave guadalajarana
Agave guadalajarana
Agave guadalajarana 'Leon'
Agave isthmensis
Agave 'Little Shark'
Agave lophantha quadricolor (in June)
Agave Montana
Agave obscura
Agave ornithobroma x 'UCBG' (Garden hybrid) GA
Agave ovatifolia
Agave pacifica
Agave palmeri
Agave parrasana
Agave parryi var. truncata
Agave salmiana, var. ferox
Agave scabra
Agave schottii
Agave 'Sharkskin'
Agave shawii (CA native)
Agave striata
Agave thomasae
Agave toumeyana ssp. toumeyana
Agave vilmoriniana
Agave weberi
Agave xylonacantha
Aloe arborescens
Aloe buhrii
Aloe camperi
Aloe marlothii
Aloe nobilis (in June)
Aloe petricola
Aloe plicatillis
Aloe reitzii
Aloe striata
Dasylirion berlandieri
Dasylirion wheeleri
Dyckia 'Burgundy Ice'
Dyckia 'Nickel Silver'
Dyckia hybrids, other
Cleistocactus tupizensis
Echinopsis trichocereus grandiflorus hybrids
Echinopsis hystrichoides
Nolina sp. 'La Siberica' type GA
Oreocereus celcianus
Oreocereus trolli
Pachycereus pringlei
Pilosocereus chrysacanthus
Puya alpestris
Puya coerulea var. coerulea
GA=Garden Accession
Cacti and Succulents Care
You may wish to acclimatize your new plants by keeping them in their pots for a while and moving them around to test light and moisture conditions in your garden. When your new cacti or succulents are ready to be planted in the ground, be sure to give them adequate drainage by providing a mix of 50% pumice or 1/4" sharp rock and 50% native or potting soil (preferably with organic fiber and loamy sand as ingredients, but no peat). Good drainage can be achieved either by digging down ±18" into native soil and mixing in rock or building up from the ground line with mounds of new soil with mixed in rock. Planting on slopes also greatly improves drainage. With well draining soil, cacti and succulents are easy to care for and drought resistant! The best time to transplant cacti and succulents is early during the dry months when their roots are actively growing. Avoid any supplemental irrigation during the winter. Because we grow all of our stock outdoors, most of what we sell is very frost tolerant. However, a few species will show some damage after multiple days below freezing. If prolonged frost is forecast for your area drive tall garden stakes around sensitive plants and throw a sheet over them. Even with leaf die-back, your plants should recover with warmer weather. Cacti and succulents are tough!
Plants in Containers:
Your plants will also thrive in larger decorative pots, especially if you water them slightly more frequently during hot weather. Plants in pots will benefit from 1/4 strength balanced liquid organic fertilizer at watering time during their growing season (our California dry months) as well as fresh soil mix every two years. More inorganic material in the soil mix such as horticultural sand and pumice will extend the life of soil in pots, but might require some fertilizer during the growing season. Avoid fertilizing late in the growing season to allow plants to harden off before the cold arrives.
Keep your UCBG plant labels so that you can "Google" the scientific names to learn more about their native environments temperature, light and water requirements!
Mini-Gardens:
Mini-Gardens:
If you purchased one of our custom mini-gardens in ceramic pots, it will grow best on an outdoor garden table, porch, or deck when the winter rains stop. Water once a week in hot dry weather in the kitchen sink with a slow gentle spray or outside with a watering can with a rose attachment until water comes out the bottom. If the weather is foggy or mild, do not water as often because the dish should dry out between waterings. You can test for dryness by inserting a smooth thin wooden stick as deeply as possible. If it comes out completely clean and the plant hasn't received water in a week or two, you can water it. Mini-gardens will do fine indoors, especially in the winter when the plants are dormant. Water less frequently in winter indoors. Enjoy your mini-garden about 9-24" from a southern or western facing window. As the plants grow, have fun pruning and dividing them. After letting your cuttings air-dry about a week to allow the cuts to harden you can plant them in new pots and give them to your friends!
