Hechtia KM 85

I got this hechtia about 8 years ago labeled Hechtia KM 85 at a rare plant auction at a Bromeliad show. It was taken a long time to get this large and produce a pup last summer but I didn't look at it that close until this winter. The pup that came up has few spines, that would be great if it made no spines, It's very white in color that I love.

Fosterella elata

The flowers opened and are small like most fosterella's.

Very tall flower spike 4 feet high. The largest flower spike of any fosterella.

Plant is in a 6 inch pot.

Hechtia 'Carter'

Hechtia 'Carter' (macdougallii x guatemalensis)

This is a plant I saw flowering at Tropiflora. I have a few of these but have not seen it flower, can't wait for that to happen.

Bigenerics

xDyckcohnia 'Conrad Morton'
Encholirium horridum x Hechtia macdougallii
Deuterocohnia longipetala 'Silver' x Pitcairnia burle-marxii

I was over at Tropiflora today and to see what they had that I do not. The only plants they had for sale I have already but I did see a few plant I would like to get that was not for sale here are a few photos of the the bigenerics that I would love to get. Maybe some day they will be for sale, I can only hope.

A word about Fosterella's

Fosterella villosula

Green on top

Fosterella villosula

and redish on the under side

Fosterella weddelliana
Flower'a on this is like most, small and a pale white, shape of the plant is what I like best.

Fosterella elata

The plant above Fosterella elata is coming in to flower for the frist time for me. It has a very tall flower stem, so far it's about 4 feet tall. I will update this with photos when the flowers open.

Fosterella spectabilis

Fosterella spectabilis is also flowering for now.

I don't think I like Fosterella's but I have a few.

Small Orthophytum's

Orthophytum vagans

Orthophytum 'Brittle Star'
Orthophytum conquistense

I don't know why but their is some thing I like about the small Orthophytum's. Some are clumping and some send out stolons. I have no idea how many small Orthophytum there are I only have about 7 or so.

Deuterocohnia

Deuterocohnia longipetala silver form

Deuterocohnia meziana

Deuterocohnia  brevispicata 

Deuterocohnia  brevispicata 

Their is about 20 different Deuterocohnia's they are:

 

Deuterocohnia brevifolia

Deuterocohnia brevispicata

Deuterocohnia chrysantha

Deuterocohnia digitata

Deuterocohnia glandulosa

Deuterocohnia haumanii

Deuterocohnia longipetala

Deuterocohnia lorentziana

Deuterocohnia lotteae

Deuterocohnia meziana var.

Deuterocohnia meziana carmineoviridiflora

Deuterocohnia recurvipetala

Deuterocohnia scapigera

Deuterocohnia strobilifera var. inermis

Deuterocohnia strobilifera

Deuterocohnia schreiteri

Deuterocohnia pedicellata

Deuterocohnia seramisiana

Deuterocohnia scapigera ssp. sanctae-crucis

Deuterocohnia gableana

Deuterocohnia flowers can be bright yellow or yellow to orange and red.

Some have the flowers on stems that can be 3 or 4 feet in height and some do not. The flowers come from the center of the plant kind of like Cryptanthus (if it does have flowers on stems the stems are small and I can't tell). The plants with flower on stems can flower the next year on the same stem. Unlike alot of bromeliad's, Deuterocohnia do not die after flowering.

 

Orthophytum maracasense variegated

I have the variegated (bottem 2 photo's) and the non-variegated (top photo) form of this plant, but I started to grow the variegated form in a large 10 inch pot just to see if it will get as large as some will do if in a big pot. As you can see from the photo it will. The largest pot I use to grow them was a 6 inch pot but most of the time it was 4 or 5 inch pot.

I think most people grow there plants in to small of a pot which will slow down how large the plants will get. They should try to grow them in larger pot with more drainage material, I use one part peat and 3 parts peal-lite and sometimes I will add some volcanic rock if it is a big pot.

The non-variegated form is in a 6 inch pot, I might try to grow it in a larger pot next summer.

New Specie of puya

 

This is a new Specie of puya.

This is the story I got:

The seed came from a herbarium sheets that was being look at for identification of a new specie.

Seeing some seed on the herbarium sheets, the person though he would try and see if they would grow, guess what, it did and this is one of thoese plants.

I do not know how old it was or how many seed was on the herbarium sheets. I did see only about 6 or 8 plant from that seed.

The tag reads: Puya species cayata Ecuador HL 1-08

Orthophytum 'Stardust'

Orthophytum lemei X gurkenii

This Orthophytum when in flower get so big and heavy in falls over well before the pups start to show up.

I get alot of my plants from Tropiflora and this is what they say in one of the Cargo Report's sbout this plant

"Orthophytum ‘Stardust’ A very handsome cross of gurkenii x lemei by Michael Kiehl. Wide brownish leaves are heavily scurf-covered, giving the plant a silvery or slightly pinkish color. The inflorescence is a tall scape with short, burr-like branches made up of short, stiff, reddish colored bracts and white flowers."

This plant did not come from Tropiflora and I don't remember were I got it. My tag reads: Orthophytum lemei x gurkenii. When you see a cross like this one where gurkenii x lemei, gurkenii would be the seed plant but this lemei x gurkenii were lemei would be the seed plant.

This plant is in a 8 inch pot.

Dyckia marnier-lapostollei plus

These 3 plants are some of the most beautiful dyckia's. Some what wide leaves for a dyckia with silver frosty look with a bit of purple.

The top plant is Dyckia 'Avalanche' Dyckia marnier-lapostollei var. estevesii x fosteriana x platyphylla.

Middle plant is Dyckia marnier-lapostollei.

And the bottom plant is Dyckia marnier-lapostollei var. estevesii

Dyckia 'Cherry Coke'

Dyckia 'Cherry Coke' this plant everyone should have. It is not rare or that hard to come by. It is just is a great plant, color all the time, easy to care for makes offsets all the time. The plant in the photo mostly only get water when it rains in my yard and look how good it looks. It's in a 10 inch pot.

Front yard

The top photo is of my front yard. Photo was taken in July 2006. The tall cactus is gone and so it the Yucca rostrata. A Yucca weevil did a way on my Yucca rostrata and I did a way with the cactus.


The photo's below are from today.

Dyckia Chocolate

I think this is a Dyckia platyphylla hyb. can't find anything about who made it.

A nice plant some what hard to grow well. Doesn't like cold and doesn't like to stay wet.

 

Deuterocohnia lotteae

Only have this one for about a year and it has not flowered. Can't wait for it to flower as the flowers should be red. A small green plant only about 2 inches.

Deuterocohnia brevispicata x Dyckia reitzii var. rubra

This is a xDyckcohnia a bigeneric hybrid.

Deuterocohnia brevispicata

x

Dyckia reitzii var. rubra

Deuterocohnia brevispicata is a large plants with large spines all green and will flower from the same flower stem for more then one year

Dyckia reitzii var. rubra I do not have so I can't tell you anything about it, I have been looking for it seems no one has it any more.

I guess this plant get it color from Dyckia reitzii var. rubra.

Have had this plant for about 6 years has not flowered and made any off sets.

Deuterocohnia brevispicata a big and bad bromeliad. I need to re-pot this but I am frightened just thinking of it.

Encholirium horridum x Hechtia macdougallii

This is not my plant (wish it was). this plant has it all, great color, no spines plus get large. Is this some thing?


Encholirium horridum

x

Hechtia macdougallii

Who would have thought this cross would made a spineless plant?

Encholirium horridum

I love the shape of this plant a nice ball. I have seen this plant growing in the ground and it's doesn't look this nice with its leavers on the ground. A hard to come by plant because it doesn't make pups of offsets you have to grow it from seed. Easy to grow and some what fast. With the leaves covering the pot you have to make sure it get water.