Bonchus for Sonchus! 
THE TREE DANDELIONS

  

 It's that time of year in my garden when the over-sized cousin of the dandelion from the Canary Islands are in full bloom in all their splendor - Sonchus, pronounced son (not as in sun)-kus). 

Once a friend of mine commented on the amount and number of species I had of this rare species and remarked that I'd gone "bonchus for Sonchus!" and I vowed to remember this witty remark in case I ever wrote a blog.

These plants unfortunately are rare, and I have only seen one species (S.palmeri) only once for sale at the rare plant fair at Clarendon a couple years back. I have been growing this species for a few years and many of my plants are well established now.

Of all the varieties from the Canary Islands grown with winter rainfall and summer dormancy, some occur in mountain forests with reasonable shade and others are cliff dwelling coastal species. They are perennials that get woody with age and germinate easily from seed in winter. I grow three species that stand out for their ornamental value and these I will deal with in detail:

SONCHUS ACAULIS

I often substitute this species for ferns in dry climate gardens in semi-shaded positions. They have very ornamental serrated though soft leaves that form a rosette to 1 metre across by half that height. In spring, a tall inflorescence shoots up from the middle of the plant bearing very large dandelion-like flowers that bees love.

Great as a dramatic stand alone understorey plant or mass planted for affect. 

SONCHUS CANARIENSIS

This variety is the largest of the species and is known as the Giant Sow-Thistle and is truly of tree-ish proportions. In my garden they grow quite tall and straight like miniature palm trees. The leaves have a blueish green sheen with silverish undersides. In more maritime climes they grow much larger to 2m x 2m and with a more branching and sprawling habit. In times of summer drought my plants lose all their leaves and become dormant like thin candlesticks, much like some species of Senecio would. As cooler and wetter autumn weather hits, they sprout fresh new leaves and grow vigorously over winter. They flower with a complex head of small flowers.

 SONCHUS HIERRENSIS

This variety has very ornamental dark green serrated leaves and large decorative yellow blooms. The leaves and the flowers have a bloom of  down that is soft and does not irritate. I have grown it only in semi-shade in dry soil under trees but it may be more compact in full sun. 

Enjoy!

Echeverias for Everyone

 ECHEVERIAS FOR EVERYONE

Echeverias are colourful and decorative succulents for pots and garden beds from Mexico. 

They come in a range of sizes from small multi-headed varieties to taller and larger plants. A lot of excellent varieties are available on EBay and shipped bare rooted. Some are quite rare and are harder to grow than old-fashioned garden bed varieties.  There are too many varieties to treat individually so I will treat the genus generally for horticultural care: 

 1. Echeverias like to be elevated because in the wilds of Mexico many grow in mountainous terrain among rocks with plenty of air circulation. Raised pots and troughs tend to produce healthier and more colourful plants. This lowers the humidity in the micro-climate and keeps the leaves healthy.

 2. A pocketful of soil is often key to preventing your plants from rot and over watering. In the wild Echeverias grow in tiny pockets of soil on sometime sheer rocks where rainfall runs away quickly  .

    In winter it is ideal to keep plants dry in the cool by moving them undercover if possible.

    In summer Echeverias take water once or twice a week but need to dry out again quickly.

    Keep the pot size small and re-pot only when the root space is crowded , some larger heavier varieties will topple over unless they are in  a heavy pot.     

3. Loads of sunlight leads to compact, colourful and healthy plants. Echeveria leaves rarely burn in the sunlight if they are well watered in summer. Varieties that have larger leaves sometimes need morning sunlight but afternoon shade. 

4. Fertilise in the warmer months regularly. I recommend Osmosote slow release fertiliser once a year, and kelp extract fortnightly. 

5. Watch out for aphids on the flowers, soapy water will work but Confidor will work better every 10 days.

6.  Harvest any pups, remove them and pot them into a vermiculite mix in the semi-shade to grow roots and expand your collection...
 

  

 Enjoy!

Ornamental Agaves

ORNAMENTAL AGAVES

(SMALL TO MEDIUM)

I thought I would share some photos of Agaves that were grown at a commercial succulent nursery and some from my garden to show how they mature when planted in the ground.

I like Agaves that don't take up half the garden and  can be mixed with drought-tolerant flowering perennials like Salvias and Carpet Roses, and for larger pots.

Here are a few of my favorites:

AGAVE 'BLUE GLOW'

 These beauties are rare as Hen's Teeth today but specimens can still bought for a fair price on EBay. They offset very slowly and sometimes not at all. They are a hybrid with amazing colour  and glowing red edges on the leaves which have spines on the end that are VERY sharp. The photo on the left is from my garden and is roughly 15 years old. I think it may be thinking about flowering which would mean the death of the plant. The one on the right was a mature specimen for sale, I could only guess what it would fetch!

AGAVE ISTHMENSIS

Very similar to Agave potatorum but will offset over time. It has very nice leaf markings and beautiful silver leaves. They are small, less than 300mm across, ideal for pots or rockeries. The one on the left has been growing slowly in my garden in semi-shade next to a large Buxus that takes all available moisture so they can take very dry positions.

AGAVE PARRASANA (LEFT)

AGAVE 'KICHIJOKAN' (RIGHT)

Agave parrasana is an amazing small-medium-sized Agave that has grey green leaves with pronounced spines along the leaf edge and a long sharp terminal spine. I have one growing a conifer for a couple of years and it's growth is slow. Perhaps it is too dry in that location.

Agave 'Kichijokan' is my favorite small agave that ticks all the boxes, easy to grow in pots or the garden, colourful red spines, nice leaf shapes, slow growing and tolerates sun and shade.

It happily produces enough offsets to share with your friends or make some pocket money at plant stalls or on EBay. The picture on the right is from my garden happily growing in impossibly dry soil in the shade of a large Yucca for 10 years.

 AGAVE VICTORIAE-REGINAE (LEFT)

AGAVE FERDINANDI-REGIS (RIGHT)

Agave victoriae-regis has a reputation for being the most beautiful agave and so they probably are. They are however prone to rot if they get too much water in winter so plant them in a dry sunny spot on sloping soil if they are in the garden. Ideal for pots because they grow very very slowly and pots can be moved under cover. Some types offset very slowly.

Agave ferdinandi-regis is a larger less ornamental variety but hardier. It is also very slow growing and ideal for pots. The plant has a very sharp terminal spine that my poor son can testify to because he once sat on one! The photo on the right is for comparison of these two similar varieties.

Enjoy!!

Agave ovatifolia or Whale Tongue Agave

I thought I would risk it to plant out a youngling of the rare Agave ovatifolia as I already have one but want more. Last spring I sowed a batch of seed purchased from rarepalmseeds.com along with other agaves and one species of Aloe and they were the only ones to germinate. In fact the rate was probably 90%!
They grow quite quickly I read so we will see. My more mature plant is approx 7 years old. If it even survives I may plant more...

Here goes...

Well here goes...

As The Plant Man I will attempt to write regularly on my favourite passion...All Things Green! In the garden that is,

It's winter here in the Blue Mountains and the weather is rather cold.  That hasn't stopped me planting out a new cleared area of the garden with various rare Aloes and Agaves namely

• Agave montana
• Agave stricta
• Agave nickelsaiae
• Agave 'Sharkskin'
• Agave 'Kichijokan'
• Aloe ferox
• Aloe marlothii
• Aloe excelesa

I hadn't planned on a deluge of rain not long afterwards and the coldest temperatures in 5 years however, so I will be interested to see how they establish or simply rot away.

Meanwhile construction is underway for a conservatory, and I will post on that as things move along...