CACTI AND SIMILAR SUCCULENTS
Generally, I prefer to grow a spicy variety of plants. But I am certainly in sympathy with the hobbyists who find enough stimulation in this one group to keep them collecting for a lifetime. Such a weird assortment of shapes, from barrels to humping inchworms. Such unusual patterns and colors of either leaves or stems that have taken on the shapes and functions of leaves. And such flowers! Some like daisies or water lilies, in incredible neon-bright colors, sometimes three times the size of the plant.
Among cacti and similar succulents are some of our smallest plants, plus plenty more that grow so slowly they’re miniature for many years. Here are selected samples, only a small portion of the number available from specialist-growers and other sources.
CARE. Most succulents need full sun, moderate warmth, a sandy soil mixture (not pure sand) kept on the dry side. They need more water and warmth in summer, less in winter when they are resting. If soil is very acid, neutralize with lime.
PROPAGATION. Stem cuttings, leaf cuttings, division of root or crown, seeds.
SPECIAL USES. Dish gardens, model landscapes (with other dry-growing plants), a few for indoor bonsai.
Aeonium caespitosum spathulatum Crassulaceae
Clump-forming succulent with rosettes of leaves like the hen-and-chicks, silvery green sparsely spotted with darker green.
Agave victoriae-reginae Amaryllidaceae
Miniature “century plant” with a stiff rosette of thick, sharp-pointed dull-green leaves with white piping along the edge and streaked with white between. Mature size, six inches.