I am new to this forum. I am also a Brooklynite, with my mouth agape over this stunning collection! Are you really in NYC? Where? At the NYBG? BBG? LOL Thanks for sharing!

Great plants!

Did the tip of the ambongense get damaged? how tall is it?

Pretty sweet collection - I am also working on some Muiria seedlings. The succulent you grew from seed is Aloe crytopoda, leaves has a rough feel to it and actually one of my favourite stemless aloes. Looks like some aloe rust on the leaves...they have a great "cup-like" shape which looks nice in a pot or centre of garden.

Adromischus is also great, one I am looking for. Really nice collection!

Most beautiful and a reason to smile at this moment!

Thank you

Mike

Martha - I grew up in Queens, lived in midtown during grad school and residency, then moved to LI in 2005. I kept my moniker.

Caudex1 - Yes, the tip was damaged last fall after a light frost - my fault, blame it on neglect. I snipped it before rot ensued. I was planning on pruning intentionally to encourage branching, so no harm done! Now there are about 5-7 growth points. I will prune them down to probably the 3 best after they grow out some more. The plant is about 2-ft tall.

Beachplants - yes, cryptopoda it is, I just forgot the name while making the post. That is not rust - that is weather related damage that affected growth last fall - water collected between the leaves and then froze and scarred the foliage. The aloe is growing out of it.

x

X,

Your collection looks like a nursery! If I ever get to NYC, I'll be sure to stop by your place for some "shopping"! ;) Thanks for the excellent pictures....I love the lithops, the E. polygona "snowflake" and the Rebutia heliosa. I have the first two, but have yet to collect that last little guy.

Nancy

Nancy - just give me a heads up, no problem!

Funny, I had a visitor 2 winters ago from Arizona, who wanted to see my collection. My wife freaked out that I had a stranger coming over to see succulents. It was bizarre, truth be told, but I wasn't worried. If he tried anything funny, I'd just chuck my golden barrel at him.

Mainly my garage was full at the time, but he was in shock with what I had going on there. With a little effort and know-how, I can grow a wide variety of plants here - tropicals, succulents, etc.

I am not really jealous of growers in California or Florida. Let's see them grow a Japanese maple, Cyrtostachys and Aloe pillansii side-by-side! I enjoy the challenge, and the rewards in nice growth - even if it is only for part of the year.

x

What a great tour, X! Thanks for taking the time!

That first one, Pelecyphora asseliformis, reminds me of an ancient ocean creature....
I love plants that seem to be both plant and animal!

Josh

Beautiful plants, very nice! Love your Encephalartos Horridus.
Branden

Wow.

I can't believe your E. horridus is flushing now! Is that a second flush?

How tall is your namaquanum?

BTW, does anything every gnaw on your plicatilis? Something has been tasting mine recently (the trunk)...along with all my jades and portulacarias (chewing off branches!). I am guessing squirrels...they have been at everything lately.

Great stuff, X.

T

X,
This is the third Time I looked at your plants. I have alot of common plants,jades,epi's, etc.I never knew plants like these were out there.not until garden web.now I feel I need to look into finding these great looking specimens . Thanks for sharing
Go Bucks
Go Browns
Sharon

They're all beautiful!
The Aloe polyphylla is tripping me out, it looks like there's a Photoshop filter on it but from the background it's clear that there isn't.

And the second picture.. I love the fuzzy tail-looking one that's hanging over the side! What is that thing?

The hanging sedum is lovely too. I am obsessed with those things ever since I saw a really long, glorious one hanging in someone's window.

I'm in awe and jealous as all get out. Very, very nice.

Thank you for sharing your photos! Don't know how you'd be able to describe them with out a photo. It was good to have something to be joyous about today. Your plants look carefully attended to and you can be proud of what you have achieved!

Your collection is AMAZING!

Thank you all for the nice comments!

Tom - the horridus is flushing now for the first time. I wanted to try and purposely skip a year of growth, so I did not fertilize and I watered minimally. So much for that. Now I have to hope for some good sunshine otherwise the leaves may not develop the wax properly. The namaquanum has a solid 30+ inches of clear stem. I got it from a cycad collector in SoCal, very fair price given it's age and size.

I've never noticed anything eating plicatilis. I wouldn't think they are too tasty.

squidy - the hanging hairy thing is actually a dead Cleistocactus stem that bent over. I just haven't removed it. It adds some "character". Well, not really, I'm just being lazy.

x

lol. How terrible, I was going to put that floppy tail-cactus on my wishlist.

What a nice collection,and glad to see you named them all.TFS
Kathi

X

Do you bury some of your pots then just dig them up? How do you treat the soil for pests? Do you cut the roots off that escape through the bottom of the pots?

I think you are so amazing at growing these plants. I will be working at the Cactus show this weekend and will look for some beauties that look like some of yours. I love them all though.

MIke

Mike

Yes some of the pots are submerged and the roots escape through holes along the sides. Pruning back the roots is easy. I let the cuts air dry a few days. Its much easier to unearth a pot that has roots out the sides vs roots coming out the bottom, so when I have the ability, I drill holes along the sides only.

The "soil" is not really soil. It is an inert substrate (perlite + turface) for the most part. As far as I can tell it is devoid of macro-fauna. No worms, ants, centipedes, isopods, etc. They have no food. There is no detritus other than some leaves and what not that collect on the surface. Microscopic life is probably minimal for the same reasons. I don't worry about soil-borne pests.

Lovely plants--I enjoyed seeing them. Thanks for posting!

X,

Yes, I too have looked at them several times. Thanks for sharing these wonderful plants.

The lithops are a trip.
And thanks for naming the Euphorbia decaryi. I have one of those and now I know what it is.

A truly magnificent array of succulents! I tip my metaphorical hat to you!

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

Do you put your E. Decaryi in the garage for the winter as well? Or does this come inside? Be interested in your thoughts.

You have an amazing collection! I only wish I had a quarter of that! Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful, collection.

O-M-G! this is amazing! Thank you for sharing...I will visit when I am in NYC again :D

Thank you X

You certainly have a gift and much to share:-)

Mike

Wow...what an AMAZING collection you have. I can't get over how many different ones you have. Thanks for sharing your beautiful collection!