Ah!! BREATHE. THE GOOD TIMES ARE HERE

 The weather has been a horrible tease this past few weeks. Those of us who live in the desert are anxious for those cool, clear desert mornings and warm afternoons to follow one of the hottest summers on record. We were blessed with a few cool mornings and high temperatures in the 80s and then right back into summer again. Thankfully those 100° days were short-lived and fall is here. I know because my Philippine violet, Barleria cristata, is blooming. The bloom is more to do with shortening days than temperature but the two do go hand in hand.

The Philippine violet is my miracle plant. It was a small seedling from my Austin garden which I potted up in a 4" pot and brought with me. I planted it in the ground 2 years ago tucking it in underneath a Texas Mountain laurel. I thought there it would be spared from the worst of the summer sun and I was right. I wish it had a little more room as it does tend to lean to the east. From one small stem it now has three sturdy branches. every leaf is perfect and a deep shade of green. It does have a drip line to itself so was well watered through the dry summer. 

 

The stapelias are blooming. This one is Stapelia grandifolia with its rather offensive smell of rotting flesh. Did something die out there in the desert? This is another one of my successful transplants from Austin and it has been having one of the best blooming seasons it has ever had with no fewer than 12 blooms over a period of only two weeks. Who can deny the beauty of the bloom and enjoy for at least a couple of days. The plant hails from South Africa and I was surprised to find it belongs to the milkweed family. Several Tucson gardeners have posted that they grow it outdoors allowing it to scramble along the ground. Away from the house would be a good place for it.

This one is Stapelia leendertziae, also from South Africa. The flower never truly opens but is open enough to emit the familiar odor which attracts flies. Although mine are in pots I think that next spring I will try to establish some cuttings outdoors although I feel they might attract something more than flies. 

Above is my third carrion flower which is  Huernia schneideriana. Also from South Africa and related to the stapelias. It prefers a similar location being able to scramble along the ground and sending out roots wherever it touches the ground. I have it hanging in pots where it does fairly well although eventually reaching a point where the stems can no longer carry the weight and they begin to shrivel. 

 

All these plants are propagated easily and can make a great houseplants...until they bloom. 

Some of the aloes are blooming. They are generally the smaller ones grown more for their leaves than flowers. 

The flowers are borne on long slender stems and are rather small. Nevertheless hummingbirds find and visit them.

For gardeners in the desert this is the time when nurseries are bursting with all manner of plants to tempt the gardener. To help them get established we will be praying for our second season of rain, winter rains.

THE NEW PAD

When it comes to the garden that is exactly what it is, a pad of concrete on which I will garden for the next few months. It is a new experience for me and I am 'digging in ' with the enthusiasm of a die-hard gardener. Years ago, as I steadily added more cactus and succulents to my collection, I realized that my future probably held more of this kind of gardening, be it on a patio or in the desert itself. My cactus should be happy because now I can give them my undivided attention. I'll try not to over-water! 

 

They had a respite over at a neighbor's house. Some were under a car port some were under a persimmon tree where they were rained on during a deluge and then had leaves and dirt blown over them by a gas blower! One was blown out of its pot and across the driveway where my neighbor found it. Of course I told her not to worry as I apologized for landing her with so many plants. She is now taking quite an interest in growing succulents as she has been privy to several of mine flowering.  This one today, Stapelia gigantea.

 I told her how it attracts flies to its rotten meat smell and as soon as I see a fly has visited and laid eggs, witnessed by the small white wiggling larvae, it's time for me to snip it off and put it in a bag and dispose of it.

I also have one blooming over here but it is rather different. Not so showy but certainly very stinky. David was standing on the grass about 12' away when he said he could smell a foul smell. Is it dog poo, I asked, because everyone here has dogs and sometimes two, and most of them get a short walk to the grass while their owner checks their cell phone. We see it all the time. Once in the morning and once after work! 

 This is my stinky bloom, Stapelia leendertziae, black bells. It comes from Tanzania and Northeastern South Africa. To us its smell is vile but to the blow fly it smells like rotting meat and although it may be disappointed at not finding a dead rat it is a good place to lay its eggs. A stem was given me by a friend who had visited the area and I waited patiently for many years for it to produce a bloom. I will admit that I was mildly disappointed in the bloom but if it was the smell I was interested in there would be no disappointment whatsoever. It is much stinkier than the gigantea. Having learnt that it grows low to the ground I decided to put the pot on the ground so the flower would be turned up. As I put it down a fly flew out and a huge waft of foul odor reached my nostrils. That was it. Off with its head and in the bin.

 The patio has a wider section off the dining room doors and then this narrower section, which I have yet to fill with plants. We sold all our teak patio furniture at a consignments store  keeping only this small green plastic table and chairs and a couple of small teak chairs. We may be sorry some day in the not too distant future when we try to replace them and find the tremendous back-log of container ships goes on well into the future.

 I also managed to find a couple of pieces of metal art which I was able to fasten to the railing. Glad I kept those little green grocery store ties. They came in handy.

In the corner by the little table there is a shaded spot perfect for the house plants. 

It makes me feel more at home to have my plants around me. More to be added this weekend. Meanwhile back to the boxes.

IT'S BEEN A MOST UNUSUAL SUMMER

I think it has been a most unusual year-weather-wise.  First we had unseasonably warm temperatures with no rain in February. That was enough to kill some plants in my garden, because I was gone for 5 weeks and the watering system was off. Then we had a spell of temperatures over 100º- 16 in all. The rest were in the 90s which feels cool! Then came the rain and lots of it. Somewhere in the region of 16" in less than a week. Are we done yet, I wonder?
But that rain has been a blessing for some plants and the death knell for others.

Cactus and succulents like dry conditions. Correct? But when the rain comes they burst into flower. First you might notice a slight protuberance on the stem. Sometimes smooth and sometimes fuzzy. It's a signal that within days a glorious flower will arrive.

Is there anything more beautiful? Each day a new cactus opened.

Echinopsis oxygona

Gymnocalcyium baldianum

The flowers on the stapelia, Stapelia gigantia are jostling for position. I kept my eyes open for maggots but this time it would seem no flies visited. A blessing.

Day lilies have burst into bloom again. I always worry about out of season blooming thinking that maybe there will be no spring bloom. Sometimes this happens in the fall with my Philadelphus but it has always bloomed again in the spring again. I certainly hope this will be the case with these day lilies which have been putting out blooms every day for over 3 weeks.

Ditch lilies are blooming on the ground because their foliage is now hidden by the ever increasing size of the Philippine violet. The flower stems just grew out along the ground until they found the light.

But among all the good surprises there have been some bad ones. A few cactus have rotted inside and the gopher plant, despite being planted in very free draining soil is rotting. I have noticed a lot of splits on the stems which may result from them taking up to much water. Rather like tomatoes which split after too much rain.

I have actually pulled a couple out because I can see they are a lost cause with many of their leaves brown and stems rotting. I am so sad because come spring this is one of my favorite plants lighting up the garden with its chartreuse blooms.
But our lakes are full and the landscapes are green again so the loss of a few plants is a small price to pay. Although I have heard recently that a lot of post oak tress are dying and they are blaming inconsistent weather patterns. I hope the same doesn't happen to the live oaks too or we are going to see vast changes in our landscapes.

WHAT A STINK

It's not a plant that everyone would want to grow even though it has such amazing flowers. The problem is that when the flowers opens they emit a smell like rotting flesh. And you know what is attracted to rotting flesh-flies. Who wants to attract flies to their garden?

Surprisingly, Stapelia gigantea, is a member of the milkweed family, Asclepidaceaea, and native to South Africa. Sometimes called the carrion flower because of that smell of rotting flesh, the flowers even have the texture of animal skin, including long hairs.

Don't rub your finger across the surface because something you don't like is sure to rub off on you.
The flower parts are found deep in the center of the plant requiring a very small pollinator. When I looked at the flowers a day later there was evidence that a pollinator had been by or at least something had laid its eggs in the center of the flower. They had hatched overnight and were wiggling around. I wasn't waiting around to find out what they would turn into. Promptly dispatched into a sealed plastic bag.

I was surprised to see flower buds just 3 days ago and had been watching each day for the momentous occasion. You can see the twist at the end of the flower bud. I'm guessing that tension must build up in the twist until the flower just bursts open.

It's not the only stinky flower in my garden. Huernia schneideriana, is hanging in a planter on the gate, but its flowers are tiny and you have to get up very close to detect any aroma.

Both these plants have similar stems. This one may look spiny but it isn't. The stems are upright when young but then drape with their own weight. In nature they would like to spread along the ground sending out roots along the length of their stems. They make the perfect draper until their branches get  heavy and just drop off. Unfortunately for them it is usually onto the concrete. Neither of these plants are hardy in Texas but they never bloom during the winter so there is no danger of that smell in the house.

WHAT'S THAT SMELL?

I left a note on my computer when I left the house this morning. It was to remind me of something I needed to do immediately on my return.

Monday, I was more than relieved when I came home from a weekend away to find the flower bud still closed on my Stapelia. Sometimes called Carrion flower, this is a spineless succulent, requiring very little in the way of water but protection from cold winters. I had already missed one bloom this summer. These plants would normally sprawl across the ground with the heavy flower supported by the ground so here it is supported by the table.

This morning one of the petals had freed itself. It wouldn't be long before the whole flower opened.

That was why I left the note. When I checked this afternoon it was completely open, with flies buzzing around, attracted by the rotting flesh smell. Despite its revolting smell I think it is a wonderful flower and I have Annie at Transplantable Rose to thank for giving me a couple of stems to root. I have to protect this plant in the winter but it is worth the short show.
ON SECOND THOUGHTS!
This morning I checked the flower to find the flies had laid eggs and they had already hatched. No way.

 I clipped off the flower and put it in a bag for the trash. I thought the flies pollinated. I didn't know they laid their eggs.

WEDNESDAY'S FLOWER SURPRISE

When Annie, The Transplantable rose, passed along a cutting of the Stapelia at one of our Garden Bloggers' meetings, two years ago, I had no idea it was going to wow me with such an interesting flower.

Over the last few weeks the flower bud had increased in size daily until yesterday it popped open. I think it is beautiful.

I got down on my knees to sniff the flower. No smell of rotting garbage yet!