I have had several ideas and photos for my next post. Instead of doing separate posts, I decided to combine all the photos together. It turns out that all of my topics create a little story. Here we go:
Once upon a time there was a very root bound Aloe plant (Aloe ciliaris).
Magically this one Aloe plant became three…
Tip: Don’t be afraid to break up plants that are root bound. In this scenario, I was able to identify three separate plants. I carefully pulled the plants apart and potted them up.
One of these Aloe plants made it into one of my custom succulent bowls that I made for a wedding present. My dear friends Nona and Grael recently got hitched in Tucson, AZ. Congratulations you two and super fun wedding! That means this succulent bowl traveled to the desert. A succulent homecoming of sorts.
Nice message.
It rained in Tucson while we were there, and the desert was in bloom.
The bloom on this Prickly Pear caught my attention in the parking lot of a gas station in between Tucson and Phoenix. Beauty is everywhere.
What’s this and how does it connect with the rest of the story? This is Xerochrysum bracteatum also know as Strawflower. Occasionally you will find a cactus in big box stores that have a Strawflower glued to the plant to make it look like it’s in bloom. Sometimes plastic flowers are glued to Cacti (that’s just wrong).
If you are going to grow a cut flower garden, you need this plant. I grew Strawflower easily from seed, and these blooms are still intact from two seasons ago.
Beautiful cut flower that’s easy to grow. For the seeds, just pull apart the dried flower and this is what you will find:
The end. Happy growing!
