Culver City Succulent and Bromeliad Show 2019

Before I share some show pics, I'd like to mention that I finally met my favorite Ficus friend Kyle!!!  We've been online plant friends for nearly 20 years and a couple weeks ago we met at the LA Arboretum.  Scadoxus joined us and the three of us had a great time.  It was surreal meeting Kyle in person after having known him online for so many years.  One big difference is that he's so much funnier in person.  His humor is... subtle?  Not exactly sure how to describe it, but I love it.   

I'm so happy that Kyle is no longer on my list of plant friends that I'd love to actually meet in person.  Two people who are still on this list are Carlos in Brazil (flickr) and Erik in Australia (flickr).  Both of them joined the tropical plant lovers Facebook group that Kyle recently created!  Yay!!!  Now I'm two people closer to realizing my dream of all my plant friends being friends with each other.  I have this very bright idea that, the better connected my plant friends are to each other, the more awesome the outcome.  We can create a huge and incredibly dense network that will quickly capture all the best plants and plant ideas. 

With this in mind, my favorite thing about the show was that several of my plant friends got to meet each other for the first time!  For example, Monica and Sarah met, Dave and Ulysses met,  Rich and Steve met and so on.  Each meeting really deserves its own blog entry!

I enjoyed the show itself and took several pics of the show plants.  Unfortunately, I'm not happy with how many of the pics turned out (insert typical excuses here... ie poor lighting), but I figure that even a poor pic of a great plant is better than nothing.  Some of my motivation in sharing the pics is that I've got a plant friend, not going to mention any names, *cough* Allison *cough*, who doesn't think that bromeliads are so wonderful.  Yikes!  Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make it to the show, so figured it might be worthwhile to bring the show to her, and to you too! 

Cyrtanthus elatus x montanus

This wasn't in the show, it was in the sales area for $20.  Since Scadoxus loves bulbs, but wasn't at the show yet, I texted her a pic and asked if she wanted it.  She replied asking if it had a pretty flower.  Heh.  Steve ended up buying it and then later on when I searched my gmail for "Cyrtanthus" I learned that, not too long ago, Shawn had given me a small bulb of this species and I had given it to Scadoxus.  Sheesh.  There's actually a Cyrtanthus epiphyticus!  Yes, I already tried it epiphytically and sadly it didn't survive.  It was a long time ago though, so maybe it was before I started using the quality New Zealand Sphagnum moss for certain plants.  I haven't tried many bulbs epiphytically but so far the biggest winner by far is the pregnant onion (Albuca bracteata). 

Hydnophytum formicarum

This is a really cool epiphyte that has a big caudex that, in nature, provides a home for ants.  In this case we get a peak inside the caudex.  Exhibited by Laurel Woodley who I was lucky enough to chat with.  In 2013 I took a pic of the same plant at the same show.  She brings it inside during the winter.  I've been growing a related species, Myrmecodia beccarii, outside year around since 2012.  It is still small though because I have it on a small mount without much moss and it probably doesn't get as much water as it would like during the summer.  Maybe I should auction it off at the upcoming VGT plant share? 

Dave has been growing Myrmecodia platytyrea entirely outside (with protection from the rain) for a few years in Eagle Rock...

Maybe it's the biggest epiphytic ant plant in the Rubiaceae family that is growing outside year around in California?  Do you know of a bigger one?  If you're interested in learning more about this species I highly recommend checking out the ant-plant forum. 

Back to the show...

Sedum torulosum

Also exhibited by Laurel Woodley.  For a while I've really appreciated the "treelike" Sedums and Crassulas.  For example, check out Sedum dendroideum ‘Colossus’.  Do you see the picture of Myron Kimnach standing next to it??  Woah!!  Mine is around 3', I should really bring some cuttings to the plant share. 

Sinningia polyantha

Similar to the Sinningia piresiana growing on my tree, but much taller.  Yes, I sincerely do wish that I had learned about Gesneriads a whole lot earlier!

Aeonium Bing Thing

Aeonium Bing Thing = (tabuliforme ×  arboreum Zwartkop) × sedifolium.  This is a crazy cool cross made by John Trager.  A. sedifolium is super tiny!  I'm very glad that Nels Christianson decided to enter this plant into the show!  Remind me to ask him if he'd be willing to trade a cutting of it for something.  I'd also be happy to have some seeds of it, because I'd be very curious to see how much variation there would be among the seedlings. 

Peperomia Amigo Marcello

Woah!  Is this the right name??  I've been calling this Peperomia Elmer Lorenz for years, because that's who gave it to me, but he didn't know the name.  This Peperomia does great epiphytically. 

Euphorbia sp

Unreal!!  Wish that the pic was clearer!  Anybody know which species it is? 

Rebutia flavistyla

Exhibited by Christine Kaunitz.  I'd love to see this species growing and blooming on a tree! 

Pelargonium punctatum

This one stunned Fernando.  Heh.  Stunned me too!  This would look amazing on a tree!  He is actually growing Pelargonium tetragonum epiphytically.

Vriesea Strawberry

Dang, I'm so disappointed that my picture failed to capture the luminescent glow of this bromeliad!  :( 

Vriesea Strawberry

Closer pic. 

Billbergia Casa Blanca

Fun foliage!

Billbergia Mystic Torch

Billbergia Mystic Torch = (Pink Champagne x Arriba) x Domingos Martins.  More funner foliage? 

Epiphytically Enhanced Branch

Tillandsia albertiana, Maxillaria tenuifolia (?), Crassula (which one?), Ledebouria socialis, Hoya serpens, Rhipsalis... wow!!  Exhibited by James W Schumacher.  I'd sure like to make friends with this guy!!

Tillandsia duratii

This is the bigger variety.  The sequentially opening flowers are relatively large and very fragrant.  I think they smell kinda like grape kool-aid.  Everybody should grow this species.  Exhibited by ESSC member Rich Fleg! 

Tillandsia novakii

So so so so impressive!!!!   Several years ago I first saw this species at the Conservatory of Flowers and instantly loved it.  Fortunately, this one was exhibited by ESSC member Sarah de Heras, so hopefully there will be seeds available to spread around! 

Tillandsia novakii

I volunteered Ulysses to provide some scale.   Thanks bro, sorry about the bad pic!  :( 

Tillandsia sp

Also exhibited by Sarah de Heras.  Love it!  Hopefully she will place it next to the Tillandsia novakii so that the hummingbirds can cross-pollinate them. 

Tillandsia prodigiosa

Also exhibited by Sarah de Heras!  Not the best pic, and the spike isn't fully developed, but everybody should know about this Tillandsia.  Check out the Google Image search results for this species.  One sad thing about this species is that it is monocarpic!  Ugh.  Hopefully it will produce lots of seeds though. 

Scadoxus' haul box, it was the prettiest one that I ever did see!  I'll share the list later on. 

If you live in the Los Angeles area and love plants then be sure to join Village Green Thumbs!  And if you live outside of the LA area and love tropical plants, then be sure to join Tropical Plant Lovers!

Live Arts

Scadoxus and I visited Live Art Plantscapes this past Monday and saw some really neat plants.  We learned that the nursery is giving away 150 queen palms because they don't have the space for them in their new location.  The palms are in 30" boxes and are 20 feet tall.  If you want any you would have to pick them up in Northridge by December 31.

Palms make great hosts for orchids, bromeliads and other epiphytes.

Haul from Live Art Plantscapes...

Clockwise from top right...

Neoregelia Zoe
Neoregelia More Pepper Please
Neoregelia ampullacea
Neoregelia Medusa

Also saw this nice NOID Euphorbia...

It would potentially make a great phorobana.

Update: It's Euphorbia punicea... Jamaican Poinsettia

Ideas For Plant Societies

Bundles aren't inherently bad.  This entry, like most of mine, will bundle a few different ideas and topics together... but they will all be more, or less, relevant to the topic of plant societies.

My friend Monica is a member of the Epiphyte Society of Southern California (ESSC).  A few weeks ago she invited Dave and I over to see her place.   Dave is another ESSC member.  Last year she saw his collection but he still hasn't seen hers.  Unfortunately, he couldn't make it this time... so I asked another ESSC member, Scadoxus, to join me instead.  We'd both already seen Monica's nice collection but it's been at least a year so Scadoxus and I figured that it would be worth it to see it again.

The day before we visited Monica, Scadoxus and I had driven down to Cerritos to attend our very first meeting of the LA/OC plant trading group on Facebook.  In my previous entry I listed a few different seeds and cuttings that I was offering to anybody in that group who was interested in them.  The meeting started at 10 am and it was held in a public park.  It seemed like over 50 people showed up with a wide variety of plants to share and trade.  Some people also brought food and drinks.  Plus there was a plant raffle.

After the meeting ended at 11 am, Scadoxus and I drove a few miles away to attend a begonia sale that was being held at a private residence in Lakewood.  Scadoxus wasn't sure if it would be worth it to attend because it had started at 9 am and she figured that all the nice plants would be gone.  She was wrong though, we found a really nice thick-stemmed begonia (Begonia dichotoma?) for only $5 dollars.  Plus, she ended up getting a good deal on a burgundy plumeria.

The owner of the residence was a really nice lady by the name of Chris.  She gave Scadoxus and I a tour of her collection.  I'm grateful that she did!  Her collection was nicely balanced.  In her shade house she had a specimen Nepenthes that she generously shared cuttings of.  Plus I saw some especially nice Begonias...

Begonia 'Spotted Medora'

I really liked the form of this Begonia.  It was wonderfully shaped like a little tree, so of course I'd want to attach a few miniature epiphytes to it (ie Tillandsia tricholepsis).  I learned that this form is referred to as "standard".

Begonia 'Gryphon'

I really liked this thick-stem begonia, it reminds me of Begonia 'Kudos' (not its real name).

Begonia 'Joy Blair'?

So nice!  It looks like a relatively drought tolerant Begonia.  The label says "Joy's Garden, Joy Blair" but a Google search didn't reveal any relevant results.  I'd really love some seeds of this when it blooms.  Chris did let me collect some seeds from her nice cane Begonias.

After Scadoxus and I finished at the sale, we drove a few blocks away to visit ESSC member Steve.  I'd been to his place a few times before but Scadoxus had never been.  One of Steve's very favorite things is variegated plants... he has many many many different ones.

Steve's Front Yard

Lawn!?  He says that each year the border moves a foot.  From my perspective the rate is too slow.  There should already be a variegated Aloe Hercules right in the center.

Adenia perrieri

Steve had recently acquired this really cool plant with variegated snowflake leaves.

Even though Steve and Chris both love plants and live only a few blocks away from each other for many years... they didn't even know of each other's existence.  Let's say that they had become friends as soon as the second one had moved into the neighborhood.  How different would their collections now be?  I think it's a given that their collections would be better... otherwise there'd be no point in making plant friends!

My first job was working in a privately owned orchid greenhouse.  It was the summer after my freshman year in high school and my task was to divide and repot Cattleyas.  The owner of the greenhouse didn't have any mounted orchids, neither did he have any orchids outside the greenhouse.  I asked him if any of the orchids in the greenhouse could grow outside but he didn't know.  He did however very generously give me a couple big garbage bags full of backbulbs.  I remember excitedly attaching them to the trees in my backyard.  Alas, they all died... except for one Oncidium which managed to put some roots on the tree... which were promptly eaten by slugs.  Still, the fact that I had managed to achieve even a little success fueled my interest in growing orchids on trees.

It was several years later, probably when I was in my senior year of high school that, after lots of trial and error, and after many orchid causalities, I learned the reason why the all the other orchids in my first batch had died.  It had nothing to do with them being unsuitable for growing on trees... it was simply because I didn't attach them tight enough.  And in the case of the Oncidium, I had attached it too low on the tree.

Some time after college I joined the Orchid Society of Southern California (OSSC) and I took the opportunity to look through their collection of old AOS magazines.  I found a really excellent article by Susan M. Stephenson... Orchids Outdoors in Southern California.  It turned out that, at the same exact time that I was an ignorant but enthusiastic kid struggling to grow orchids on my trees... just on the other side of town there was a fellow by the name of Bill Paylen who had lots of orchids happily growing on his trees.  We didn't even know of each other's existence.  If we had, I'm sure that my collection would be a lot better than it currently is.

After finding Stephenson's article I digitized it and sent it to the AOS so that they could put it on their website.  It's been a decade since they did so... how much difference has the article made?  How much difference will this blog entry make in a decade?

The day after attending the Cerritos plant trade, the begonia sale, and visiting Steve's garden, Scadoxus and I visited Monica on the westside.  She has several trees covered in bromeliads, orchids, ferns and all sorts of other plants.  Somehow I didn't take any pictures.  I should have taken pictures.

When Monica visited my place a couple weeks earlier she told me that on her way to work she passed a house with a tree that had big bromeliads in it.  I asked her if she had ever talked with the owners but she said that she was always running late.  When Scadoxus and I were about to leave Monica's place, I asked her how far away the house with the bromeliad tree was.  She said that it wasn't far and told us the street that it was on, but she couldn't remember the closest cross street.

Scadoxus and I decided that it wouldn't hurt to check it out.  We found the right street and and shortly afterwards we spotted the right tree...