Massonia depressa. Wasn’t sure how the flowering would go after it got snowed on, but it seems to be fine. I need to move to a pot more accomodating of its leaves, though. Fun fact: in its natural habitat, this plant is pollinated by gerbils.
Here’s what the gerbils look like:
The plants grow flat on the ground and produce copious amounts of jelly-like nectar for the gerbils to eat. They are so cute!
November roses, both mine and some from my parents’ house. Clockwise from top left: ‘Arizona’, ‘Duchesse de Brabant’, ‘Julio Iglesias’, unknown, ‘Arizona’, ‘Hot Cocoa’.
We went to Fredericksburg last Thursday and stopped by the garden in the Marktplatz. We had a very warm November, and everything’s in bloom as if it were late spring. There were a tremendous number of insects too, including many monarchs. Generally the bulk of migrating butterflies will be at the Texas-Mexican border by mid to late October, but this year they’ve been delayed across North America, most likely by atypically warm weather. It remains to be seen how successful these stragglers will be, seeing as they will be undertaking the last leg of their journey in December.
Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) has been implicated by some in delaying or interfering with migration, in that it prompts butterflies to linger and lay eggs. I personally think it’s a relatively small factor, if it is one at all, compared to the effect of warm autumns. (Of greater concern might be the fact that it is relatively more likely than native milkweeds to host spores of the protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha due to its lack of a dormant phase, but this can be managed if the plants are killed by cold weather or periodically cut to the ground.) Monarch debates aside, the bulk of the other butterflies and nectarivorous insects present do not undertake any significant migration, so abundant flowers are certainly benefiting them, at least!
Massonia depressa. Wasn’t sure how the flowering would go after it got snowed on, but it seems to be fine. I need to move to a pot more accomodating of its leaves, though. Fun fact: in its natural habitat, this plant is pollinated by gerbils.
Crassula streyi. Unlike most commonly cultivated crassulas, this interesting species is adapted to deep shade in moist but well-drained soil. It had no roots when I bought it this past summer, so it’s nice to see it doing this well. In non-freezing weather, I keep it outside in the covered entryway with the orchids, but it would probably be happy living on a windowsill as well. The older leaves are a bit beat up on this guy (no roots meant it fell… multiple times), but they’re a lovely dark green with a rich burgundy underside.
Our first serious freeze will be rolling in late but hitting hard, with freezing nights predicted tomorrow through Friday. Here are some of the plants we brought in. Quite possibly not all of them absolutely needed to come indoors, but after last year’s losses I’m playing it safe.
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