Re: Interested in cacti?/Aeonium sources

--- Ekmarsf@aol.com wrote:
> Nan , thenks for the tip. If you see any sources on
> Aonium and related do 
> shout.
> Edward Faridany
> East Sussex
> 

Nan,

Interesting article, I had no idea that the Altman's
started out as a "mom and pop" sort of business
selling extra plants raised in the backyard.  I used
to go down to their Morgan Hill location and purchase
succulents.  The only problem is that they continue to
do a very haphazrd job of labeling their plants, which
can be frustrating when dealing with the overwhelming
variety of stock they carry, to be found at any Home
Depot or Orchard Supply Hardware location.

For others interested in Aeoniums, there is a
particularly good nursery in Denmark,
www.rareplants.de, that does mail order of seed and
bare rooted live plants, with one of the most complete
selections of any nursery I have seen.  Their web site
is a very good photographic dictionary of the various
species as found in the Canary Islands, and has helped
me to identify several of the dozen or so Aeoniums I
grow here in Berkeley, California.

I wish I could get a definite i.d. on the one most
common hybrid that I have, or learn more about the
history behind it.  This one gets to be huge in my
garden, forming heads about 18 inches across, and
becoming a branched shrub up to 2 1/2' tall before
blooming.  It is most often distributed by gifts of
divisions across the garden fence, and is one of the
most commented on plants in my front garden, where I
have it planted in mass, and increase the size of each
plant by culling the offshoots.  Thankfully the cold
wave we are having did not fall below 36F here a half
mile from the bay, and I did not get any frost damage.
 I took a chance and didn't cover anything, as the
temps at 2 a.m. didn't seem anymore severe than they
had the preceding few days, although the cold winds
during the day did seem arctic, not getting above 48F.
 Nothing like the 90F weather I remember experiencing
in Januarys of the past when going to college in San
Luis Obispo back in the mid 1970's.  

This Aeonium hybrid is immediately damaged at 32F, and
I almost lost it entirely in the 1990 freeze.  It has
affinities with what was once called A. urbicum and A.
pseudotabuliforme, and the size, but not undulated
leaf characteristics of A. undulatum.  I find that A.
decorum, A. arborescens, A. haworthii and A. simsii,(a
very nice low growing groundcover type with showy
lemon yellow spring bloom), are all more cold tolerant
around here, and I really like the brightly colored
foliage of A. 'Sunburst', A. 'Kiwi' and A.
'Schwartzkop', which brighten up a winter's day.  All
prime plants for the milder coastal gardens in
California, or as window/conservatory plants
elsewhere.  

David Feix
Berkeley. California
No Frost so far this winter!

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