I'm not going to pretend that my photos are as cool as Liz's, but I thought I'd share them nonetheless. (And, hey, not bad for iPhone photos, eh?) The Ruth Bancroft Garden is also featured, I just discovered, in a book that came out less than a year ago: Succulent Paradise.
Let's start with a few agaves, shall we?
Let's start with a few agaves, shall we?
I went wild for this variegated agave parryi, which I *think* is synonymous with agave "excelsior." Can anyone confirm this? It was sprouting about a dozen pups! I only hope my excelsior will eventually do the same...
Can someone please ID this for me?
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A baby agave victoria-reginae, nestled among rocks
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Next, a few aloes. It's tough to capture the grandeur of the aloes here. There were really some amazing specimens, including huge aloe nobilis and aloe striata, of which I have no decent pictures. My favorite aloe, though, was the one immediately below this text, and to the right.
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As regular readers of this blog are already aware, I am a bit of a haworthia geek. I may or may not have squealed aloud with glee when I saw a whole bunch of gorgeous haworthia truncata of various types, shades, and sizes growing among the rocks in a shaded area. Observe:
This was the largest cluster. Nice, thick windows and lime-green coloration.
Haworthia are so cool in "wild" settings.
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Also a truncata, but so different!
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Although I wasn't always the world's biggest gasteria fan, I have to admit that they've grown on me more and more... particularly en masse and variegated!
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And sempervivums (doesn't it seem like it should be "semperviva?") abounded:
A veritable carpet of cobwebbed semps!
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This was labeled as an echeveria, which it is not.
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Scout, my succulent mutt and constant companion, looks up at me, ready for a water break.
Can we talk about terrestrial bromeliads for a moment? ...Actually, I don't have much to say about them; I just love the phrase "terrestrial bromeliad"--though these dyckia look extraterrestrial to me. I love the combinations of purples and greens.
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Onto echeverias. Like (nearly) everything else in the Ruth Bancroft Garden, most of the echeverias weren't labeled. Ruth Bancroft (who is alive and kicking at over 100 years old!) doesn't like the way labels can detract from plants in a garden, which I can understand.
This echeveria was arrested during our visit because its colors were disturbing the peace.
Echeveria "Wham-Ka-Zaam." (I am sufficiently chagrined by my inability to name everything that I have started making names up.)
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Okay, okay, echeverias. We GET it--you're gorgeous. But why do you have to keep flaunting it with your parades and your rainbow of colors?
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Last but not least... cacti! The RBG is home to dozens, maybe hundreds, of cacti varieties. It's a great time to visit the garden, because many of them are in bloom right now. A few favorites:
I believe that this is a silver torch cactus (Cleistocactus strausii). My mom pointed out that it looks like a fuzzy little bird from this angle!
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Mammilaria matudae (I think), waiting to get big enough that it can flop over and prowl the ground.
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Ferocactus something, I bet. (Hey, I never promised you a cactus garden.)
A spectacular bloom!
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More spectacular blooms!
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Bottom line: if you're anywhere in Northern California, it's worth the drive to Walnut Creek to check out the Ruth Bancroft Garden! (Especially if you're meeting your awesome parents for sushi.) And be sure to check out their nursery, too--they had several hard-to-find plants at pretty reasonable prices. Ta ta for now, succ-ers!
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