| I had the pleasure of visiting another UC campus last week--this time, UC Irvine. After seeing my last post about UC Davis, my friend Sarah (who lives in Irvine) was like, "Puh-leeez. Wait till you see our succs." The first evening of my visit, she and her awesome kids H&M took me on some paths near their house where succulents abounded. I had to admit that Irvine appears to be the ideal climate for succulents (second only, perhaps, to San Diego). I saw lots of cool plants with them, and one of my favorites was this variegated agave. In this pic, I'm standing next to it for size. I'm about 5' 8", so this thing had to be at least 8 feet tall. Thanks to H&M for taking the photo! |
To show my appreciation to them having me over for yummy burgers and a succulent tour, I gave Sarah and her family a Blue Emperor agave with a matching pot. I was all excited about it, since as far as I'm aware, they haven't been commercially available for long, and this was a relatively big one, maybe 8 inches across. But I realized as I handed over the spiny specimen that to non succ-ers, gifting them something so obscure might be just plain weird. Oh well!
During my trip, I had a little--but just a little--time to check out some succulent stores. I went to the Plant Stand in Costa Mesa and OC Succulents in Irvine. Both were awesome (I'd been to the latter twice before), and although I didn't find as many obscure plants as I was hoping for, I found some terrific succs at great prices. Bringing them home on the plane was no problem, since I was traveling within California.
I didn't buy anything huge (and held off on a 20-inch-tall alluaudia procera, which I'm pretty sure the good folks at TSA would have considered a sword-like weapon), and I bare-rooted most of them and transported them in a paper bag with handles, as if I was carrying sandwiches or something. My take included two crassula moonglows ($2 each), a cool blue aloe of some kind ($1), a variegated faucaria ($4), and a 4-inch mammillaria plumosa ($4).
During my trip, I had a little--but just a little--time to check out some succulent stores. I went to the Plant Stand in Costa Mesa and OC Succulents in Irvine. Both were awesome (I'd been to the latter twice before), and although I didn't find as many obscure plants as I was hoping for, I found some terrific succs at great prices. Bringing them home on the plane was no problem, since I was traveling within California.
I didn't buy anything huge (and held off on a 20-inch-tall alluaudia procera, which I'm pretty sure the good folks at TSA would have considered a sword-like weapon), and I bare-rooted most of them and transported them in a paper bag with handles, as if I was carrying sandwiches or something. My take included two crassula moonglows ($2 each), a cool blue aloe of some kind ($1), a variegated faucaria ($4), and a 4-inch mammillaria plumosa ($4).
| I also convinced one of the proprietors to let me leave with two "agave moonshine" pups. I snapped a picture of the full-grown version (see pic at right). Maybe I'll print it out and put it up near wherever I pot the others. That way, they'll have something to aspire to. It looks like a cross between a blue glow and a blue flame, and a few people online have suggested it's identical to an agave attenuata "red margin." Who knows? | 
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All in all, a great visit, albeit a pretty quick one. Any suggestions for places to check out next time I'm down there?
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