Echinopsis 'Romance' flower
The South-American natives, Echinopsis, are not the most attractive cacti. They are often slightly off color with yellow or brown patches instead of a healthy green, they do not have particularly interesting spines and yet I cannot help but always have a few around. So what is their appeal? Why when space is limited to I feel the need to keep them in the collection?
Located at the west corner of the Rock Alpine Garden, the Cactus & Succulent House at one time served as an Alpine House. The challenges of maintaining appropriate environmental conditions for alpine plants led to the conversion of this indoor display house as an exhibit for our non-hardy cacti and succulents in 2004. Consisting of over 1,200 taxa, our cactus and succulent collection, which includes hardy, marginal and non-hardy species, is one of our seven major collections.
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John Temple’s column in the Rocky Mountain News today, ‘Simple moments, rich rewards’ was very inspiring. Not just because I work at Denver Botanic Gardens, but also because the article hits it in the nail regarding the little things in life that really matter. Every morning I look out my kitchen window and the sight of geese in the golf course behind my house or the Daphne that still refuses to stop blooming or the water bubbling in my pond or the dried seed heads of the ornamental grasses swaying in the wind all inspire me as I start my day. It is these simple pleasures in life that are truly memorable.
Orbea longidens
There are many weird plants out there but succulents have more than their fair share. This Orbea longidens flower is a great example to remind us that though we find many flowers beautiful, they evolved to attract specific pollinators rather than for our pleasure.
Visit this plant in the Succulent House (located in the Rock Alpine Garden) but don’t get too close.
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Though a common occurrence in parts of the southwest, century plants (Agave sp.), blooming in Denver are rare. Most years there is one blooming somewhere in Denver and we all take trips to visit it and marvel at the huge flower spike. This year we are lucky enough to have three blooming here at the Gardens.
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A native of Turkey and the Balkans, Galanthus elwesii (giant snowdrop) is found throughout these countries and into Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, eastern Serbia and Montenegro on into the Southern Ukraine. It differs from the common snowdrop Galanthus nivalis in its galucous leaves and more eastern distribution. It is traditionally one of the first flowers to open outside at Denver Botanic Gardens each year and often opens by mid-January. Right now it is about 2″ tall but as the month progresses it will reach about 5-6 inches.
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Posted in: At the Gardens, What's Blooming - Comments(3)