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Kalanchoe beharensis    FELTBUSH, VELVETLEAF    at City Hall    felty leaf closeup    flowers    fun with leaves, Hortifair, Amsterdam    a tender evergreen “shrub,” I don't know what else you would call it. Hortus Third says it can get to 12' tall, I have only seen freestanding specimens as open, picturesque subjects to about 4-5' tall. A friend in high school though had one scrawny single-trunked specimen trained all the way up against the wall over his front door entry and down the other side, with just a few massive leaves at the very, very end of the python-like stem. They didn't know what else to do with it when it started getting too tall. Very weird, but very striking. And just exactly the kind of wonderful specimen that only non-professional growers can produce, because they just let it do what it wanted to do. We pros would have cut that thing back and evened it out and fluffed it up and made it compact as soon as it started to stretch, and ruined it. This plant is used for its wonderful deep olive brown felty leaves and striking habit. It is one of the ultimate primeval looking dinosaur foliage plants, especially as the plant matures and the leaves get outrageously large, thick, felty, and brown. It is a good, tough indoor plant if you give it enough light, otherwise it stretches and turns pale. It will live outdoors anywhere it doesn't get any appreciable frost. Forms vary as to their fuzziness, our form is a good, heavy textured, dark brown selection. Flowers, when seen, are usually yellow green tubular things in branched clusters above the foliage. They are interesting but usually not showy. Must have good drainage! Madagascar. Crassulaceae. rev 4/2005

'Fang'  at the Huntington   teething  a variant with short, bumpy "teeth" on the lower surface of the leaves. The leaves never get as large as the regular, parent form we grow, but they are lined with brown. rev 4/2010 *NEW for 2010!*

carnea  giant flowers   giant leaves   open planting, Huntington Botanic Gardens   this is essentially a gigantic form of the familiar gift crop kalanchoe. The leaves are 10 times bigger (to almost 10"), the flowers are10 times bigger (to about an inch), and it grows 10 times taller (to about 3'). Ernie Wasson of Cabrillo College brought this to me after finding it in an old, untended garden in Watsonville. Its highest value is as a large, odd, verdant green succulent, grown for its leaf and "wow" value alone. It will flower in winter if it doesn't freeze back. The flowers are gigantic, pale pink, and look like they are made of porcelain. They extend on short stalks above the foliage. In my experience any temperature below 32F will make this wilt and turn black, though it seems to have enough root to have survived the all-time worst freezes of our area. This was apparently introduced by Veitch and Sons in London in 1889 and the RHS liked it so much they awarded it a First Class Certificate! (Those are rare.) Zones 9, 16-17, 21-24 USDA zone 9. South Africa. rev 6/2010 *NEW for 2010!*

fedtschenkoi 'Variegata'   variegation pattern   leaf-edge babies   complementary flowers  a very nice variegated form, creamy white and pastel yellow,leaves, and whole branches, often with pink edges, against blue grey, with a light show of pendant, tubular, pink-orange flowers on terminal stalks as well. Fall and winter bloom. Tender, protect from frost. Makes a good, easy, vigorous house plant. Best in containers except in frost-free areas. Sunset zones 9 (mostly shade), 17, 21-24/USDA zone 10. rev 8/2010 *NEW for 2010!*

hildebrandtii  SILVER SPOONS  silver-white leaves    orange flowers  this is a small, shrubby, rather open species that bears simple, silvery grey white to grey green leaves. Light orange, tubular flowers are produced in relatively compact clusters in fall and winter. Grow this for its wonderful, clean, fuzzy, silvery foliage. It does best in mostly full sun, with restricted watering, and with cutting back to generate more of the foliage for best effect. rev 9/2010 *NEW for 2010!*

orgyalis  COPPER SPOONS  furry leaves   container habit   flower detail   a compact, upright shrub to just a couple of feet high, grown for its luxuriant brown, tight fur on its large, simple, oval leaves which mature to grey green. Flowers are intense yellow and are initiated under short days. They are produced in short branched stalks held above the leaves. This is a great patio container or house plant. In its native range it can get to 4-5' but I have never seen it over a couple of feet high in California. It will only tolerate a moderate of freeze before burning down to the ground (or below). Madagascar. Zones 9, 16-17, 21-24 USDA zone 9. rev 6/2010 *NEW for 2010!*

pumila   flowers    Cabrillo container    compact growing, felty grey white leaves with a whitish coating, light burgundy edges, and coarse marginal teeth. Low, to a foot or so tall and wide if you have the appropriately warm, frost free environment. But it makes a cute little container plant, or combo element, and the lavender pink flowers against grey are a classic combination. Madagascar. rev 2/2010 *NEW for 2010!*

thyrsiflorus    PADDLE PLANT, DESERT CABBAGE    paddle leaves    blooming plant at Quail Botanic Garden    well used    a tender subtropical perennial succulent, forming an upright plant to 2-3' tall with age and in favored locations. The curious, round, almost white leaves age to jade green but remain vertically oriented and stack into square, book-like arrays. With cold or strong sun, the leaf margins often turn ruby red. Flowers are greenish yellow, when seen. A strange, attractive foliage plant that is probably at its best in a container or as a featured subject with other foliage/succulent varieties. Likes it on the dry side, especially in winter. Won't take much if any frost. Full sun for best leaf color. South Africa. rev 9/2002

'Desert Rose'  cool   an improved form with brighter red leaf margins. rev 5/2008

tomentosa   BROWN FURRY VELVETLEAF   plants   flowers  narrow olive green leaves are densely covered with brown fur. Leaf apices, and also soft, round terminal "teeth" are darker brown. Color is strongest in full sun but plants will take considerable shade, turning green in the process. Bell-shaped maroon to coral flowers are borne in spikes that hide against the foliage but the flowers are quite nice if you get close up on them. Plants grow more or less erectly to about 2' tall. Protect from hard frost. Madagascar. rev 8/2009

Kniphofia 'Dorset Sentry'  flowers   grassy, evergreen leaves, and big plump yellow flowers that rise on bronzy stems to 3' tall, long day bloomer. Orioles, those brightly colored birds, love these flowers, as well as hummingbirds. Good choice for an accent plant or a mass planting. No wet feet in winter. Little water once established. Zones 2-9, 14-24/USDA 5. Liliaceae. Africa. rev 7/2010 *NEW for 2010!*

'Nancy's Red'   flowering   rich red flowers, heavily produced on a moderate sized plant, blooming late spring through early fall. Foliage is fine, grassy. To 24-30". Sunset zones 3-9, 14-24/USDA 6. rev 8/2010 *NEW for 2010!*