Mistaken identity: Coryphantha robustispina ssp. uncinata

Coryphantha robustispina ssp. uncinata

 A picture of what I have been calling (and distributing seed of) as Coryphantha scheeri for many years (this picture was taken in 2007). Arguably one of the most beautiful and rewarding native wildflowers--It is fortunately being propagated and distributed by several specialty mail-order nurseries in Colorado (Ethical Desert and Cold Hardy Cactus--although the latter still uses the incorrect name "E. scheeri").

Coryphantha robustispina ssp. uncinata

Here's a side view that shows the husky tubercles and stellate spination--a handsome plant even out of bloom...

Coryphantha robustispina ssp. uncinata

It's the flowers, however, that make this so special--that wonderful butterscotch coloration. And the fact that they can produce multiple flushes through the summer. They often receive summer and early autumn rains in the monsoonal months of the Southwest. Most of my native American cacti bloom in the spring or early summer--so the late summer bloomers are all the more appreciated.

Coryphantha robustispina ssp. uncinata

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the true C. r. ssp. scheeri--which this resembles except that scheeri has smaller flowers and fruits and no central spines--blooming mostly in spring. It is restricted to Eddy and Chaves counties in New Mexico and further south and east into Texas, whereas var. uncinata grows further west and is, as I've said, a later blooming taxon.

Range of Coryphantha "uncinata" (including both subspecies)

Unfortunately the two subspecies of robustispina are combined in the BONAP map as C. uncinata --most of the Texas and far eastern New Mexico locations are var. scheeri, while the Rio Grande valley westward is our taxon var. uncinata.

Coryphantha delaetiana

There are quite a few yellow-flowered coryphanthas in Mexico: I have grown this species for a decade or more in a pot I bring in and out. It blooms reliably every summer in repeated flushes like its northern cousin.

Coryphangtha delaetiana

A side view of the same plant.

Coryphangtha calipensis

I believe I photographed this beauty at the Huntington's incomparable Desert Greenhouse. Love that wool!

Coryphangtha compacta

Another cool Mexican cory (as we call them...)

Coryphangtha sulcata

I have featured this plant repeatedly in my blog--and can't resist doing so again. I tried it years ago, and it succumbed to cold, but eventually obtained Harlan Hamernik's northern Texas accession that Bluebird Nursery sold it at ridiculously cheap prices for years. That clone is bullet proof--just check out those huge clumps in Denver Botanic Gardens'  crevice garden near the entrance to the Rock Alpine Garden.

Coryphangtha sulcata

Like its cousin I began with, this is a repeat-blooming cactus that often flushes flowers again and again through the summer months. I'd be challenged to decide whether I preferred this or the first Cory I started with as favorites...I'm glad I have multiples of BOTH!

Have flower will travel (a year in bloom)

January: Gentianella cerastoides

It was easy for me to pick my favorite plant we found in Ecuador: in the shadow of Cotopaxi I thought I'd found crocuses at first. But no: a gentian. Ecuador is chockablock full of fantastic flowers--we saw plenty in rain forest, cloud forest...but the Paramo stole my heart and this gem of a gentian encapsulates it. Oh yeah--the Galapagos are awesome too!

February: mammillarias at B&B Nursery, Tucson

My favorite part of winter is escaping to California, Arizona--anyplace warmer than Denver. We did a swing through New Mexico (talk in Santa Fe), El Paso (another talk) and finally a week with friends in Tucson. We always visit B&B Nursery where I came back with treasure! I would have liked to bring home this whole bench of February color! Not enough room in my newish car (it's used)

March part one: Footsteps of Spring (Sanicula arctopoides)

March saw two trips: my swan-song as President of NARGS at a GONZO conference in Oakland: saw tons of gems in gardens (four of America's greatest public gardens no less: in full swing of Spring! and private gardens to die for). And field trips in the wild--but finally following the footsteps of spring was my ultimate flower high! I was tempted to pick one of the dozens of pictures of Fritillaria affinis--but already featured these in a blog post!

March part two: Salvia roemeriana

Seeing Texas in Superbloom has been a life-long dream: this year I did it for my birthday present to myself. Thanks to Patrick Kirwin, I joined an anthology of the greatest Austin plantsmen on a days trip to a mind boggling private ranch where I found this sage (and hundreds of other gems) that melted my heart. A friend in Denver grows this outside perennially! Then Patrick and my dear buddy Tom Peace took me on a drive through miles of color in Bastrop County. Best birthday present ever!

Paeonia tenuifolia in Sally Allen's garden

I did a week long nursery hopping trip to Oregon, Idaho and Utah in late April to buy rock garden plants for our club's sale in Denver: enchanted Spring! Just me, the cargo van, NPR alternating with Classical music and a hundred basin and ranges drifting by in gorgeous green and snow white color: America is so beautiful: I hope the Maggots don't spoil it beyond redemption. Bought treasures at Sally Allen's inspiring nursery near Medford (her garden seen above) just in time--she passed away a few weeks ago.

May in Sutton Valence

There is a garden beyond compare in Kent we revisited this past May. I don't think there shall ever be another garden like it--a treasure trove of thousands of choice plants grown in impeccable greenhouses (alpine, desert, Mediterranean), chiseled perfect parterres, and rock gardens, borders, woodlands and views to kill for over the English countryside. And then we stayed two days at Great Dixter. Heaven.

Iris paradoxa

How to pick among the thousand or so fantastic plants we saw in Armenia? No brainer--this was it

June: Penstemon pseudospectabilis

Incredibly, we only traveled within Colorado in June: this vignette: [stupidly named] Penstemon pseudospectabilis (which verges on being weedy in Glenn and Patrice's stunning garden) against a yellow bench: as emblematic as William Carlos William's rain-spattered red wheelbarrow and white chickens.

Polemonium sp. nov.?

An enchanted week on the Bighorns, Yellowstone and Beartooth Pass--where I revisited this Jacob's ladder, which I was convinced is undescribed. I came home and Mike Kintgen told me researchers are working on naming it (it's not viscosum nor confertum b.t.w.--its two closest cousins.)

August: Cleretum hestermalense

For three years running we have spent late winter (in South Africa) August reveling in superbloom. Each year it seems to be getting better! Can I risk a fourth? Thank you, Karel Du Toit--best tour guide on the planet. My tenth trip to South Africa was in 2024: hopefully not my last.

Rebecca Day-Skowron

September we were homebodies again--although we did manage an afternoon and evening jaunt to Raven Ranch--an extraordinary merging of great plantsmanship and art on acres of Black Forest and prairie. Rebecca and her husband Bob are two of my best friends--for decades. They just keep getting better--like the fine wine we were sipping...

October (part one) Mesa Gardens 

A presentation in Santa Fe (AGAIN) brought us back to the Enchanted State where we spent an incredible two days with Steve and Linda Brack--Steve is one of my life-long heroes who has become a dear friend: visiting Mesa Gardens (which he and Linda created and sold a few years ago) was haunting--greenhouse after greenhouse of treasures (most of which Steve grew from seed he collected himself decades ago in Argentina, all over Mexico and the Southwest, and all over South Africa as well!) next to THE MAN, and the delightful new owners who are carrying on the mission. Don't tell my fellow botanic gardeners--this nursery puts botanic gardens to shame.

October part two: Eriogonum heermanii

Back to Las Vegas (NV) for the second year to speak to Desert Green trade show. Last year cataclysmic rains in August washed out the road to Mount Charleston (we were thwarted). This year we made it and were rewarded by finding one of America's greatest buckwheats in prodigal seed.

November, Prunus (autumn reblooming)

Ten days of wending the back roads of New England--a week after peak of fall color! It was stunning enough as it was. Fantastic gardens and treasured friendships--this re-blooming Japanese Cherry (stupidly forgot to photograph the label) captures the promise of another spring when I hope to come back in peak Cherry Blossom season. I'm contracted to do so, I should add. (Good buddy Bill Barnes identified this as Prtunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis': thank you Bill!)

Almost December: Anna and Yoana née Taylor

 No firm plants this month to fly afar (that could change however), but my beloved and brilliant niece Anna did fly from afar (Bay area) to share Thanksgiving dinner with us. She was joined here by Russ Gillam (her new love of her life)--with whom we too bonded. One of my OTHER adorable nieces (Yoana Georgis) joined Jan and me touring Denver Botanic Gardens one balmy night amid the myriad lights. Oh yes, I forgot to mention Lulu--Anna's companion Australian cattle-dog hybrid mix--a sleek and beautiful creature who was convinced I was a cow. I know I can be bullish--and that's no B.S.!

Old folkies never die

 Like most Americans (that includes Canadians and [of course!] Mexicans and other Latino-Americans incidentally--except Argentinians) we start trotting down to our local post offices this time of year to buy stamps. Most of us settle for convenient booklets of flag stamps, or Christmassy Santa Claus or Madonna images (the Saint--not the popular Sinner). I like to have the Post Office clerk haul out the album with miscellaneous themed stamps (while the people in line behind me loaded with packages are glaring)...

The clerks rather enjoy the break in routine as we flip past commemorative stamps galore celehrating all manner of obscure and no doubt worthy people and things. It's not yet Black History month--there seemed to be an unusual number of stamps with African-Americans on them. My clerk was an attractive black woman: I hesitated a split second over these thinking it might please her if I chose one...since Black women had the highest percentage of any voting block to support Harris in the recent election, my urge to pick those was motivated more by showing solidarity than other questionable motives like being patronizing (one can make life very difficult if you overthink things...)

I was frankly holding out for some of those pretty wildflower stamps that the Post Office seems to crank out pretty regularly (I just used up my last "Forget-me-not" stamp which looked far more like Eritrichium than Myosotis incidentally)

As if we don't have enough to worry about already, Philately is perhaps a doomed phenomenon. Two of my favorite countries: Argentina and South Africa, have effectively ceased to have a postal service. I suppose you could still mail letters to these countries, but they are unlikely to arrive. When countries descend to chaos (something some of do not entirely rule out happening in our Republic in the coming four years), agencies that seem duplicative and are "Governmental" are relatively easy to jettison. I can imagine a Governmental Efficiency task force consisting of two billionaires who would love nothing more than to slash all government agencies that don't directly supply vast sums of money to their special interest (I doubt Musk will touch the Department of Defense, for instance--since he's their largest contractor!)

I know, I know: the Constitution mandates a Post Office. The cynic in me (who has grown with Hulk-like dimension in recent weeks) believes the only articles in the Constitution held sacred by the incoming tsunami of Maggots are the 2nd Amendment and the Electoral College...

But I digress...Stamps. Yes! let's stick to stamps--I'm standing there I'm suddenly GOB-SMACKED: It Can't BE! How on Earth can the USPS, an agency headed by Louis DeJoy since June 16, 2020, appointed by Beelzebubba himself*, have permitted such a thing! But there it was: a stamp--a FOREVER stamp no less--honoring Pete Seeger!!!

How on earth could could an agency headed by a Postmaster General who has been a major donor to Donald Trump's elections have permitted a stamp of a man who has championed most of America's left-wing causes...who belonged to a band (the Weavers) who were hounded by the F.B.I. and was called upon to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Red Scare decade (1950's)?...

Of course, our Postmaster General lives in Greensboro, North Carolina (a mere 317 miles from Washington, D.C.) and serves on countless (no doubt paid) corporate boards, not to mention still being CEO of a large real-estate company: I doubt Louie baby has time to micromanage who's on the stamps under his watch. I'm sure he spends hours Zooming his offices in D.C.--hours! Hours and hours! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

{Were I conspiracy theory prone, I'd wonder if the demise of the Agency that handles the bulk of Mail-in ballots--making American's rely even more on Voting Machines manufactured by Republican owned companies wasn't a deliberate plan...but I'm not a conspiracy theorist! Honest.)

Back to Pete: I'm a big fan. I have a LOT of Seeger's records in vinyl (although I confess I haven't played them in decades). But as a young man, they were a significant element of the soundtrack of my life. One of my regrets (I have a few of these) is that of all the old folkies I loved, he is one of the few I never heard in concert. I have been to MANY Judy Collins concerts (a Denverite after all), several by Joan Baez, Emmy Lou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and of course two by Peter, Paul and Mary.  The list goes on and on...John Fahey, Gordon Lightfoot, Leo Kottke--I probably went to a dozen, two dozen concerts by Doc Watson for Heaven's sake! And others too obscure to mention...

But never Pete. Or Tom Paxton either--something I will rectify this evening at Swallow Hill. I bought two sheets--about ten dollars each--of the Pete Seeger stamps. I'm thinking of going back and investing in another dozen or so: what better way to commemorate the America I love--the America of Social Justice, reverence for Nature, Ecological responsibility (Seeger's been credited for cleaning up the Hudson River with his relentless campaigns along that river).than to put his image on every piece of mail I post in the Reign of Error and Beelzebubba.

By the way, I thought we'd have a reprieve until the Inauguration...but the shit-show's begun as he picks out his favorite flying monkeys for Cabinet Positions. I am looking into the future with more than a little trepidation. Don't be surprised if I delete this post some day...

Looking forward (mightily) to hearing Paxton in a few hours!

*Sticklers will point out LeJoy was appointed by a board of governors...go ahead and think that! While you're at it, believe we have fair elections when the electorate who votes is driven by fear and paranoia engendered by carefully crafted rhetoric and memes minted by fascist right wing stink tanks. God help us.

The other Adonis....

Adonis annua

Rock gardeners always associate Adonis with the giant flowered, early spring flowering perennial species that spread across Eurasia in a narrow band from the Pyrenees to Japan...but there are a few rebels in the clan. A handful of scarlet and orange annuals exist in the genus--the one above grew in my garden for years...

Not as large flowered as the perennials, these annuals bloom for a long time in the right spot--and their color knocks your eyes out!

Here are a few shots of Adonis aestivus, which we found again and again last May all over Armenia...

This shows the habit of a single plant...

Loved how they combine with Geranium tuberosum--commonly sold by bulb companies...

Adonis davidii

Another departure for the genus: I grew this a few times under the name Adonis brevistyla. Mine did not persist: I want to try again now that I've seen it in the wild. Smaller flowered than its yellow cousins, it blooms later. I photographed this in a gully half way to Lake Tianchi in Yunnan (from where the road there branches away from the main highway).

Although I've been in China (and Tibet) five times, this is the only place I've ever seen this Adonis.

Lots of shots showing it in different combinations...what a remarkable spot this was!

A giant specimen!

Growing with Salvia flava and Primula secundiflora...

 How I long to return to China! Who knows what the next few darkling years will bring. Good thing we have our image galleries and memories...

Friends with flair

Resnova megaphylla

I don't add new genera to my life's list every day (particularly South African bulbs), but it's not surprising I should do so at Matt Xavier Mattus and Joe Phillip's incredible home and garden. We were lucky to be hosted by these gentlemen the first three days of my New England Lecture tour. We were also blessed with unbelievably warm and sunny weather for early November (days in the 70's and 80's mostly). 

The Mattus/Phillips home and garden are extensive. I didn't even get pictures of the unique birds (pastel turkeys and miscellaneous ducks etc.) or more than a few vignettes here and there of late color or flowers. What one is struck by here is "Shibui"--the Japanese notion I've blogged about before: everything inside and out is characterized by simple elegance and grace.

An amazing collection of rare trees, shrubs and perennials displayed not in the cluttered arrangements collections are prone to, but in beautiful combinations and masses. And oh, yes! Several large Japanese maples in fall color still. Sigh!

I chuckled when I saw this Aloe vera: I have one that looks almost identical at home!

Ditto this pot of Euphorbia lomelii (formerly Pedilanthus).  I am always struck how I often find "twins" of plants I grow in my friends' gardens! My pot looks almost exactly the same!

But I do not own an elegant, authentic Wardian case...

Nor a ridiculously charming silver clock.

The views out the windows of their home (which has been in the Mattus' family for over a century) are incredible.

Not sure what I coveted most--the elegant book stand, the book in it or that other stand next to it!

You'll see another picture of this Cyclamen africanum in a different light in a bit. This home is a work of art that changes with the hour...

I doubt many homes boast a head of a jackalope!

My very first Axolotl. A very friendly one by the way! I think I may have to have one too,

Joe and Matt share their home with two Irish terriers they have exhibited (and won ribbons) for their dogs on both sides of the Pond. I have a hunch they have some Wes Anderson worthy stories to share about their experiences!

Matt's father was a fine artist (as well as a commercial artist): a variety of his work still graces the home including these jaunty figures on the cabinets. The furniture and fixtures throughout the home are state of the art (and beyond) and modern: I could tell they would have LOVED to modernize the cabinets...but...but...

Love love love the lit bookcase. And the crows! The home (definitely not just a house) is full of these touches...

I think this is a pretty cool honor. I did get an award once from the City of Boulder where I grew up. But not an attractive key, alas! Worcester has class!

Lovely begonias (you'll see more) here and there on the marble-ous tables!

The picture doesn't do this justice--it is a real object of nature--couldn't tell if it was a root system or stems. But evocative in any case (must ask them what it was--every object in the house had a story! And a good one).

A skeleton on the porch. Likely real.

A prize winning painting by Matt's father, Vitty Mattus. For the heck of it I Google Lensed the painting an found a fantastic site (I think I know who created it) which is a great tribute to the artist. Click on the last phrase to access it.

A wild tortoise that Joe rescued (saved the egg from marauding predators that would keep destroying the mother's dens): another great story!

A promised series of begonia pix: really lovely specimens!

The same Cyclamen africanum at night.

I wish I had a giant Sago Palm next to my Cucurbit arch. Come to think of it, I don't have an arch either!

More fall color and choice plants! 

Even in November the garden was redolent of fragrances and charming views. How I'd like to see it in May! Maybe 2025?

I got a pretty good picture of Matt. Never got one of Joe, darn it! This is followed by very random shots around the garden.

If you don't follow Matt on Instagram or follow Growing with Plants, you should do so. They are filled with stunning pictures and stories from their gardens and greenhouse.

Got a second great picture of Matt--not too hard to do: he's a photogenic and handsome lad!

I end, hesitantly, with an Edgeworthia in the ground no less that lived outdoors last year and bloomed: a testament to climate change if there ever was one...

Jan and I visited briefly (and somewhat breathlessly--Matt and Joe threw a big and really lavish party while we were here with dozens of people coming and going and amazing food they'd prepared)--these pictures are something of an afterthought. But even in our brief visit I was struck by two people who've created a wonderful haven of elegance and livability. I've not seen many on this scale or depth.

I've known Matt for decades: he's a leader not only in American horticulture, but many realms of design...not to mention that he (like his father) is a practicing fine artist who has filled galleries with his art in the past, although we are incredibly lucky that he's now focusing on Horticulture.

Matt became President of the North American Rock Garden Society when that group was perhaps at its nadir: a turn-around-artist as well, I believe he rescued our group from decline and instituted changes (including hiring an inspired editor for our journal) that have led to the renascence of the group.

He's served ten years on the Board of the New England Botanical Garden at Tower Hill--ten years that have seen that garden explode with growth and new gardens and programs.

And how he's taken on a role as Director of Special Projects for the American Horticultural Society.

I feel blessed to know Matt and have finally met Joe. And Horticulture in America is lucky to have these champions leading the charge!