"Group Capitatus produces capitate inflorescences, usually directly out of the ground; group Paniculatus has branching inflorescences, usually from leaf axils near the apical tip; and plants in group Sansevieria produce unbranched inflorescences from the leaf axils, which in some species can al...

Perhaps like with Ceropegia, someone will eventually suggest putting all globular, opuntioid and columnar cacti in one genus - Cactus. And everyone will ignore them.

Viveiro? Like vivero in Spanish?

I see that Chiltern Seeds have got 157 new offerings in their "New for 2021". They weren't there yesterday. Nothing to tempt me due to shortage of space and over-specialisation but I noticed Aloe arborescens for £3.25. Some of the other unusual new things may be of interest, though not muc...

The best artificial cactus I ever saw had to be at the Chelsea Physic Garden. In among the other little globular cacti they had a Notocactus woollii in a terracotta pot. Very well-knitted. That was....a while ago.

I suppose now it would be a parody.

I just had a look to see if Dobbies sell these mail order (for next summer, not now, that would be crazy). Did you see that they sell Cactus Socks? Mammillaria: https://www.dobbies.com/doiy-cactus-socks-mammillaria-473853011 Astros: https://www.dobbies.com/doiy-cactus-socks-astros-473852011 Or a &qu...

The compost is probably fine for the place they were raised. I visited a nursery near Seville where they had a greenouse full of Aloe vera in beds for the plant trade. They were in basic potting compost and watered to a peat bog everyday from overhead sprinklers. I think it was about 34°C outside wh...

My philosophy is always "send an email, what is the worst that could happen?". * I emailed the CND Nursery in South Africa and Quinton Bean kindly replied. Aloe "Safari Sunrise" is a hybrid of 6 parents from 5 species. 2 species from South Africa and 3 species from Madagascar, Th...

I'm delighted to include an item on Azorella compacta, one of the most amazing plants in the world. Those shown on the front cover could well be 3,000 years old. An excellent read and beautiful photos. However, it did not answer my one burning question. What does Azorella compacta taste like? :twis...

Aren't there a few relatively small, short, clumping or mat-forming species of Aloe in South Africa? A. bowiea, A. brevifolia, A. challisii, A. greenii, A. humilis, A. longistylis, A. maculata, A. pictifolia and A. verecunda all look reasonably dainty. For that degree of cold tolerance I would expec...