PLANT FORUM: Please Welcome Back The Plant Forum To The Monthly Meetings
- k-england
- Jun 1
- 7 min read
By Susi Torre-Bueno, for Let’s Talk Plants! June 2025.
Plant Forum Returns to Monthly Meetings
From our first SD Hort meeting in 1994 through 2016, a highlight of our monthly meetings was the Plant Forum, where members brought in cuttings or potted plants from home and a horticultural expert spoke about the plants. Some months over 100 plants were displayed! A written description of each plant was published in the next month's newsletter.
These were compiled, and are still available for free on our website at https://sdhort.org/PlantForum. This is an alphabetical listing of over 7500 plants, including over 1600 detailed descriptions. What a valuable resource when you're considering whether to add a plant to your garden or want to learn more about an existing plant.
You can now carry on this legacy and share the plants in your garden with members, and learn from their plants. Because we have so many new members it's fine to bring in a plant that has already been displayed.
All you have to do is:
1) Bring a cutting or a potted plant to a meeting.
2) BEFORE you leave home, take a minute to print out a slip of paper with the common and scientific name of the plant, where it is native to (if you know that), what city it is growing in, your name, and a couple of sentences about your experience with the plant.
We can't promise that we'll have an expert talking about the plants, but it's a fun way to learn more and share your expertise - and share your cuttings.
Here's a sample description from the Plant Forum Compilation:
Amaranthus hypochondriacus
Amaranthaceae, S. U.S., Mexico, India, China
This 4 foot drought-tolerant bushy annual was a traditional grain, ornamental and dye source in pre-Columbian times. The leaves, which are green to purple, are also edible. The dense spikes of red flowers appear in summer. (Sandy Yayanos, Rancho Santa Fe, 8/00) —S.Y.
At the end of the meeting we will gather up the printed information and include it in the next newsletter. If you have any questions, contact Susi Torre-Bueno at Susi@sdhort.org.
Plants grown in Vista, May 17, 2025
Grown by Susi Torre-Bueno – contact her to get cuttings from her garden.
Succulents:
Graptopetalum paraguayense, Ghost plant, ghosties
Crassulaceae, native to Mexico
(Photo credit: Waterwise Botanicals Graptopetalum paraguayense. Used with permission.)
Fabulous low-growing succulent for sun or shade, in the ground or in pots. The leaves are silvery blue/green (with pink blushes) when grown in shade changing to yellow/green in full sun. Low water, multiplies rapidly. To about 1’ tall x 2’ wide, forms large colonies. Very easy to propagate from cuttings or leaves. Clusters of small white flowers in spring. I have these all over my garden, all from original cuttings from nearly 20 years ago.
Sedum nussbaumerianum, Coppertone Sedum
Crassulaceae, native to Mexico
(Photo credit: Hanging, Trailing and Vining Succulents - Debra Lee Baldwin Used with permission.)
A drought-tolerant succulent for full sun to part shade with clusters of small, white, lightly fragrant flowers winter to spring. This low growing plant (to about 8-12” tall x 2-3’ wide) features bronzy-gold foliage; best leaf color in full sun. Very easy to propagate from cuttings or leaves.
Sedum adolphii 'Firestorm'
Crassulaceae, native to Mexico
(Photo credit: Waterwise Botanicals Sedum adolphii ‘Firestorm’. Used with permission.)
Sedum adolphii, native to Mexico, forms rambling stems with waxy golden yellow leaves with pinkish-peach margins. Clusters of small star-shaped white flowers appear in winter. An excellent drought-tolerant color accent in the ground and in dish gardens. Prefers porous soil with adequate drainage and thrives in poor, sandy soils. Bright light to full sun. This succulent grows to about 6” tall and spreads to about 1-2’ wide. The colored edges make it a nice foil to plants with solid green foliage. Easy to propagate from cuttings or leaves.
Crassula multicava, Fairy crassula
Crassulaceae, native to South Africa
(Photo credit: Waterwise Botanicals Crassula multicava. Used with permission.)
I’ve got a love/hate relationship with this succulent, so think carefully before adding it to your garden. This was originally one plant in a pot of mixed succulents I purchased in 2012. I put the container in a mostly shady spot where it got occasional water from a sprinkler. And I pretty much forgot about it for a couple of years. Then I noticed that there was a 4’ x 10’ patch of it growing in a shady area spreading out from the original pot. And then I noticed it growing 20’ away. It is good for dry shady areas under shrubs, but it can spread rapidly. Pink flowers in spring result in tiny plantlets at the tips of the flowering stem and they root like gangbusters. The plant grows to about 1’ tall, with individual plants growing about 1’ wide, but you won’t have individual plants for long. It is pretty drought-tolerant in sun to light shade. Commonly seen, spreads easily, carefree.
Kalanchoe bracteate, Silver Teaspoons
Crassulaceae, native to Madagascar
(Photo credit; Waterwise Botanicals Kalanchoe bracteata. Used with permission.)
Doesn’t your garden need an evergreen shrub with silver foliage all year long? This very drought-tolerant succulent species grows to 4 feet tall and about as wide and thrives in full sun to shade. It has 1” to 2” long silvery ovate leaves with a slight point at the tip and short petioles. In spring it sends up tall stems with clusters of dark orange flowers. The species can be a bit variable, but plants appear grayish silvery-white because of a pubescence of appressed short stellate hairs and a waxy substance that covers the leaves and the young 4 angled stems. The bright silver foliage makes a great eye-catcher among green shrubs. Easy to propagate from cuttings.
Perennials
Salvia 'Indigo Spires', Indigo Spires Sage
Lamiaceae (Labiatae) hybrid
Salvia 'Indigo Spires' is a hybrid cross between S. longispicata and S. farinacea. It was a chance discovery at Huntington Botanical Gardens, found growing near the two presumed parents (both from Mexico). I purchased a 1-gal plant of this salvia hybrid from U.C. Riverside in 2015 and it has flourished for these past 10 years with near-total neglect. The label said it would grow to 4’ tall and wide, but in my garden it gets at least 6’ wide. Moderate to low water and full sun to light shade. This vigorous hybrid is prized for its 12- to 15-inch-long, twisting spikes of dark violet flowers. It is a non-stop bloomer from early summer through fall. Blooming can be further encouraged by pinching stem tips early in the growing season and deadheading the spikes once they fade. Because it is a little lanky and rangy, you can grow it in a tomato cage for support. I cut mine back very hard in late fall to early winter and it bounces right back with new growth.
Salvia chamaedryoides, Germander Sage
PRONUNCIATION: kam-ay-dry-OY-deez
Lamiaceae (Labiatae) native to Mexico
(Photo credit: Waterwise Botanicals Salvia chamaedryoides. Used with permission.)
This wonderful mostly evergreen subshrub with gray foliage has a small dense mounding and spreading habit and grows 12 to 18 inches tall to 3 to 4 feet wide, spreading slowly outward from shoots from a spreading rootstock. It tends to mound towards the middle with branches spreading out along the ground. It has small narrow half inch long gray-green leaves and dark blue flowers that appear almost year-round. One that I planted in 2007 is still thriving on total neglect. Needs very little water, even in full sun. Another showstopper with eye-catching foliage.
Tree
(More information in the SDHS book, Ornamental Trees of San Diego)
Hymenosporum flavum, Sweetshade
Pittosporaceae, native to Australia
(Photo credit: hymenosporum-flavum-1.jpg (965×1226)
In 2010 I planted a 5-gallon pot with this slow-growing evergreen tree in a partly shaded location, and today it is about 15’ tall and 8’ wide (it can grow to 25-40’ tall, with a narrow growth habit). In spring it has yellow flowers which can have a lovely scent, although my plant doesn’t produce scented flowers. It will take “moderate sun,” according to some sources, and light shade is probably better in our area. Mine is virtually maintenance-free.
Many bright yellow flowers were brought in by Cathy Tylka, Escondido, May 17, 2025.
Shrub
(Photos credit: Cathy Tylka.)
Leucospermum cordifolium, Pincushion Flower
Proteaceae, South Africa
From the Plant Forum Compilation, this description was written by Steve Brigham:
The many cultivars of Pincushions are among the easiest of the South African proteas to grow, and are quite popular in the cut-flower trade. These are drought-tolerant evergreen shrubs to 4-6ʹ′ tall and wide which are happiest in decomposed granite or sandy soils and need good drainage. From late winter through spring, they produce an abundance of exotic-looking and colorful 4ʺ wide flower clusters which are composed of many curved stamens and look like pincushions. These flowers last for weeks when cut, and provide excitement for any springtime bouquet. Like many other proteas, the pincushions can fail in heavy clay and resent phosphorous fertilizers, but may be grown in large pots of cactus mix where garden soils are not appropriate. Harvesting the flowering stems when in bloom will make for bushier plants and more flowers the next year. Full sun, only occasional watering in summer, cold-hardy to around 25° F. Of the many types of Pincushions grown in San Diego County, the Leucospermum cordifolium cultivars are among the easiest to grow. Of these, two of the best varieties are ‘High Gold’, with bright yellow flowers, and ‘Sunrise’, with bright orange-red flowers and a very long blooming season.
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