African Daisy (Venidium Jaffa Ice)

Photo of African Daisy (Venidium Jaffa Ice): First Bloom

My first African Daisy (Venidium Jaffa Ice) bloom of the season! I planted a few venidium jaffa ice seeds in my succulent container to make the container appear fuller. The venidium jaffa ice foliage is "hairy" and has a frosted pale green tint. The seedlings resemble a hairy succulent until it shoots out its miniature sunflower-like blooms. My African Daisy is about 17-inches tall and has blooms that are about 2-inches wide across, but the seed packet says the plant can reach heights of up to 24-inches and have blooms as large as 4-inches wide across.

This African Daisy is an annual. I love annuals because they grow quickly and usually work well in containers. Although they only last one season, I can easily start them from seeds the following year.

Photo of White African Daisy (Venidium Jaffa Ice)

View of African Daisy's Double Row of Petals

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Events

Public Plant Sale:
Saturday, April 26th, 2008 (10 a.m. - 2 p.m.)
UC Berkeley's Botanical Garden is having a Public Sale Saturday April 26th, 2008, 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.

Free Plant Clinic:
Saturday, May 3rd (9 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
Free plant clinic. Find out which diseases ail your plants. Entomologists are also available to identify the pests that are living in your plants too! Please bring cover plants and disease samples in containers or bags before entering the Garden.

Native Plant Sale:
Saturday, May 3rd - Sunday, May 4th
On the weekend of May 3rd and 4th in cooperation with the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour (www.bringingbackthenatives.net) UC Botanical Gardens will also release a special selection of native plants for their native plant sale extravaganza. Their native plant propagators and California area horticulturist Ken Bates will be on hand to answer questions.

Bug Exhibit:
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - Thursday, May 15, 2008 (9 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
Walk through the Garden to see a variety of original sculptures by local artist Patrick E, including antlion larvae, a dragonfly, the golden orb weaver spider Argiope and a scattering of ladybugs along with a special new giant insectivorous insect member of the Garden.
The Bug Exhibit is free with Garden Admission.

Propagating Succulents is Easy

Photo of Mature Black Aeonium and its new babies

My mature black aeonium sprouted baby aeoniums, and it's time for me to find these babies a new home. Propagating succulents is easy. I used a sharp pair of shears to cut the baby succulents from the mother plant. Then I removed the leaves from the base of the stem to expose about 2-inches of the stem.

Photo of Black Aeonium Cuttings

Then I dipped the tips of the stems in some inexpensive rooting hormone, and stuck the cuttings in the ground. I'm giving the succulent cuttings a good watering once every morning. So far everything looks good. I'll give you an update in a month or two.

Note: I have successfully propagated some succulents like jade and christmas cactus by skipping the rooting hormone and just sticking the cuttings in the ground. I chose to use the rooting hormone with the black aeoniums because I'm not sure how hardy black aeoniums are.

Photo of planted Black Aeonium cuttings

I tried this method with an aloe cutting I took a while ago. As you can see in the photo above, the aloe cutting has developed a beautiful root system.