Accent plant, Orbea variegata, Carrion flower

With the winter rain coming, the desert plants starts blooming...what a joy..

and the forest Orchids are starting aswell..

nice plants, does carrion flower stink much or long?

Yes Bill it smells when the sun hits them, they get pollinated by flies.

Hello Andre – thanks for sharing the image of the Orbea, it brought back fond memories of cultivating many Stapeliads in the deserts of Arizona. Now that I live under the redwood forests of coastal California that is not possible, it’s too wet and cool, but we do have a local native plant that is similarly beautiful and similarly fragranced in preference for flies. It is Scoliopus bigelovii, the fetid adders tongue. It grows abundantly in my native garden and is flowering now – lovely, but… when the sun warms the blooms the fragrance is, well, not so nice. I am considering cultivating it as an accent plant for its nice foliage and beautiful blooms – with the added benefit that it will keep other bonsai enthusiasts at a bit of a distance!

Thank you again for sharing!
David B.

Wow
David that is amazing! And the foliage is exeptional, I would have potted it long ago! Is it a bulbous or rizomatic plant, it cant be an annual?

But the thing I envy you the most for, is sitting under the Redwoods.. I just went to show my brother our secret forest near Heidelberg in the Cape, The "Groot Vader" (Great Father) ( a title inhereted by the owner of the Forest.) planted Redwoods there in 1976 after the almost complete destruction of the Forest for Yellowood. Nobody know of t
his place... The Redwoods are now 36 years old.

Wow Andre - it looks like home! Thank you!

I have visited the Cape several times and yet never knew there was a redwood forest planted there, but with the amazing variety of plants in your region I have always been focused on more local flora. You live in one of the most amazing places on earth!

Yes, Scoliopus is a rhizomatous perennial. It is in the Lily family. I have intended to pot some up, but just haven’t gotten around to it…

Thanks again!
David B.