Okay, I'm off to Eppie Acres tomorrow. Any suggestions for my first foray into the epi world? Just pick what I like, or are there any easy ones I should start with first?
Except for May-June, it's dry and breezy here, if that matters -- they will be either in filtered sun or shade with bright light.
Oh, yes, and I have rather a brown thumb. :-) Wish me luck.
Help a rookie with her first plants...
I said it before and I'll say it again.....you lucky lucky lady!! Have a blast, take some pictures to share. Buy what you like and ask for advice from the folks at Epi Acres too. They send wonderful printed instructions with all their online orders, which I'm sure will be available to you also.
Savor the moment!
Happenstance, I'll try to do it justice. A friend was supposed to go along, but she couldn't make it. "Are you still going?" she asked. As if I was going to cancel! And miss a sale? Hah! Will try to remember to take the camera.
Kathleen
Have fun and let us know what you get!
I'm here, I'm here! The house is situated at the end of their street and from the outside you would hardly know what lies within....
One of her oldest plants -- I think it came from her father-in-law's collection, circa 1950.
Plants on sale -- much diminished, from what Pat said. What you can't see is the full width of the back consists of built-in planters containing cuttings in a perlite/vermiculite mix. Hundreds and hundreds of them . Pat says some people come in and just pick one of each! Almost every one of the little pots had a picture attached, plus she has an album with photos of all the flowers, so you can really see what you're getting.
Most of these plants are from a collection they just acquired that have not been cleaned up and verified -- they have to make sure what the label says is what they actually have. Lots of Rhipsalidopsis coming!
I think this was the shade house with the rickrack (on the left?). They said they had hundreds of blooms just a couple of weeks ago -- almost all gone now. They also noticed the flowers were bigger and the colors darker than they've seen before. All that rain?
Help me -- I think this is called Romantic Nights? This is in the grafting area, which is really interesting. They graft on to the cactus and the plants produce cuttings much faster. Pat showed me how one of the cacti had been exhausted and was squishy. Her husband handles the grafting and she says he has about a 90% success rate.
BTW, she told me she is using a liquid rooting hormone called "Roots" and having wonderful results with it. She demonstrated cleaning up a rather ugly plant, too, so I could see what stays and what goes. Very useful info. Can you tell I enjoyed myself? :-)
More in the grafting area.
Secret stuff?
A message from Pat -- keep an eye on the website. There will be a "grab bag" type sale for cuttings at greatly reduced prices coming in the not too distant future.
Just home after being away all day in the rain......gross, yucky, awful weather, but the plants in the garden are loving all that chlorine free wet stuff!
Thanks for the virtual tour! Looks like so much fun and how interesting to see behind the scenes of her operation.
Kaperc,
your tour is just marvelous! I like the grafting technique.
What damage did you do? :-)
Wow! Great pictures! Thanks for taking them and sharing them. What an amazing site! I had no idea that these could be grafted. I wonder what she uses as the base plant. It looks like she uses some other genus/species. Very interesting! What a fabulous collection.
Pat, her husband Jerry and a customer. This was just before the earthquake. :-)
Here's my haul for the day:
E. Ackermanii Hybridus -- http://www.epies.net/images/ackermannii.jpg Blooms very early in the year.
E. strictum - http://www.epies.net/images/steictum%20very%20large.jpg Big plant with buds!
E. arapahoe - large, solid orange
E. jovial - pink, I think
E. mystical illusion -- X large (Pat intends to register this one ASAP) She says it's the most fragrant epi she's ever seen.
E. Ruth Wallace - Ivory white with dark violet edge
Also, some cuttings of a Rhipsalidopsis ??? upright -- can't remember the name Pat told me. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it. No flowers to speak of -- just little buds -- but very nice looking leaves.
I'm a happy camper. :-)
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Ooops! It's the E. Strictum that is big with buds.
This message was edited Jun 17, 2005 3:55 AM
You scored! Nice job! I can't wait to see the blooms of your new acquisitions:-) Did Pat happen to say whether E. strictum is fragrant? I've heard that it is, and I've also heard that it is not.
Clare,
I made a mistake -- the E. strictum is the one that is big with bulbs (I think! -- I'll double-check in the morning), so we'll soon know if it's fragrant. I'm going to e-mail Pat about the mystery cutting, so I'll ask her that, too.
I tried to get varieties that bloom at different times so I don't have to wait all year to see a flower. The one thing I missed was a nice yellow, she had one that smells of citrus that I will have to get later. She does have a ton of stuff that is not on the web catalog.
You did very well for a rookie!!! LOL
Pat also sells on eBay (it pays to check the website pricing before bidding) and I've seen things there that are not on her regular website catalog.
http://stores.ebay.com/Pats-FLOWER-STORE-Epies-and-Daylily_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQdptZ0QQftidZ2QQtZkm
Whoa, I didn't know she sells on eBay. That is good to know! Thanks, Candy!
Thanks, Kathleen, for asking about the E. strictum. I'll wait to hear what she says.
I checked her eBay site -- I saw lots more when I was there. If you're looking for something special, give her a call.
BTW, she mentioned to me that the next EpiCon will be held at SD Wild Animal Park. You should see her talking about it, her eyes light up and she looks like a kid who's going to Disneyland for the first time! :-)
Hello. What is Pat's website address.
thanks much,
Julie
It is http://www.epies.net
Sorry, RUK, I missed your message earlier. Damage was less than $40 -- is that what you meant?. Except the E. strictum and the Rhipsalis cuttings, they are all 4-inch pots.
The yellow I want is E. Fruhlingsgold.
The Rhipsalis cuttings are R. crispata upright.
Clare, Pat says the strictum is NOT fragrant.
Here's a pic of the strictum. Apparently the wind got up while I was out today and I now have a few -- er, cuttings. Is anyone interested?
kaperc,
yes, that's what I meant by "damage".
I think you did very well, 40 bucks for all of that, how wonderful. I would have liked to visit the place too, nice stuff.
Kathleen, just stick them back in the pot, and they will root fine, and then you will have a fuller plant! Thanks so much for the info about fragrance. Now I won't get my hopes up for fragrance when it blooms.
Clare, yes, it can use a little filling in. I'll keep some in case someone at the round-up is interested.
This is where my epies came from, too. Thanks so much for sharing -- have enjoyed the virtual visit that you provided!
Glad you enjoyed it, Desert_Dew (love that name!).
Wahoo! Okay, I cheated a little, but it's my first bloom anyway!
Beautiful, Kathleen! Is that the strictum?
Yes, it's the strictum, Clare. The plant had two buds on it when I brought it home -- hence my 'cheating' comment. :-)
We didn't measure it, but figure it's about 5-6 inches. I happened to glance out the window and see it just before sundown. Definitely not scented, but sure is purty. :-)
Wow! What a treat just 4 days after you got those beauties! :-)
Have to admit one of the reasons I bought that plant was the instant gratification! Even the DH was impressed -- he now knows what an epi is! I think the other one will open today.
Pat said this was early for this plant and I might get another bloom later this summer.
Thanks! And your bloom is just beautiful. Glad your DH got to see a bloom right away -- bet he'll be hooked now!LOL
The other flower popped at the same time of day as the first yesterday -- I could almost see it happening from inside. Very exciting. I have a walking iris that does that -- you can watch the flowers unfold in the morning.
BTW, Clare, I brought the second flower into the house so I could look at it -- not a good idea. Shall we say...pee-yew! Of course, I did have it on the window sill while I was washing dishes, so it was in my face.
Kaperc,
what kind of pee-yew/scent??
Oh, probably not that bad to most people, Ursula, but I have a discerning nose! I have some salvias with a heavenly scent from afar, but if I go up to the plant to get a good whiff --- yuk. OTOH, I'll bury my nose in a plumeria any day. A strong rose or alyssum or pansies make me literally choke.
To me the strictum has kind of a musky smell, enough to make you want to turn away from it. I meant it was not something you would want to introduce to a closed space. The flower was wilted by morning and no more smell, even nose-to-flower - I'm a brave girl!
Kathleen, which was pee-yew? The strictum? Interesting! It sounds like you have sensitive olfactory glands. That is interesting that E. strictum does, in fact, have a fragrance. I had heard mixed reports. Thanks!
Clare, yes, it was the strictum. I wouldn't call it a fragrance, more like a slight odor! Were the other reports you've heard good or bad on the fragrance?
Have you ever heard of the orchid that smells heavenly to one person and terrible to the next? It's a pretty little thing, and I was once in a nursery and we put it to the test -- I bet every other person thought it was stinky.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/learning/publications/orchidreview/orchid1103/fragrant.asp
I wonder what the chemical is that decides whether it's good or bad for each individual? I do know that I usually like flowers that smell like citrus, coconut, vanilla, etc.