Smaller Pots for the November Shows

The San Gabriel Valley Cactus and Succulent Show is November 1 and 2, and the Xiem Clay Center Fall Sale is November 14 and 15.  I'll be at both and have been dividing up pots to decide which pot goes where.  There are about a dozen waiting to be glazed, four drying, but probably missing the San Gabriel Show, and another dozen that need to be finished this week.  I have flats of sale plants ready to go and have more or less picked out the show plants, with three or four to be potted this weekend. I'll photograph these next weekend.

On to recent pots.  Nearly all of these were done in a single working session with 50 pounds of clay turned into 2 1/2 by 5 inch pots.

A Yellow magnesium glaze with brown streaks from iron inclusions.

Same clay with a white glossy glaze spotted without streaks.

This is a first run of something that is bound to be repeated.  A matte green on a dark iron clay.

A different clay body, the darker body does not take stain well.  This is an iron stain on a stoneware body.

A Carbon Trap Shino with great iron spotting, one of my favorites for this clay.

There are other shapes and sizes as well.  There are 4 1/2 by 3 inches, great for conophytum and other miniatures with shallow roots.

Finally a couple of larger pots, the left about 8 inches tall and 4 inches in diameter, light stoneware with iron stain.  The right a mix of light a dark clays.

A few larger pots for the November shows

November is the last shows of the year, with the San Gabriel Valley Cactus and Succulent Show at the  Los Angeles Arboretum on November 1 and 2, and the Xiem Fall sale in Pasadena, two weeks later.  It's a busy month.

Getting the feet right on these bonsai inspired pots has been a problem for a couple of years.  The glaze is almost exactly where I want it, with clay showing through in the center, the lower lip and the feet, and the glaze speckling from green to black everywhere else.  I made another in this series, with a different clay and glaze .

This is potted with a Maihueniopsis subterranea, with the less satisfying feet cropped out of the picture.

Also in this potting exercise were several slightly smaller pots.

These smaller pots are about three and a half inches across and about seven and a half inches tall.

Another from the same series

These have proved to be popular, always selling out, and never the same.

A variegated crested Cleistocactus winterii in the process of reverting from a crest is shown in one of these pots.

The pots shrink considerably during drying and firing, and I often would prefer one the size of the just assembled raw clay rather than the fired version.  with a bigger set of templates, 

A larger version is possible.  I've only made two of these.  One was sold to a friend at the Inter-City Show in August.  This one will be on the sale table in November.  I'll be making more in the winter.

There are a lot of smaller pots being fired, and ready for another post in a week or so.

Repotting Medusoid Euphorbias

Although Euphorbias are a major part of my collection, some of them get pushed to the back of the table or on the list of plants to be repotted 'soon'.  For at least some of them 'Soon' has arrived, pushed as much as anything for the need for photographs for an upcoming talk on Euphorbia cultivation.  All of these were in an old potting soil mix, in most cases so compacted that it could barely absorb water. The plants were suffering from neglect and they all need some work even after repotting.  All of the plants were moved to my new standard mix, which is about 60 % washed pumice, 20% crushed black lava rock (also washed) and 20% vermiculite.  This drains quickly, absorbs water instantly, doesn't compact, and is better at nutrient storage and usage than pure pumice.

On to the plants.

Euphorbia astrophora, sitting is a pot with compacted soil far longer than it should have.  Good new growth on top, but too much brown on the sides.

A better view.  Healthy new growth, but not what it should be.  It was getting watered and fertilized regularly, but little of either were getting to the plant.

Much to my surprise, the roots were in great shape, and much longer than expected.  I was planning on using a slightly deeper pot than it was in, but this gave me an opportunity to use something more interesting.

A much more interesting pot and a more interesting display.  It still needs to grow out for another year or so and get back to full health, but this is a step in the right direction.

Euphorbia albipollinifera, patiently waiting for more attention, although this was repotted several times as it outgrew smaller pots.  It was sprawling out of a 6 inch plastic pot.

When unpotted, the roots were fairly shallow, but best of all, an offset was growing from the side.  With proper conditions, this will grow and make a much more interesting plant.

Albipollinifera repotted in a fantastic Joe Wujcik pot.  The offset is just to the left of center, poking through the potting mix.

Since my mix is basically rock, I'm no longer using top dressing, except when I get ready to show the plant.

Euphorbia dusiemata, a relatively rare Euphorbia, but one that I could never really make look good, regardless of how it was potted, and shuffled off to the land of neglect.

Cleaning the dead stems was an immediate improvement, but there was still to solid potting mix to clean out.

Cleaning showed the roots, while healthy were very short, even for this small pot.  The tuberous central root is nearly as large as it would get in habitat.

Euphorbia dusiemata repotted in a better mix.  Still not wonderful, but given a chance to show its worth.  In the end, this may be a species that is justifiably obscure.

This weekend (Aug 9 and 10) is the Inter-City Cactus and Succulent Show at the Los Angeles County Arboretum.  It is the big social event (for plants and people) of year.  Just a few of the plants I will be taking to this year's show.

Agave potatorum v. verschaffeltii (Japanese Hybrid)

Note the small offset on the lower left.  This is the second in about 6 years. It needs a bigger and better pot.

Euphorbia sepulta, from Somalia in one of my pots.

The pot is about 6 inches across, but this is still a small specimen.  It should fill this next year.

Euphorbia suzannae-marnier in one of my pots

From Madagascar, slow in a 4 inch pot.

Haworthia arachnoidea v. setata, from South Ladismith 

Haworthia magnifica

No data on this, but one of my favorites.  Potted new for this show, it was too tight in a smaller pot.

Jatropha species

Unknown species, an old Larry Grammer Plant now potted in a Debbie and Charlie Ball Pot.

Mammillaria chioncephala

An old plant, I think from seed, but I'm not sure.  It makes it to nearly every show, and usually leaves with a first.

Mammillaria crucigera in a Joe Wujcik pot.

Grown from a single head.

Mammillaria perbella crest in a great Joe Wujcik pot

Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp macrochele

In an Erica Van Aukier pot.

An old seed grown Astrophytum myriostigma, about 8 inches tall, a great favorite

This is a great show, the best in the west, probably the most competitive in the US.  IF you are around, come by.

Cactus and Succulent Society of America Selected Entries

This weekend is the Cactus and Succulent Society of America's National Show.  I'll be showing and selling both plants and pots.  Below are a few of my Show Plants.

Bursera schlechtendalii in a Joe Wujcik pot

Commiphora guillauminii in one of my pots.  The pot is about 8 inches tall.

Euphorbia bongolavensis in a Ted Alford Pot  The pot is about 6 inches in diameter.

Euphorbia species Madagascar  A favorite plant, but it really needs a better pot. This pot is about 8 inches tall.

Fockea crispa in a Debbie and Charlie Ball Pot  This is a seed grown plant.  The pot is about 8 inches in diameter

Fockea edulis, in fruit, this is also seed grown  This is in a 10 inch bonsai pot.  It's as heavy as it looks.

A Gasteria armstrongii x Gasteria bicolor hybrid in a Charlie and Debbie Ball Pot

Mammillaria chioncephala, a token cactus, at least for this blog, but not for my entries as a whole

Senna Meridonalis in one of my pots.  It is just leafing out, but will stay in leaf until December.  The pot is about 8 inches across.

One Billion Year old Pots - Start to Finish

Slow, even for me.  These are all textured pots with the texture made from impressing billion year old limestone into the wet clay.  The limestone comes from weathered outcrops common in the Mohave desert.

These are all small pots, about three inches across and about 4 tall.  Actual dimensions are on the Skyview Succulents Web page.

The texture varies considerably from rock to rock.

With clear favorites being the one at right and the right pot in the top image.

8 Pots from a series of many.

3 More Pots from the kunanyi series

A stone collected from the top of kunanyi continues to fascinate me.  Another series of pots was completed using the same stone used in an earlier post.  A bit of the stone imprint pattern shows in some of these pots giving a rhythm that that is sometimes hard to get in smaller pots.

There are six pots made in this series.  This is the first.

And the second, with a darker stain than the previous.

And a final.

These are all about 6 inches across and about 4 1/2 high.  All made as part of a special order.

A second stone from the same collection awaits.  It has a different texture, and I look at it every day.