cacti/succulents/aloe/yucca which tolerate humid climates

[Sandy Loam]

Hello. Can you recommend a few exotic-looking cacti or succulents or aloes or yuccas that will tolerate heavy humidity in summer, considerable shade, and will endure brief cold snaps as low as 18 degrees fahrenheit/-8 degrees celcius.

I am currently growing the following and, so far, these have made it through humidity and cold blasts:

- cereus peruvianus cactus, which might actually be cereus hilmannianus

- san pedro cactus

- opuntia ficus-indica

- another spineless opuntia which arrived nameless; may be 'Burbank spineless"

- senecio mandraliscae (blue chalk sticks)

- kalanchoe luciae (flapjack plant)

- opuntia falcata

- agave perryii

- yucca elephantipes

- yucca rostrata 'sapphire skies'

- agave 'blue glow'

- euphorbia tirucalli (green form -- "pencil cactus") - may eventually be killed by cold

- euphorbia tirucalli "sticks on fire" (red form)

- and a few others...

- and I recently bought a crassula capitella and an aenoeum arboreum which have yet to be tested in my climate

I have killed some gorgeous desert plants with my humid climate, like a fantastic aloe ferox. Xeriscaping is definitely not the norm in my region.

Your suggestions would be much appreciated.

Many thanks.

[Silas_Sancona]

Sandy Loam,

Sounds like a great list to start from and agree that such landscapes are practically unheard of here, which imho, is a shame, anyhow..

Some stuff I brought with me that might be worth checking into:

Stenocereus {Pahcycereus} marginatus aka Mexican Fence post

While I plan on keeping them in pots, many of the Echinopsis and x hybrids can handle cold. I have heard that afternoon shade is a must here if trialed in the ground though.

Have a couple Blue Candles (myrtillocactus geometrizans) 1 of which will see exposure to the full Florida sun/summer rainfall to document how it does.

Echinocereus pentopholus aka Lady Fingers. Putting some cutting started plants out to test their durability.

As far as Yuccas, have Yucca, now classed as Hesperoyucca whipplei which will soon go into a 5gal and remain out in the elements this year. Adding a couple Blue Yuccas, (Y. ridgia ) to try this spring. Researching others from areas of Mexico with a similar climate to ours to try.

As far as Aloes, did a little digging last night and found an article which listed hardiness for a large list of species. While the information was geared toward CA, it was interesting to see how many species were cold hardy to around or, just below 20F. Listed descriptions included how well some species tolerated extra moisture and whether or not they were "winter growers" most of which absolutely hate summer irrigation. These were on that list.

Aloe aculeata A. arborsecens
A. brevifolia A. camperi
A. candelabrum A. castanea
A ciliaris A. excelsa
A. glauca A. marlothii
A. plicatilis, A. striata
A. striatula

There were several more listed but some were listed as tolerant only to the mid/upper 20's. Others didn't have cold tolerance data listed. Additionally, look into some of the hybrids. Currently have two specimens of Aloe X Hurcules. While debatable, it is supposed to handle temps down into the lower 20's and is a fast grower. It also thrives on lots of summer water, or so I have read. Very surprised to see none of these here so far.

While not bulletproof, it could be a neat reference to start from. I have also referenced other information suggesting that a key to growing them here is to look for aloes from summer rainfall regions of South Africa. Im sure that info works for many other succulent and cactus as well.

Hoping to visit the local chapter of the Succulent society to see what they are working with in their demo gardens.

As far as Aeoneums, have heard mixed information on how they do here.

-Nathan-

[tank]

Sandy,

If I remember correctly, you weren't really into the larger sized agaves/succelents, correct?

Hope the winter has treated you well.

Agave obovatifolia is currently my favorite.

Agave agave victoriae-reginae has been a very good small agave for me. Also seems to avoid weevil attacks.

Agave colorata is also a medium sized agave with interesting leaf coloration/patterns.

Agave vilmoriniana is nice speedy grower that is spineless and can handle our cold snaps pretty well.

Yucca rostrata has done well for me and is a stunning plant.

Jason

[Sandy Loam]

Thanks, all. I will look into those suggestions and, for the benefit of others tuning in, I encourage anyone else to add more suggestions for humid climates.

Thanks.

[epiphyte]

As moisture/humidity increases...so too should the drainage. One way to provide excellent drainage is to grow succulents epiphytically.

[PalmatierMeg]

I second Agave ovatifolia. There is a huge one in the Raleigh NC area. I planted a 1g about 18 months ago. It's over 2' diameter now and not a spot on it.

[Geoff]

If you like tree aloes, Aloe vaombe is a great one for tropical Florida (saw a lot of very happy ones flowering in Busch Gardens)... not a good one if you get freezes, though.

[Dakotafl]

Poinsettia are great for our climate, i saw a cool Poinsettia hedge yesterday, most people don't utilize them in that way, many think they just naturally die after Christmas..

Edited February 18, 2014 by Dakotafl

[Dakotafl]

Not a succulent though...nevermind.

[David in Berkeley]

You've got several things already that in no way are that cold hardy, such as Senecio mandraliscae, any Aeonium and Kalanchoe luciae, Euphorbia tirucallii 'Sticks on Fire' are all damaged with just light frost and wet winters here in northern California.

[Sandy Loam]

Hi David. Those four succulents you just mentioned are not supposed to be cold hardy, but they have been for me reasonably hardy for me for about 2 years now. The exception is aeonium arboreum, but I have it in a big pot and I will have to bring it inside if temperatures dip below 25 (temps haven't dropped quite that low here for a couple of years). Since you're in greater San Francisco, I'll mention that I saw some large aeonium arboreum growing in front of a house on 18th street just west of Delores Park. They were big enough to have been growing there for a while, I would imagine.

Also, Kalanchoe Luciae I cannot comment on. It seemed to be doing fine last winter, but it had a tragic demise due to a large phoenix palm limb that kept scraping over that part of the succulent bed. It was destroyed as a result.

Supposedly pencil cactus, Euphorbia Tirucalli, cannot tolerate temperatures below 28 or 27 F, but mine did fine at 26 degrees Fahrenheit briefly. I had to clip off a couple of small branches that had turned black and soggy, but my pencil cactus was otherwise fine and has been okay for a couple of years now. I saw a big pencil cactus growing in Palm Springs, CA, and it was thriving there despite some chilly nights.

As for Senechio Mandraliscae (blue chalk sticks), mine have not cared about my winters at all. The poor performers were the ones drooping in the shade that wanted to be in the sun, but cold nights has not been a problem, so far at least.

This year, winter has been rather rainy, but ordinarily the winter is our dry season. It can get quite cold here overnight, but typically with no frost. Real frost can happen in this part of northern Florida, but it is a rare event. We even had a hard freeze one night during the tragic 2010 event.

[David in Berkeley]

Just saying that the plants I mentioned all got some frost damage here in the SF Bay Ares at just 30°F. I probably grow about a dozen different Aeoinums here, they love our conditions, but almost all of them do suffer damage starting at 32°F. The red form of Euphorbia tirucallii is particularly sensitive, the green form is much hardier here and had no damage at 29/30°F. I might recommend Aloe vera, Aloe 'Johnson's Hybrid', Aloe x delaetii, Agave ' Blue Wave', Agave desmetiana 'Joe Hoak', Agave bracteosa as ones that can handly more heat and humidity, but not necessarily winter cold .

[tank]

Agave desmetiana will melt during a normal winter for us but it makes a great container plant. Very "well behaved" agave, and as mentioned, handles the humidity and rain really well. Mine shows damage around 26F, if left unprotected. Mine also doesn't produce offsets, which makes it easy to keep tidy, but means I have to track a couple more down to add a couple desmetiana planters.

[redbeard917]

I have a few Agaves planted in the ground here south of Tallahassee. Agave lophantha 'quadricolor' has done the best. Agave montana and victoria-reginae have a good amount of mushy rotten areas from all the rain, but not 'quadricolor'. There was a large A. weberi (not 100% on ID) near Blountstown which did well. It flowered and died, but I got a few pups.

There is a large Dasylirion quadrangulatum in Panama City. After seeing it, I purchased a seedling for myself, which seems to be happy but hasn't grown much.

I have one of (( http://www.yuccado.com/aloe-x-aristata-hybrid.html )) these (Aloe x aristata hybrid) in the ground. It has proven hardy to moisture and cold and now has pups. Great looking plant, but pretty small and hard to notice.

Here is the Panama City Dasylirion.