Arid vine maintenance

I returned to the Greenhouse after a 6-week break so that I could do some traveling. I'm grateful to be allowed the time away from the volunteer opportunity at the University's Botanical Greenhouse, which I so much enjoy. Today, I was assigned the task of maintaining the vining plants in the desert room, on the Collection side of the greenhouse.

The vining plants in this room are situated on one of the benches along an internal glass wall. The vines are attached to a number of wooden and metal trellises. Over the past year, the vines have grown and become a bit misshapen. Some of the stems are quite dead, or nearly so. My task was to cut down, prune, and re-string the vines to be ready for the coming growth season.

Here are a few examples:

Xerosicyos danguyi, silver dollar plant

Xerosicyos, or silver dollar plant, is in the cucumber family Cucubitaceae from Madagascar.

Fockea edulis

Fockea is a succulent shrub in the dogbane family Apocynaceae from Africa. It has the nickname 'water root.'

Bowiea, climbing onion

Bowiea volubilis, or climbing onion, is in the asparagus family, Asparagaceae. It is from the desert regions of east and southern Africa.

Adenia glauca

Adenia glauca is in the passionflower family, Passifloraceae, native to southern Africa.

Here is the finished product of my attempt to get the bench ready for the growing season:

Vining and climbing desert plants

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