Strange and Unusual Plants All Ready for Halloween
It’s that time of year, the weather is cooler, the trees are dressed up in their colors and people are almost ready for Halloween.
My youngest daughter, Gracie, is going to be a ‘butterfly princess’ this year and my son Kai will be the ‘Brawny’ paper towel guy. I bought him work boots (he loves those), a flannel shirt and of course, a package of ‘Brawny’ paper towels.
This year, we will be hosting the family Halloween night with my sister, brother and their families. I can hardly wait.
This post has been a huge favorite every year. I hope you enjoy it!
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My kids, aren’t the only ones ready for Halloween. Use your imagination and see how these plants are prepared as well…..
Octopus Agave (Agave vilmoriniana) beginning growing it’s snake-like flower stalk.
Growing up to one foot a day, like a snake coming out of the snake charmer’s basket.
Creeping Fig (Ficus pumila) climbing up the pillar and underneath….hanging down like spiderwebs.c
A Yucca reclining like a lovely lady.
But beware….she stabs you with her leaves if you get too close….
(This Yucca was trained to grow this way)
Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) dressed as a giant.
The ‘claws’ of an Agave
Ocotillo (Fouquierea splendens) with a Medusa hairstyle.
Sticks of Fire (Euphorbia tirucalli), will not burn you….but it is poisonous.
The spooky silhouette of a Shoestring Acacia (Acacia stenophylla).
You can almost hear the hooting owls…
Crested Saguaro (Saguaro carnegiea)
A saguaro all dressed up with a new hairstyle.
Twin-Flowered Agave (Agave geminiflora), sprouting horns.
And finally….
A beautiful White Oleander (Nerium oleander) flower lures you in with her subtle fragrance.
But Beware! She is deadly if ingested…
I hope you enjoyed the plants in their “costumes”.
Are you or your children dressing up for Halloween this year?
What as?
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
What a fun and clever post!
One foot a day flower stalk – then it dies. I feel surprisingly moved by this.
The Crested Saguaro (my favourite) is great fun . . . and the Twin Flowered Agave really does look as if it has horns.
Lucy
What a fun post, and great pictures. The trained yucca is beautiful, and the horned plant is adorable! 🙂
Astonishing! Unbelieveable cactus-plants. I haven´t got enough english words in my dictionary to give you a fair comment on this so here is one in swedish. Helt otroliga växter! Or as we also would say in swedish: Plantorna är helt outstanding! And you really nailed them on the photos.
Wow Noelle, what cool plants. I have seen that Euphorbia before and think it is really interesting. I can't imagine training a Yucca to be near a walkway. go figure….
Beautiful plants, such creative costumes! happy halloween!
Great post, Noelle. I enjoyed reading it and I love the white oleander. -Amy
Noelle,
Very creative post! I have award you the Scrap Blog award on my blog. I would love to have you participate, it would be great to learn more about you. ( if you don't want to, I completely understand.)
What a great post -I loved looking at all the unusual plants. So much fun.
vickie
Noelle, I like how you pictured these Agave. And yes, I had been stabbed, pierced with agave. Not too close for comfort type of plant..
Sure its a halloween party out there!
I love your plants all dressed up for Halloween. I know I've said it before, but I just love seeing how different the types of plants you can grow there are and how big they get.
Hello All,
Lucy, it is a wonderful thing to see the Agave expend all it's energy in order to grow it's stalk in order to create new life. I will be writing a post solely dedicated to Agave's in the future.
NorthofSweden, even though I don't understand Swedish, I appreciate the compliment!
Thank you all for your kind words.
What a great creative idea. Love reading the post.
Lovely fun post … I love your new layout. The drama in the forms of the desert is intense… like from another planet… conjures up much thought on plant metamorphosis. Great photos! Great plants! Carol
Beautiful pictures of desert cool species. My favotire strange and unusual plant is the TickleMe Plant. Your readers 5 kids will love Tickling this plant and watching it close its leaves and lower its branches. Check out the video at http://www.ticklemeplant.com
My students love growing the TickleMe Plant as plant science projects and PETS they can take home without any fuss.
The agave sprouting horns is a hoot! I enjoyed all your photos, but I had a laugh when you mentioned your daughter is dressing up like a 70's girl. To think that the look I wore in my prime is now considered a halloween costume!
Halloween has been cancelled due to the Hurricane! Feel badly for the children, but it is not safe yet to be on the streets!