T-rex Plants Blog

Published weekly. Ish. You can also follow along on Instagram at @trexplants

Conophytum pagae – Growing Guide for Fellow Novices

Conophytums are one of those mesembs that can really grab your attention, your interest, and your obsession - but then also be enormously challenging to grow and keep alive. In fact, I'd argue that they're up there as one of *the* most challenging mesembs to grow if...

Thaumatophyllum stenolobum (Philodendron stenolobum)

I picked up this plant as a young, established specimen during sort of peak COVID plant craze - around September 2020. A friend who was into the rare tropical plants had reposted the starts to his own story on Instagram, mentioning that they were a good price, well...

Edithcolea grandis: How to Make Your Persian Carpet Flower Bloom

You, like me, may have seen the flowers for these stapeliads online somewhere and thought to yourself "I'm good at growing plants. I could totally grow these. I would love to see the flowers!" I too had those thoughts. I too thought it would be simple to just grow the...
Care Diary: Aloe erinacea

Care Diary: Aloe erinacea

This aloe is a show stopper in nearly every collection, particularly as they gain some size. They are slow growing, which contributes to some of what makes them so coveted: a large specimen is often 30+ years old, usually older.  I picked mine up in 2019, and they...

Care Diary: How to Grow Discocactus chrystillophilum

Care Diary: How to Grow Discocactus chrystillophilum

I have held off on blogging about the care of this particular species of cactus as I've read and heard that they can be finicky, difficult, and tend to be quite sensitive. I've had my Discocactus chrystallophilus for almost a year now, and they're relatively small,...

Care Diary: Agave celsii var multicolor

Care Diary: Agave celsii var multicolor

When it comes to excellent landscape Agaves, the Agave "celsii multicolor" is a popular choice. They reach a moderate, manageable size and are extremely attractive in the garden. They're also somewhat uncommon, and typically found as small seedlings in 4" pots if...

Care Diary: Aloe aculeata

Care Diary: Aloe aculeata

I admittedly have an obsession with the aloes I've seen at the Safari Park that look like, as my brain likes to call them, "Dinosaur Skin". The ones at the Safari Park are huge, but the texture seems to occur in a handful of species. I'll be talking about one of my...

Care Diary: How to Grow Ledebouria socialis

Care Diary: How to Grow Ledebouria socialis

Inspired by seeing that Keri of @succulents.and.clay recently picked one up, I thought I'd describe care for one of my favorite not-quite-succulents: Ledebouria socialias. These funky little bulbs are fantastic. I found one little bulb of a Ledebouria socialis years...

Caring for your Frizzle Sizzle: Is It Really Dead?

Caring for your Frizzle Sizzle: Is It Really Dead?

The Frizzle Sizzle is one of those plants that probably should come with WAY better directions than they do.  Every year, usually in winter and spring, new batches of them are released into retail nurseries and everyone gets excited about their new little ridiculous...

Care Diary: How to Grow Aloe castilloniae

Care Diary: How to Grow Aloe castilloniae

Aloe castilloniae is a highly sought after species for true aloe enthusiasts. If you've ever looked it up, particularly as a newbie to the hobby, the price tag even on small or young specimens might raise an eyebrow or two. They are a slow growing species from...