Herself’s Houston Garden

I saw my first stapelia at the San Antonio botanical gardens and it was love at first sight. But it was in a green house so I only thought of it as an indoor plant. Later I ran into some in hanging baskets at the Conroe Extension office, again in a green house. I found some online at Logees, potted them up and left them out all winter. While they were not thrilled they made it through and they are going in the ground shortly.

They are very easy to grow, put them in full sun, water lightly. They may be grown in pots, the ground here or in hanging pots. Mine bloomed frequently over the summer. The flowers are about 6″ across.

These are carrion flowers giving off the scent of rotting meat to attract flies for pollination. So it’s probably not something you want planted by the front door.

Stapelia is native to South Africa, and surprising to me are members of the milkweed family.

Propagation: Snap off a stalk and plant.