plant hybridizing

Aloes in Kelly Griffin’s Garden

by Debra Lee Baldwin December 6, 2014 – Posted in: Succulents

Kelly Griffin is a succulent breeder for Altman Plants, the largest grower of succulents and cacti in the US. Kelly is renowned for his aloe hybrids—unusual and colorful succulents new to the nursery marketplace. In Kelly’s own garden are aloes yet to be introduced, that he’s experimenting with, growing for flowers so he can harvest the [...]

That poinsettia you bought? Here’s the back story.

by Debra Lee Baldwin December 9, 2011 – Posted in: Garden Adventures

Of hundreds of articles I’ve written for the San Diego Union-Tribune, this one is my all-time favorite. Above: A wild poinsettia. (Photo by Bruce Leander, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.) It was a Quasimodo of a plant. Even so, Franz Fruehwirth was intrigued by the gangly poinsettia he saw growing in a sunny corner of [...]