Indeed!! Magnificent individual!

I was going for a closeup of this brand new branch on namaquanum



and only discovered the colorful 6-legged visitor at the base afterwards. Tiny!

Cute, as long as it doesn't take a shine to the new growth!

P. geayi now has 3 heads.



Whole trunk visible here

And blooming too, nice!

The unofficial beginning of winter is when I move my brevicaule under cover ... which ended up being yesterday. Before the leap:



As it goes leafless and signals sleepy time ahead, I move it under the eaves where it is protected from the rain. It still gets water through the winter (every 2 weeks or so) but no rain unless it comes at the right time. I credit this maneuver for the plant's longevity in our mild winter rainfall climate. The nice thing about that location under the eaves is that it has a southerly exposure, so it actually gets lots of direct sun through the darkest days of late fall and early winter, just coming at it sideways.

Good looking plant!
Mine sits dormant too in front of a South window!

This up close and ugly shot is a composite of 50-60 individual photos, to give some depth and bring out the surface texture



Another plant in decline here (getting water half as often as before)

I think the close up came out really interesting! Amazing technique!

Do Pachypodium difficult to grow? I probably will buy some next month, if I can find some beautiful one at the right price.

lamerei, geayi = common, easy
bispinosum = easy
others = variable

Given lots of light, excellent drainage, regular water during growing season, less frequent water during rest.

I have one now, so far has grown 1 or 2 additional leaves, it is in bright hot area now, but no direct sun, will move it to a spot where it can get some direct sun then

I grow a few for many years, in Summer outside here in NJ and inside during the cold months. Saundersii is blooming right now in a nice sunny spot.
The only time I lost a really large plant (P. lealii ) was during a chilly, rainy spell in the Spring. It would have been alright if I hadn't repotted the plant. Should have left it pot bound!

Updated:Ceiba - Silk floss tree At Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida

I think it's a Ceiba, those conical spines are too fat for Pachypodium.

I don't recognize the bark/spikes.

We cross-posted!🙂

Baja_Costero said: I think it's a Ceiba, those conical spines are too fat for Pachypodium.

You are right I found this thread:
The thread "Storm victim...Floss Silk Tree (Ceiba speciosa)" in Photo of Floss Silk Tree (Ceiba speciosa)

The trunk really is dramatic. And the older the plant, the more so. It's fun to see these oddities and especially when they are doing well.

Baja_Costero said: The trunk really is dramatic. And the older the plant, the more so. It's fun to see these oddities and especially when they are doing well.

Yes and surprisingly we would probably grow these in pots as bonsai.

Here are a couple of plants we saw in Oaxaca. I was mostly taking pictures of other plants, but these are native to there and so they were prominently featured in the bot garden.





Pachypodium in winter mode here ...



Age spots, as it were



Site of the original flowering event



Compare these next two pics... one is a single shot (f/16) aiming at the front-most part of the plant and the other is a composite of 12 shots (also f/16) focusing further and further back ... big difference in apparent depth of field




Using the same method closer up



Here showing the difference between the internodes it arrived with (bottom) and the ones it developed after it got here (top).