Pick up know-how for tackling diseases, pests and weeds.
Farm bill, farm marketing, agribusiness webinars, & farm policy.
Find tactics for healthy livestock and sound forages.
Scheduling and methods of irrigation.
Explore our Extension locations around the state.
Commercial row crop production in Arkansas.
Agriculture weed management resources.
Use virtual and real tools to improve critical calculations for farms and ranches.
Learn to ID forages and more.
Explore our research locations around the state.
Get the latest research results from our county agents.
Our programs include aquaculture, diagnostics, and energy conservation.
Keep our food, fiber and fuel supplies safe from disaster.
Private, Commercial & Non-commercial training and education.
Specialty crops including turfgrass, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals.
Find educational resources and get youth engaged in agriculture.
Gaining garden smarts and sharing skills.
Creating beauty in and around the home.
Maintenance calendar, and best practices.
Coaxing the best produce from asparagus to zucchini.
What’s wrong with my plants? The clinic can help.
Featured trees, vines, shrubs and flowers.
Ask our experts plant, animal, or insect questions.
Enjoying the sweet fruits of your labor.
Herbs, native plants, & reference desk QA.
Growing together from youth to maturity.
Crapemyrtles, hydrangeas, hort glossary, and weed ID databases.
Get beekeeping, honey production, and class information.
Grow a pollinator-friendly garden.
Schedule these timely events on your gardening calendar.
Equipping individuals to lead organizations, communities, and regions.
Guiding communities and regions toward vibrant and sustainable futures.
Guiding entrepreneurs from concept to profit.
Position your business to compete for government contracts.
Find trends, opportunities and impacts.
Providing unbiased information to enable educated votes on critical issues.
Increase your knowledge of public issues & get involved.
Research-based connection to government and policy issues.
Support Arkansas local food initiatives.
Read about our efforts.
Preparing for and recovering from disasters.
Licensing for forestry and wildlife professionals.
Preserving water quality and quantity.
Cleaner air for healthier living.
Firewood & bioenergy resources.
Managing a complex forest ecosystem.
Read about nature across Arkansas and the U.S.
Learn to manage wildlife on your land.
Soil quality and its use here in Arkansas.
Learn to ID unwanted plant and animal visitors.
Timely updates from our specialists.
Eating right and staying healthy.
Ensuring safe meals.
Take charge of your well-being.
Cooking with Arkansas foods.
Making the most of your money.
Making sound choices for families and ourselves.
Nurturing our future.
Get tips for food, fitness, finance, and more!
Understanding aging and its effects.
Giving back to the community.
Managing safely when disaster strikes.
Listen to our latest episode!
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture does not promote, support or recommend plants featured in "Plant of the Week." Please consult your local Extension office for plants suitable for your region.
Even in times of difficulty, it's always possible to learn something. The recent ice storm sent limbs crashing through the roof of my hobby greenhouse, and try as I did, I couldn't keep enough heat in to stop things from freezing. Nearly all my orchids, all of my begonias and most of my succulents turned to mush. But not the gasterias.
'Gasterias are a group of South African succulents related to aloes and Haworthias that are now all classified in the asphodel family, a breakout from the overly large lily family. Gasterias often go by the common name ox tongue because the leaves are tongue shaped and covered by a series of white, warty outgrowths producing a sandpaper-like texture.
'Gasterias tend to have what botanists call a "distichous" leaf arrangement, which means leaves are arranged opposite one another along a central axis. In some species, the axis spirals as the stem elongates, while in others, the leaves are loosely arranged in a rosette. None of the gasterias have the tight rosette arrangement of leaves found in the aloes or Haworthias. To complicate their identification, immature plants often have a different leaf arrangement than mature plants.
'Gasterias were given the Latin name for stomach because the inch-long flowers have a pink, inflated, stomach-like pouch. Flowers appear in early spring in the greenhouse on long, variously arranged branched inflorescences held well above the foliage.
'Quite by accident, I had assembled a large assortment of gasterias. About four years ago, I assembled my succulents together on a bright patio in late spring. By chance, several species began flowering, and before long, seed had formed. Never missing an opportunity to grow something new from seed, I gathered the seed and planted them out. The first year, the seedlings were tiny, only reaching transplant size a year later. By the time of the great freeze, many of these four-year-old plants were beginning to send up bloom spikes.
'I suspect the gasterias are hybrids because individual plants are self-incompatible and must receive pollen from a different plant if seeds are to form. The seeds collected from the various plants generally resemble their parents, but there is a fair amount of variability in the progeny. All except for one species survived the 27-degree temperature, possibly an indication that G. brachyphylla, a species native to the mountains of interior South Africa that are described as "generally frost free," was involved in the hybrid mix.
'Gasterias are easy to care for as houseplants. I've kept mine in a cool, relatively dimly lit bedroom over winter where they are kept quite dry over winter. In the summer, plants are moved outside to a bright, but shaded, location where natural rainfall provides for most of their water needs. Overwatering is the most common problem associated with this group of succulents.
'Like most succulents, they need a well drained, gritty potting soil. Fertilization should be minimal during the winter and generally delayed until spring when the plants can be moved outside for the summer. A slow release fertilizer applied in April will provide all the nutrition the plants need for the coming season.
'New plants can be propagated by division of offsets in the spring, by leaf cuttings or by seed. Seed germinate quickly once planted.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired Extension Horticulturist - Ornamentals Extension News - March 13, 2009
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture does not maintain lists of retail outlets where these plants can be purchased. Please check your local nursery or other retail outlets to ask about the availability of these plants for your growing area.