Hairy Balls

Yup, that's right - hairy balls.  Not trying to be bawdy here.















A hort guy's genius name for this lovely flowering plant.

At the garden wholesaler, the plant label grabbed my attention, so I snapped it up and planted one in a container.

One month passed... two months... three months...

The plant grew taller and taller - but no hairy balls.  Patience was needed.  My curiosity peeked.

A few weeks ago, as I was watering I noticed  a few cascading petite flowers hanging from the 6ft stalks.  Waxy and very delicate, it was hard to imagine where the hairy balls would appear.

Gomphaocarpus is the genus name of the milk weed plant. (Wiki says.)  Indigenous to Africa.

Big surprise today...noticed green puffs with soft hairs... I could not resist touching them.  Hort guy's having a good laugh right now.


This plants towers over all of its companion plants in the container garden.  A misfit for containers, unless it was a very large container - like a Denver Botanic Gardens container.