Kalanchoe beharensis

 One of the more spectacular Kalanchoes is beharensis, which grows to tree height in its native lands and, of course, in Disneyland. 

Disneyland Kalanchoe beharensis

I only just started growing my own, and it's not quite that large yet. 

Here's one of my K beharensis, being moved into its barrel. 

These are sometimes called Felt Plants, because the leaves are furry. They're slow growing, so if you get a 6" pot from the nursery, it will get impressive in the second year but won't become imposing for several more years. The one above was purchased in a ten-gallon container. Half-price! I think the Gnome Despot people assumed that because it had lost lower leaves, it was dying. Nope, the taller varieties usually lose the lower leaves. 

You can see in all three pictures that the professional growers take the top off the plant after a couple of years. (You can root and replant the top - Kalanchoe's main claim to fame is it is just busting out with meristematic tissue.) Taking the top off makes the root+stalk branch out when it regrows, so if you're lucky, you get a well-balanced three-branch plant. Of course, if you do it at home you have a headless plant for six months until it regrows the new tops. In my experience, any Kalanchoe that can be topped and regenerated like that looks far better than a single-stalk plant. In many cases, a single Kalanchoe plant can become a giant, weedy pole that is just not pretty.  A branched one looks much better. 

A resource I used for K. beharensis was Plant Care Today.

I've also collected a couple of different types of this lovely Madagascar plant, which I'll discuss on the blog elsewhere.