MrXeric's flowers and things

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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

Post by MrXeric »

The Adromischus leaf prop growing a new leaf. The second leaf failed to root and is drying out.
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Some more fall flowers.
The beloved "Thimble Cactus", Mammillaria vetula subsp. gracilis.
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Mammillaria hernandezii, stems flat from keeping dry for the winter.
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Mammillaria karwinskiana subsp. nejapensis.
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flowers close up
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a couple of Namibian Lithops
Lithops julii C297 45 km SE of Warmbad, Namibia.
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Lithops karasmontana subsp. bella SB 2181 Aus, Namibia [MG1625.46].
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

Post by MrXeric »

While a large part of the country is hunkering down for a record-breaking Arctic winter storm (-40F/-40C and lower wind chills? yikes! :shock: ), it's been warming up here in balmy California, with expected Christmas Day highs in the 80s (27C+). Makes for perfect photographing weather :) .

The warm weather must've triggered this third M. hernandezii plant to bloom over a month later than the other two.
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Another pretty mamm, Mammillaria huitzilopochtli subsp. niduliformis L 1495.
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I like the winter stress colors on this xSedeveria 'Letizia', it almost glows.
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Speaking of glow, check out the spines on this small Ferocactus latispinus plant.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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Disaster struck a few days ago while I was away on a trip. Most of my conophytum pots and a few cactus seedling pots were trampled and/or knocked over by some sort of animal. Judging by what look like claw marks and lack of bites or eaten leaves, maybe a cat or even a possum. I think most are salvageable but time will tell. I'll post pictures of the damaged plants later, for now here are some pics of my conos from the last two months when they bloomed.

Conophytum flavum 'ornatum' SB 1117 Animub, Northern Cape, South Africa. This has the largest flowers (around 2in./5cm.) of my collection and is usually the first to flower, late summer to early fall.
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Conophytum limpidum SH 385 Achabseberg, RSA. Third growth season with me, has yet to divide.
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Conophytum devium subsp. stiriiferum B+H2298 Geelberg, Western Cape, RSA. Had it as long as the limpidum. I think these stay as single heads?
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I like the namesake "icicles" on the leaf body.
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Conophytum ectypum subsp. brownii.
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A different clone, this one divides more readily. Both this and the plant above started as 2 leaf heads with me.
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The tiniest of my collection with matchstick head leaves, Conophytum minusculum 'paucilineatum' RR 1302 Clanwilliam, WC, RSA. Only in their second year with me and have yet to see them flower.
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A partly corroded penny for scale (3/4in, 19mm diameter).
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And my three night-bloomers. Very fragrant flowers.
Conophytum obcordellum 'mundum' BM 7923 Pakhuis Pass, RSA.
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Conophytum truncatum 'wiggettiae'.
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Conophytum minimum 'wittebergense'. I found a better light source for night pictures. This one has divided prolifically, going from 3 heads to 10 in 3 growth seasons.
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Better focus on the leaf markings, this time under late afternoon sunlight.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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The stormy weather and coming home late has made it difficult to take good pictures with natural light, but I finally found some time during these recent sunny days this past week (though more rain is on the way!) With all the rain we had I collected about 40 gallons (150L) of rain water just from placing several 5 gallon buckets under the open sky. :)

Here are some of the damaged plants I mentioned last post.

C. limpidum SH 385 The gash looks like overwatering, but it isn't!
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C. devium subsp. stiriiferum B&H 2298, utterly mangled. :(
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C. ectypum subsp. brownii, now that the wounds are dried it looks partially eaten, but it wasn't. When fresh, the severed tissue was still clinging to the leaf pairs.
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The Conophytum all seem to have recovered despite being knocked out of their pots. These two plumped up nicely after watering.

C. minusculum 'paucilineatum' RR 1302
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C. minimum 'wittebergense'
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Several cactus seedlings and a couple cuttings were also knocked over. These have been dry since November. Hopefully they come back this spring.
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The affected shelf. Used mostly for seedlings that need protection from the sun (notice the window screen mesh). The top shelf (not shown) has full sun exposure for the plants that can take it. The whole thing is under the roof of a south facing, covered patio. The conophytum are in the small terracotta pots. Notice the white from the pumice and lack of top dressing from having been repotted.
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C And D
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

Post by C And D »

Great photo quality
I can't seem to find good lighting this time of year
Check out our plant and seed lists
http://www.CandDplants.com

Craig and Denise Fry
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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C And D wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:10 pm Great photo quality
I can't seem to find good lighting this time of year
Thanks Craig. I am always chasing the sun to get the best light (getting things to focus is another issue...)
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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A couple of Titanopsis blooming

Titanopsis calcarea
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Titanopsis hugo-schlechteri I have it down as var. alboviridis. I have doubts. The flower is much more fragrant than the calcarea's, this being an intensely sweet coconut fragrance while the other plant's flowers have a vaguely honey-like scent.
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2 year old seedlings of Bulbine mesembryanthoides (subsp. mesembryanthoides, or is it var.?)
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top detail
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I repotted these from their seedling pot for the first time late last summer. Nice tuberous roots.
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

Post by Minnesota »

A stunning display--what a rare collection of wonders. I'm impressed (and jealous!).
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

Post by keith »

trampled and/or knocked over by some sort of animal." I got so tried of that I built the back to back cold frames I've shown in another post. You may have to build a door on your wooden cold frame. Plants all look very nice .
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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Minnesota wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:15 am A stunning display--what a rare collection of wonders. I'm impressed (and jealous!).
Thanks for the kind words!
keith wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 5:47 pm You may have to build a door on your wooden cold frame. Plants all look very nice .
Thanks keith. Yeah, I am thinking of just nailing down a sheet of mesh that I can roll up when needed, but maybe I should consider something sturdier. I like how compact your cold frames are. I think I'll build something similar when my seedlings get bigger.
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C And D
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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I love those Bulbine, which I call Bulbine aff. mesembryanthoides
They are quite different than the real Bulbine mesembryanthoides,
I have been having trouble with Bulbine the last couple years, and lost all of both types

I have some seedlings that I started this fall of the aff. type, hopefully I can keep them alive

The soil your Bulbine are in looks odd, I like the rocks.
Those are perfect roots!

And the Titanopsis hugo-schlechteri is most likely var. alboviridis.
They are common on the market now, they have a lot of variation, some more bluish than others
and the real Titanopsis hugo-schlechteri is very hard to grow for a long duration, at least for me

One of the first things I did when it came to building growing areas, was to make it critter proof
But sometimes I leave the door open during the day and birds and other things sometimes get trapped inside for the night
Haven't had too much damage lately though
Check out our plant and seed lists
http://www.CandDplants.com

Craig and Denise Fry
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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C And D wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 4:03 pm I love those Bulbine, which I call Bulbine aff. mesembryanthoides
They are quite different than the real Bulbine mesembryanthoides,
I have been having trouble with Bulbine the last couple years, and lost all of both types

I have some seedlings that I started this fall of the aff. type, hopefully I can keep them alive

The soil your Bulbine are in looks odd, I like the rocks.
Those are perfect roots!

And the Titanopsis hugo-schlechteri is most likely var. alboviridis.
They are common on the market now, they have a lot of variation, some more bluish than others
and the real Titanopsis hugo-schlechteri is very hard to grow for a long duration, at least for me

One of the first things I did when it came to building growing areas, was to make it critter proof
But sometimes I leave the door open during the day and birds and other things sometimes get trapped inside for the night
Haven't had too much damage lately though
Thanks Craig. I actually bought both the Bulbine seeds and the Titanopsis from you a couple years ago. I did some looking around, and just like you said, there is considerable variability in this taxon. In fact one source considers var. alboviridis to just be a local form of T. hugo-schlechteri.

I really think your "aff mesembryanthoides" is actually subsp. or var. mesembryanthoides. I did a bit of research and found that two subspecies or varieties are recognized (or at least known): subs/var mesembryanthoides and subs/var namaquensis, the former described as having 2-4 leaves (Haworth's original 1825 description has it as "around 3 leaves"), while the latter is described as having at most 2 leaves (I couldn't find the original publication where this was described). Here's a summary https://pza.sanbi.org/bulbine-mesembrya ... yanthoides.

Jean Andre Audissou's seed list has both:
"v. mesembryanthemoides"
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and "v. namaquensis"
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ADBLPS also has a listing for "B. mesembryanthemoides v. mesembryanthemoides" (from seed originally provided by Audissou)
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There is some discrepancy in the number of leaves (and flowers) found in the original descriptions, but I think that's just the difference in growth in habitat vs cultivation. As for the soil, what's visible is just a top dressing of mostly granite. There is a mineral mix I keep most of my plants in under that (pumice, DG, scoria, a bit of organics).
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C And D
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

Post by C And D »

Good to have clarification
obviously the word "aff." means not named yet, but associated with

I asked Steven Hammer years ago if it has been named as a species or subspecies and he said no, just call it aff. for now
So I was going to stick to aff. until I got a new name

The inner bluish sheen of the plants is just mesmerizing
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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Some winter blooming plants.

Curio rowleyanus. This started as a 12 inch strand I found in a shopping cart in a Lowe's parking lot. It's now in two pots plus some more scattered around after trimming. Here's one of the pots, both sharing the soil with a bromeliad (a cultivar of Guzmania lingulata I believe). Not bad for 2 years growth. :)
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Nice aromatic flowers. Smells sweet and spicy, like cloves and cinnamon. The bees love them.
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Mammillaria perezdelarosae. Flowering nonstop for the last month and probably has another month's worth left to go.
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Turbinicarpus valdezianus...
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...and 3 weeks later.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things

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Some late winter / early spring flowers.

Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus
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Stenocactus multicostatus 'erectocentrus' SB 1883
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Mammillaria stella-de-tacubaya
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Mammillaria senilis
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Parodia haselbergii
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