A little bit of luck

Some background:

I have all of my mesembs under one 2 bulb, 24" fluorescent light fixture. You can fit a lot of 'thops in a small space, but things are really tight under there right now. I was barely able to fit everything back inside under the lights once the weather started cooling down. If some plants hadn't died over the summer I would have been in a real pickle.

Needless to say I've been coveting this:

image from: http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?cat=2,44716&p=10549

The three-tiered one of course.

Actually I've been wanting one since high school.

The price has always stood in the way though: at $525 that is far outside what I can ever justify spending to light my plants.

So my plan was to make a do-it-yourself one when I move out, a la Gayla

And then I got lucky: the lovely lady mentioned in this post also had a three-tiered Floralight she was looking to sell.

For $100.

I might have squealed.

The bottom light fixture wasn't working, but my wonderful, talented dad had it fixed in 15 minutes.

And now it sits in pieces, in the garage with the rest of my life. Waiting for the day when THV and I move into our own house. I get giddy thinking about all the seedlings I can start in this thing. And all the lithops that will fit on it!

One day.....

White lithops flowers! finally!

Sorry for the disappearance - am in the middle of finishing up my M.Sc. thesis and headed to the cottage for a few weeks of quality writing/editing time - with no distracting internet. Or central heating. Or running water.

I actually took these photos before I left, just haven't had a chance to post them. My L. juliis have white flowers! So beautiful. Today the flowers are all shriveled and dried, but I'm hoping my attempts at paintbrush pollination worked and I'll have seed pods.

Another one of my 'thops flowered while I was gone, also white. I'm not sure what species it is, but white flowers seem to be rarer so maybe it will help me narrow things down. I'll try to get a picture of it this weekend.

Another pic, cause they are so pretty:

More lithops flowers to come!

L. juliis starting to show flower buds

More lithops flowers to come. I am particularly excited about these juliis. Both are developing flowers, which means I can try and pollinate them and get a seed pod. Mind you this plant came to me with a seed pod, which I saved, so I'm not sure I need more seeds...but what the heck.

Also if I peer deeply into the maw of my L. marmorata v. elisae it looks to be developing a bud too.

Crevasse of L. marmorata v. elisae.

I hope one of these plants have white blooms!

Lithops flowers!

L. terricolor "localis" in flower

WOOT!

Came home from a thesis hideaway to find that my three lithops have flowered! Took the pictures right at sunset; I really like the quality of the light at this time of day, will have to try sunset picture taking again.

I swirled a paintbrush (aka surrogate insect) around the flowers for the heck of it. I know hydrid lithops aren't supposed to be very vigorous or interesting, but I figured what the heck, why not try to get some sort of a seed pod.

L. dorotheae flowering, but stubbornly closed

My L. fulviceps has already finished flowering - I didn't take a picture of him since the flower was shriveled.

The plant that should be underwater, but isn't.

Thats right! An adult Bowiea volubilis! I've only been wanting one of these guys since high school, only recently started seeds to grow my own.

And lo and behold, there were several awesome looking bowieas at the plant sale I've been posting about for the past few days.

I was good.

I restrained myself to one.

A small one at that.

But what an awesome looking plant! And thanks to my awesome high school plant buddy for reminding me of what we called these guys as we poured over houseplant books, dreaming and plotting and yearning for unusual plants. The plant that should be underwater but isn't.

Check out the bulb (caudex?):

Sigh, I can die a happy plant collector now.

What am I going to do if all 8 of my bowiea seedlings survive? Giveaway?

New succulents and caudiciforms - Part 3

Part 1 & Part 2

Aloe ssp.

This guy was brought as a giveaway that no one else was interested in (seems like pups of this plant have made their rounds of the club before). So I took pity and gave him a home, even though aloes really aren't a strong interest of mine. Someone mentioned the species name, and of course I forgot to write it down :(

Oxalis ssp.

Not a succulent. Not a cacti. Not a caudiciform. Not sure what possessed me to pick this guy up. Love the red leaves, not sure he will survive long since I have a tendency to under-water cacti and succulents. Normal plants don't usually stand a chance with me.

Yet another euphorbia...

...neat plant! neat pot!

Crassula ssp?

I think this is some type of crassula (same genus as Jade plants)....so tiny and adorable!

Trichodiadema bulbosum - I think

This guy needs a haircut, but ignoring that - check out the roots on him! Gorgeous!

That concludes my tour of all the new plants I picked up....with one exception, one I am so excited about it deserves its' very own post!

New succulents and caudiciforms - Part 2

See Part 1

Fockea crispa?

The tag says Fockea crispa, and google seems to support that it's a fockea, not convinced its a crispa though, the leaves seem more like other species of fockea. An adorable little caudiciform! Pictures of more mature plants are spectacular. Gives me something to aim for with this guy!

Dorstenia ssp., flowering!

I have a weakness for caudiciforms if you haven't noticed already :P Love the flowers on this guy! Technically it's an inflorescence, I think. 

Jatropha podagrica seedling

After my trials and tribulations growing these from seed (undocumented on this blog apparently), a club member kindly started on for me!

A euphorbia!

Seems similar to my beloved Euphorbia obesas. Man I love strange plants!

Lapidaria margaretae

And finally for this post: a very mature Lapidaria margaretae, I tend to prefer to look of these guys when they are young and only have one or two leaves (aka they look like rocks), but couldn't pass up this old gentleman.

Continued in Post 3