Fairy Garden

These are the shoes our two boys wore when they were little (now in their 40s). Each year they get a little more encrusted with lichens and fungi mixed in with the sempervivums and sedum. We call it our little fairy garden. (The dead evergreen pieces are from the coast redwood overhead.)

The photos were taken by Lynn-Marie.

Enjoy your plants!

Bringing on the Clowns - part 2

I just posted some pictures of Epicactus 'Clown' not long ago, but when the flowers are there, who can resist?

 

Created, and registered by Phyllis Fleschig of the San Diego area in 1982, this is truly one of the best hybrid Epiphylums to come along in a long time.

Mammillaria zeilmanniana

Yes, this is Mammillaria zeilmanniana in flower, but it's also an old grafted crest. Yes, it also has a couple of normal sections, which will have to be removed later this summer. But...in the meantime, we'll just enjoy the flowers.

Echinopsis flowers

On the opposite end of the scale from "weird" are the echinopsis flowers. When these bloom it just takes my breath away. I was watering plants in one of the greenhouses today and glanced over to the other side and - whoa! - they were wide open. We've been growing plants like these for over 40 years and they still surprise me.

 

Cleistocactus tupizensis

Sometimes we lovingly refer to cacti as "weird" plants, and this one kind of falls in that catagory: long, brightly colored flowers on hairy but prickly columns, which quite regularly creates astounding, crested fans.

Epicactus 'Whirlibird'

These pictures don't quite do this flower justice. The orange of the outer petals and the purple edges of the pedals is missing. Sorry. But you get the picture. It's one impressive flower.

 

Succulent Cupcakes

The Pixel Whisk blog has a really cool recipe for succulent cupcakes. I don't have time to do these - and, besides, I have tried making fancy cupcakes without much success - but perhaps someone out there does have the time...I'd be glad to serve as the judge! You just have to be careful to eat the cake and not the Echeveria.

Echeveria 'Chroma'

I understand this is a relatively new introduction, but I have no information about the developer of the cultivar. 'Chroma' appears to be the correct name, though at least one site lists it as 'Croma'. Whoever developed it, it's a very nice, small growing addition to any Echeveria collection.

Enjoy your plants!