Haworthia cooperi var. venusta GM292

Since this has been a month with lots of Haworthia pics, I thought I may as well end with one as well: H. cooperi var. venusta. Again, this is seed grown and I know I've posted it before...twice last year in fact. I'll probably post it at least that many times this year as well. Can I help it? I like it.

Epicactus 'Delicate Jewels'

These aren't the great big huge flowers one comes to expect with the epicacti. They're quite small in fact, and - as the name implies - a bit delicate.

Oreocereus doelzianus (Syn.: Morawetzia doelziana)

A fantastic hairy cactus which dependably produces these amazing flowers every Spring.

Rebutia 'Sunrise'

The first of many flowers to follow on this fun, small-growing cactus. It's a hybrid of Rebutia heliosa and R. albiflora and is very dependable.

Cleistocactus tupizensis bud

Sometimes the buds are as interesting as the full flower!

Lepismium cruciforme

A wonderful tropical cactus (from Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay) that should get more attention than it does. During the growing season, the plant gets a beautiful purple color that's very striking, and the stems can eventually grow to four feet in length. Though endangered in it's natural habitat, it's easy to grow and - after danger of frost is gone - makes a great hanging plant for patio.

Haworthia limifolia var. ubomboensis

One of the most popular of the haworthias has to be the "Fairy Washboard", or H. limifolia var. limifolia, with its dark green color and washboard-like ridges on the leaves. I assume it's popular since I see it all the time in the big box stores. This variety hardly looks like the same species, characterized by smooth, lime green leaves. Just as easy to grow, I would think it would be easier to obtain...but what do I know?

Haworthia 'Kewensis'

 

This plant is a good example of the historic confusion in the naming of haworthias. Originally described by Von Poellnitz as a species - H. kewensis - it most certainly is a garden hybrid. Since the latinized name (in accordance with the rules for botanical names) has been published, it can be retained for the hybrid or cultivar name, but it has to be altered. It now must be capitalized, not be printed with italics, and be included in single quotes. (Botanical names are latinized, printed in italics, with the Genus capitalized and the species in lower case.) Ordinarily, hybrids or cultivars must be named with a name in the commonly used language, not a name which has a Latin ending. Got that?!

And the plant? Hey...just enjoy it!

Epicactus 'Padre'

The flowers are beginning to come faster than I can keep up...which is fine! Who says I want to "keep up"? This is the time of year to take your time, to savor each blossom take in the moment.

Haworthia pulchella var. globifera

This has kind of been haworthia month - with a few excursions into other areas. And so I continue tonight with Haworthia pulchella var. globifera, seed grown plants originally from Montagu,  southeast of Anysberg, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. They're slow growers and don't send much of any offsets sooo, any impulse to corner this plant has to be tempered with a good deal of patience. The incurved leaves are characteristic of this variety.

Another face of 'Gold Bug'

 

I've really come to like this heuffelii. I know...I've had this one up before...several times! Yes. But, in defense, these are new pictures taken today, on our first day in the upper 70s F...That's about 25 C, for those of us who spent all our lives the old fashioned way. Its full name, if you don't have it memorized by now, is Jovibarba heuffelii 'Gold Bug'.

Haworthia magnifica var. splendens GM447

Another example of H. magnifica var. splendens, this one grown from seed from GM447. One can understand why these plants are so popular!

Haworthia aristata MBB6917

From Kaboega, Zuurberg, in South Africa, this is another plant which is not readily available. This has been raised from field collected seed and are still showing a bit of winter stress. They'll be greening up soon.

Haworthia kingiana

Grown from seed collected at the Great Brak River by David Martin, this specimen is almost totally devoid of the characteristic white dots. As a result, it really stands out among the others.

Haworthia magnifica var. splendens GM452

Grown from seeds from west of Albertinia in South Africa. It was cloudy when I took this picture but in brighter light the colors and the porcelain-like surface become more evident. Highly prized.

Haworthia pumila

The seed for these plants was collected by David Martin at Mower's Station in South Africa. Beautiful plants, often not represented in personal collections. Like many haworthias, it's not at all difficult to grow, but it is difficult to grow well. But, of course, that's the challenge and what makes it all worth it. I'm not interested in collecting one of each species for the sake of having a large collection. Having a few plants which I really like, nicely grown, is much more interesting.

Haworthia arachnoides var. scabrispina

Another unique and outstanding haworthia, Haworthia arachnoides var. scabrispina. We only have a limited number of these in our collection and they're highly prized.

Our nighttime temps have risen and hopefully we're past those cold nights with the threat of frost. Now it's rain...but it's warmer!

Haworthia truncata 'Lime Green'

Back to the haworthias. I'll be posting a few more species and cultivars in the next few days, interupted now and then by a few echeverias and cacti.
This is one of those cultivars which has become a "must have" haworthia, and you can see why! Enjoy!

Epicactus 'Sparkling Burgundy'

 

And the other big Spring explosion yesterday was this great epi, 'Sparkling Burgundy'. Its dependable, huge flowers pulls us forward into Spring even if our unseasonably cold nights are trying to drag us back into Winter.

Copiapoa esmeraldana

 

Among the first of the cacti to flower this spring is this Copiapoa esmeraldana, and - wow - what an auspicious beginning to Spring.

Haworthia pygmaea var. pygmaea

These are also seed grown with seed collection data but I failed to notate such when I took the photo. I could go out to the greenhouse and get it, but it's 11:30 at night and cold out.

Haworthia cooperi var. dielsiana

Tonight I'm posting two sets of the same species - Haworthia cooperi var. dielsiana - both grown from seed, but seed collected at two different localities. The variation in color is accurate, but other than that they're pretty much identical. 

They've been grown in the same mix and the same location and are now very large and impressive.

We had a run of nice warm nights for a while but now the nighttime temps are getting a bit cool for some of the touchier plants. So...back to some heat at night. But, hey, I'm not complaining. They're having a blizzard in North Dakota!

Haworthia bolusii GM555

At the other end of the spectrum from the "tough leaf" species I've been posting are these soft-bodied beauties. They never cease to amaze me.

Haworthia longiana

A very unusual haworthia, Haworthia longiana is still quite uncommon in collections. It's stiff, upright leaves give it an appearance somewhat similar to some of the smaller growing agaves. We only have the one and it's quite slow growing.

Haworthia emelyae var. comptoniana

These are nice, robust, easy to grow plants, and are much more commonly available than some of the others I've been listing. But in my opinion, that doesn't make them any less interesting and desirable.

Haworthia emelyae var. major (seed from Garcia's Pass)

Unfortunately we don't have very many of these, but this is an especially interesting variation on Haworthia emelyae var. major.  We have others of var. major, and they're very nice, but none are quite like these.

Haworthia mutica GM 394

This is Haworthia mutica from seeds collected near Protem in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. I really love the markings on these plants.

Haworthia magnifica var. splendens JDV 94/108

The habitat for these plants is East of Albertinia in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Much sought after for markings and coloration, as well as the patina which they get with maturity.

Slow growing in cultivation, but not especially difficult.

Haworthia truncata var. maughanii GM287

These are some of the Haworthia truncata var. maughanii that we have, grown from GM287 seed. They've grown into absolutely beautiful plants - in my humble opinion! Mature plants like these can be a little spendy, but they're worth every penny.

And for those who are new to growing haworthias, we've posted an article on this subject here.

Haworthia truncata 'tenuis'

Not generally accepted as a variety by Bayer, this is nevertheless one of the smallest forms of this species and has its own charm.

This is the last of the Haworthia truncata plants for a while. Tomorrow I'll begin some of the H. magnifica var. splendens.

Haworthia truncata II

 

A few more of H. truncata, showing again the diversity that's present in the species...and again, some variegation.

Haworthia truncata I

These are a couple of pictures of variations on a theme, the "theme" being Haworthia truncata. Both are seed grown, but show the variability within the species and the interesting variations which can occur within a group of seedlings. 

 

 

The first picture is of a plant from seed which was collected from large growing plants, what used to be labeled "crassa". The second picture is one which is showing a bit of variegation.

Haworthia bayeri GM264

The first of the haworthias I'll be posting over the next week is this nice specimen of Haworthia bayeri, grown from GM264 seed. The dark leaves are set off with the amazing lineation.

Originally included in H. emelyae, GM264 is from near Uniondale in South Africa.

Photos in our yard

Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of some Haworthias, but today just a couple of shots Lynn-Marie took in our yard yesterday. A little bit of Spring in Portland, Oregon.