Of Squirrels, Lithops and Agaves

Innocent enough looking isn't it? Don't let it deceive you, because all kinds of mischief is going on inside that little brain. This winter they have been especially good at trying to chew their way into our attic. That battle continues.

But, worse than that, they have discovered one of our greenhouses. Our first evidence was the Lithops. They got into the greenhouse at night and ate 90% of the Lithops, leaving just empty shells scattered about the bench.

We patched the holes and thought we had won the battle of wits. No such luck. Two new holes dug in under the outside edge of the greenhouse. This time they decided the agaves were haute cuisine. And their tastes run to the more expensive, rarer varieties. This is war!

Lithops dorotheae

I was out in the greenhouse today with my camera at hand and I just had to share this image of Lithops dorotheae in flower. Such an amazing plant.
We've been having some nasty weather over the last few days - heavy rains and gusty winds, but it's calmed down now, and the heavy rains appear to be over. But along with that, the night-time temperatures are dropping down into the low 40s F (about 4.5 C), which means we'll have to start heating the greenhouses.  Enjoy your plants!

Succulents at dusk

It was a little late in the day when Lynn-Marie took these photos...Lapidaria margaretae and Lithops dorotheae.
Our weather is quite dry and warm for this time of year - 80 Fahrenheit for several days in a row, and the nights are in the mid 50s.

Lithops marmorata

Not a lot of "color" but wonderful markings and nice form.

Lithops fulviceps 'Aurea'

The new leaves are still working their way out. Looking good.

Lithops hookeri var. dabneri C13

A quartet of lithops in perfect harmony, doing their thing on cue.

Lithops optica var. rubra

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been posting much lately; it's been a little hectic. These are some seedlings of Lithops optica 'Rubra' that are beginning to  look really nice.
Our granddaughter from California will be visiting over Thanksgiving and I'm giving a talk on growing succulents to a Garden Club tomorrow. In addition to that, of course, we decided to open the nursery for orders until December 6 and we've been fairly swamped.
Finally, our weather is finally turning cold with our first hard freeze expected this week. Now any money we earn from the nursery sales goes "slurp" to the heating oil man.

Lithops bromfieldii flower

It's that time of year again, time for many of the mesembs to be flowering. First off, one of the nice yellow flower of L. bromfieldii. A wonderful surprise during these shortening Autumn days.

Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. volkii

The Lithops have been beginning to flower, among those being these plants (often referred to as the "pallid form" of the species because of the pale surface with less markings - usually). Originally from Namibia, it tends to clump readily, making it very popular with collectors.

Lithops 'Jackson's Jade'

One of our all time favorites. But of course, it's the all time favorite of a lot of people. Which also means that if you find somewhere that lists it as available, by the time you order it's out of stock. Life's that way sometimes!

Lithops optica 'Rubra' C81A

This was grown from C81a seed and it appears it got some unneeded water this winter. But it seems to be doing OK nonetheless. They are amazing plants, aren't they?

Lithops optica 'Rubra' C287 two-year olds

Obviously one of the seeds was not 'Rubra' - or perhaps a reversion - but they're doing very nicely.

In the next couple of posts I'll focus on Lithops for a bit.

More Lithops flowers

Lynn-Marie was checking on the lithops today and couldn't resist some more flower pictures. So, naturally, we share them with you!

Lithops trays

OK. The election's over so I can concentrate on getting some photos for the blog - among other things! This shows a portion of our lithops growing area, now mostly under lights for the winter. Not much of a picture, but it's all I had tonight. I promise. I'll do better!

Lithops aucampiae ssp. aucampiae v. koelemanii C016

These are the nice krinkly faced L. aucampiae var. koelemanii C016. And they don't have the excuse of age like we do :) .

Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. pseudotruncatella var. riehmerae

Another slight variation on Lithops pseudotruncatella.

Lithops marmorata

Lithops marmorata isn't flowering currently, but the plants themselves are worth a picture. These are a little crowded and are in need of transplanting, but that's for later.

We're into our Fall rains now, with an inch of rain expected again tomorrow. Our hearts go out to those on the Eastern seaboard of the United States as Sandy slams ashore. Hang in there folks!

Lithops schwantesii and L. karasmontana 'lateritia'

I finally had some time to get some photos today, taking a break from all the rain (and fairly warm weather) we've been having. We've also been feeling a bit under the weather.

The yellow flowered plant is Lithops schwantesii (grown from seed from the Taras Nature Preserve), and the white flower in the foreground is Lithops karasmontana 'lateritia'.

Lithops karasmontana C169 (Opalina)

No flowers today, but there is this photo of 'Opalina' - Lithops karasmontana (Opalina) C169 - to be precise.

Enjoy your plants!

Lithops aucampiae (Kurumon form)

This is a seed grown Lithops aucampiae Kurumon form. The ones in the back, including the one about to flower, are lithops terracolor seedlings, a couple years old.