Weekend Update: Catasetum and Others Bloom!

I'm very pleased to see my new Catasetum blooming. This is the plant I bought at the orchid show several weeks ago, and I was feeling great trepidation at the prospect of responsibility for a very unusual orchid. So far, so good....

Black and yellow flowers, with a perfume similar to cassis. It's posing outside next to my Russian sunflowers, though I keep it indoors when I'm not photographing the blooms. Here's a closeup:

And here's one of my outdoor Pleiospilos, another great bloom:

And here's a perky magenta flower from the robust Marlothistella:

To all my readers, happy blooming and have a great weekend!

Another Bloomin' Weekend Update

Another spring weekend has sprung here on my sand dune, and there's lots of blooming going on!

Our wildflowers are in their full glory, as are the cacti....

This Parodia herteri (or uebelmanniana, it's been identified as both, help!) has enchanted everyone, after I've dragged them across the yard to see it.

Even my Crotons are blooming, and I've heard from several longtime gardeners, "Crotons never bloom...." I beg to differ!

And of course, Pleiospilos nelii is doing its best to bloom-

Native wildlife are everywhere, having fun in my yard and garden. These ibises, sacred birds of Ancient Egypt, came to visit this week and enjoy a nice brunch--

As did some Eastern Cottontails. I think they nibbled on my sunflower seedlings, but then, the sunflower patch had to be thinned out anyway....

To all my readers, have a beautiful and peaceful weekend!

Pleiospilos Plethora, Part Two

The usual Pleios I see for sale are, of course, Pleiospilos nelii, the regular green kind, or with a slight magenta flush. The first I ever bought was this species. It's growing a new set of leaves right now:

And here's the top view, so you can see the newly emerging leaves a little better.

And as I mentioned in Part One, everything gets the same nametag, "Pleiospilos nelii"- even when it is clearly NOT a nelii!

Check out the one on the left. If that's a nelii, I'm Dr. Who!

Even the pleio on the right looks a little suspicious to me, the leaves are angled and not entirely round....

So I re-read the section in Doreen Court's excellent tome, "Succulent Flora of Southern Africa", to try to figure it all out. The revised edition just came out, so it has all the new names and explains what has been moved to where. On pg. 47, for those who are following along in their books, many Pleios were sent to genus Tanquana in 1986, while 3 others were exiled to Titanopsis Land.  Pleiospilos now has 2 subgenera. The first, Pleiospilos, is unbranched or only slightly branched, and includes nelii, bolusii, and simulans.  The second is branched and is called Punctillaria. There is only one species, compactus, which has 5 subspecies.

At this point I admit to some confusion as to what I am actually growing....But hey, they are all cared for in the same way, and they all have those wonderful polka dots.

Now is that a "come hither" look or what??



Pleiospilos Plethora Part One

My Lithops aren't doing much of anything at this time of midsummer--they really are imitating rocks, so I thought I'd look in on the Pleiospilos gang, which are doing a whole lot of new leaf generation this time of year! Here's the pink beauty of the bunch, Pleiospilos nelii, variety "Royal Flush".

She's posing with the Bloomin' Babytoes, and an Aloinopsis schoonesii.  Pleios are from the Karoo, so hot and dry is the way they like it. Even when actively growing, like this one is, Pleios don't seem to like much water. They love a good misting in the morning, then a sparse watering every 10 days or so. They have soil similar to my Lithops- very well-draining, lots of pumice/perlite. Granite chips on top to prevent rot. Light colored Lithopot so they can be getting lots of sun outside without the roots overheating.

Now here's a mystery.  Our local nursery, the only one that sells Pleios, labels all of them, every single one, "Pleiospilos nelii"--even those that clearly belong to a different species. The question for me, since I'm not an expert, is WHICH species?

So what do you think this one is, simuluans, compactus, or another?? I am thinking simulans, but I'm really not certain. It has some of the lovely pink of the "Royal Flush", so it could be a hybrid, actually....

I'll have more Pleios to show later. For now, try saying "Pleiospilos Plethora" ten times fast! ;-)