More Beautiful Lithops Stamps

As if collecting Lithops wasn't eccentric enough, now I'm collecting stamps of Lithops. Good grief....

These lovely stamps hail from Benin. They were issued August 30, 1997, and are part of a set of six. I cannot find the name of the artist. From the left, we have Lithops fulviceps, Lithops helmutii, and Lithops aucampiae, all in bloom.

The other three in the set show a Stapelia, a Faucaria, and a Conophytum. If you know more about the history of the set, or who created the lithographs, leave a comment!

A Great Read for Mesembs Gardeners: Steven Hammer Online

I confess, I am a Steven Hammer fangirl. This man just amazes me with his incredible knowledge (firsthand) of growing mesembs of all kinds. Back in 1995, he published one of the most thorough articles on growing Mesembs, with a particular emphasis on Lithops and Conophytum, in the US-based Cactus and Succulent Journal. It's now online thanks to NYU, and I have been reading it in sections (and trying hard to apply the knowledge therein) for over a year. I hope you all take a look, if you haven't already done so....

https://files.nyu.edu/ms689/public/AGM.html#sec12

And now, a few mesembs photos from my increasingly organized archive:

Clockwise from top- Argyroderma, Crassula, Faucaria, and the Inevitable Blooming Babytoes

Blooming Lithops Basking in the Sun

And here's the man himself:

Steven Hammer, Mesembs Expert

Happy gardening, everyone!

Weekend News for Lithops (and a Conophytum)

Well, it's time for the News For Lithops. Yesterday, Asteroid 2012 DA14 gave the Earth a close shave, and was visible with only a pair of binoculars! Sadly, our sky was cloudy. Couldn't see a thing. It's always like that, isn't it? My sympathy goes out to all the Russians harmed by the meteor which was supposedly not linked to the asteroid. Hmm...I'm giving those astronomers my best Larry David Staredown on that one!

Ah, Lithops, yes! My dish of younglings is growing well. I'm pretty sure the central one is an L. dorotheae. Remember the seed packet only said, "Mixed Lithops"?  So I'm just guessing here. But I'm quite sure its neighbor is not a Lithops at all, but Conophytum calculus. Yikes! Well, welcome to the garden, gate-crasher....

Lithops with Conophytum party-crasher

I've been doing a lot more painting lately, but have some new pendants back from the kiln. I'm using a new series of glazes that look wonderful on red clay. Duncan Artisan low-fire glaze and Amaco opalescents- I particularly like the blues and greens from both series. The green actually looks like aged copper patina and is wonderful on white clay, too. I've even started a little sculpting, something totally new for me.

 OK, time to get fit with a run on the beach, but it's quite chilly today, and I'm a tropical coward when it comes to cold weather now. You may see me out there in a parka and mukluks!  Have a great weekend!