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!

Beware the Tiger's Jaws!

Ah, Faucaria felina...my fiercest succulent! Here she is in her new Lithopot. Looking scary!

Faucaria felina subspecies tuberculosa- very bumpy!

Faucaria felina hail from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. There's apparently been lots of shuffling and hmming and hawing lately about the actual number of Faucaria species. As of 1999, there were six. Most species became felinas. They are very popular and now there are so many hybrids wandering about, that in the end, most botanists just want to call the whole lot F. felina and be done with it.  I've been looking for a red-tinged one, but haven't found one yet. Still, in any form, the protuberances and white dots make for an incredibly striking plant. They grow in winter rains and are largely dormant in spring/summer. Mine have been growing very slowly this summer, and do get thirsty every couple of weeks, so water now and then during the dormant season seems okay for now. If they get too much water, they burst and scar, and the gardener (me in this case) would feel great guilt! But so far so good with twice-a-month sparse watering.

Pensive Tuesday got pre-empted by the Awful Isaac, which is now causing a fair bit of mayhem on the Gulf Coast. We got plenty of the northernmost bands, and that was enough! At one point, the rains were so fierce it was like being pelted with a fire hose, and water was driving into the living room from under sliding glass doors! But those bands pushed northeast and we're in the clear.

Got a few new pots back from the kiln. Some porcelain Petrapots, and a red earthenware dish, what on Earth do you call the dish that sits under the pot?? The underpot?? My brain is turning to sand today.... Well anyways, here they are....

These have been getting either a white or clear glaze, or celadon. I experimented with bright yellow on a cracked one but I'm too embarrassed to show it. Let's just say, it will be nice for an Easter present.

Here's the plate, Rojo Linda clay (Laguna) with Bluebell glaze (Amaco). I like this one!

I tried one of these with Aztec Turquoise glaze instead, but it looks like a plate from a Lovecraft story- Cthulhu Ware, anyone??  Might look good with an F. tigrina!

(I may post the "bloopers" photos on a day when I feel more confident and humorous. Actually, a bloopers post would be pretty funny....)

Update: The nursery called it an F. tigrina. Alert readers noted it looked more like an F. tuberculosa, and, after much research and a headache, I've decided it's an F. felina subspecies tuberculosa. Whew!!