Repotted and Lovin' It Part II

So for Thoughtful Thursday, I decided what to write for next Pensive Tuesday. It will be about...dirt.

But strangely, my post on re-potting has proven to be one of my most popular. People from about 20 different countries have read it. OK, so re-potting is good fun, it's action-packed, it's a special time for me and my plants. And since I've finished quite a few more pots recently, I've been doing a lot of it. The one above is for 3 of the young cacti I started from seed last year. The seeds were labeled "Cactus", but I think they could be Mammillaria. Let's hope so.

Here's a repotted Crassula. Though it was only re-potted about 10 days ago, it's grown so much in that time that I've already started its next, larger pot. Good grief, curb your enthusiasm, Crassula!

These Lithops marmorata, aka "The Brains" look symmetrical and tidy in their new pot. And this tiny julii (about 1.5cm tall) was so exuberant, it got its own tiny pot (about 5cm tall) as well:

This next pot is here simply because I'm proud of it. No idea what's going in it yet. It's the terracotta clay with malachite glaze; I'm quite smitten with this combo.

And finally, more malachite glaze, this on white stoneware. The sculpture on the right is part of a family project. Any family member or friend that visits me on my sand dune is encouraged to (ie: strongarmed into) making a garden sculpture for my garden. This one is my father's first sculpture ever. I love it!

For Repotted and Lovin' It Part III, I'll probably show the incredibly messy areas where I actually re-pot these guys, and make the pots! You may be shocked....

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!!

Prototype Cactus Pot in Red

Here's the prototype for some earthenware pots for cacti. The little Ferocactus latispinus seems to like it. Do you see what it's posing with?? The Devil's Backbone! So of course it's happy, isolated in its new pot from the Kalanchoe Fatale.

I'm not sure about the accents in blue, they are made with an opalescent glaze called Bluebell, but I'm not crazy about it. So the next batch of pots are either plain, or accented with a glaze called Aztec Turquoise, which is a matte green/blue and very subtle. The blue here just sort of pops too much. The aged look is done by rolling the red clay on a mat that's just had buff clay rolled on it. I don't know what I think of the "weathering effect", the next batch does not have it....

I'll blog on the next batch in a week or so and you all can give me your opinions.

New Day, New Clay

I bought some Laguna Rojo Linda today- an earthenware with less shrinkage and more plasticity than some others. I thought I'd try a few red Lithopots, instead of my usual sandy stoneware. Here they are, drying into greenware (posing off the drying rack for the camera). If anyone's given this clay a try, let me know what you think of it. I'll show them again when they're fired and glazed.

Lithops Rescue Squad!

Too much water!

Lithops take a lot of abuse in big box garden centers. Most don't carry them, but some do, and it seems the employees always want to water the poor little creatures like crazy. Lithops don't like much water, and when I mention that to the garden shop employees, some insist that "Lithops must be fat!" --They can't stand to see them get wrinkled, which is natural in dormancy. So lots of rotted lithops, burst lithops, and just plain sad and desperate lithops. I rescued this little guy for a couple dollars from a big box store last week. His outer leaves were rotten. Shook him out of his soggy soil, (roots seemed OK), replanted him in a Lithopot with well-draining soil. We'll see if he survives....