Some spring cheer in the garden and greenhouse

in Succulent growers4 months ago

This winter has been brutal and killed off a few of my plants because we had quite a few nights of minus temperatures. Most were inside or in the greenhouse but the ones in the ground suffered.

Thankfully the cacti always start to let us know that the wheel has turned. Stenocactus are always one of the first to bloom: The first picture is Stenocactus crispatus and below that, S multicostatus. Multicostatus is happy to live outside but Crispatus has only begun to thrive now that it is in the greenhouse.
stenocactus crispatus.jpg
stenocactus multicostatus.jpg

I got some new Turbinicarpus, the first one is T pseudopectinatus and the one below is T pulcherrimus, a hybrid of some kind. I'm in love with the pectinate cacti. I have more Turbinicarpus but I'll show them when I have more flowers.

Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus.jpg

Turbinicarpus pulcherrimus.jpg

Mammillaria are also starting to wake up: the first picture is M bocasana and the bottom, a form of M bombycina

mammillaria bocasana.jpg

Mammillaria bombycina.jpg

My peyote is still a little flat from being kept dry over winter but it's started flowering and seems to flower all summer instead of only once like many other cacti.
Lophophora williamsii.jpg

I noticed this cute little crab spider in the crassula while I was moving pots around. They change colour as camouflage although I'm not sure why pink was the choice here. A good reason to keep pesticides to a minimum though.

crab spider.jpg

Euphorbia are winter flowering although the correct term for their flowers are cyathia. They don't bother with fancy parts like petals but they do make nectar and you can see the ants hard at work in the bottom picture, which is of Euphorbia pseudocactus. The top picture is E tubiglans

Euphorbia tubiglans.jpg

euphorbia pseudocactus.jpg

That's some of what's flowering now, I'll post more once some buds have opened and I can show a good selection. @monster-one, here are some Turbinicarpus for you

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These are gorgeous!

The spider looks like a blossom, fallen from the crassula behind it.

 4 months ago  

Thank you! I haven't seen a pink crab spider in years, they usually go white, yellow or brown

I killed my cactus years ago :) On one winter evening, I opened a window and left the flat for grocery shopping, planing on coming back in like ten minutes. When I actually came home two days later (quite a busy party life here in Prague), the poor plant was stribing. We lost it forever just a few weeks later. Not proud of that, I am simply not a plant person :)

 4 months ago  

Haha, sounds like you had fun. Most of us have killed a lot of cacti: in fact I killed so many I refused to grow any for a couple of years but I got better at it

I indeed did :) Yet it was my only cactus-victim. I've neglected several other plants and gave up years ago :) No more herbi-murders from my side :P

 4 months ago  

Better that way!

Lovely plants, ma'am. They are making great progress. Winter can be really tough on them, but it’s amazing to see these ones survived.

 4 months ago  

Thank you! I'm glad to have survivors

I have more Turbinicarpus but I'll show them when I have more flowers

Yes please! My one blooms all season almost continuously. But it is the only one I have, so no seeds. I ordered seeds from few types (one of them is pseudopectinatus, but under the name Pelecyphora pseudopectinata), since I can't find the one I have and hopefully then will be able to cross it with something.

My 8 year old Stenocactus still refuses to bloom. At least it is a pretty cactus so I don't mind so much.

 4 months ago  

Turbinicarpus is a constant bloomer. There's some confusion with the names between Turbinicarpus and Pelecyphora and the pectinate species is P asseliformis and is the most beautiful of them all, imo.

Is you Stenocactus rather yellow? They prefer partial shade and go yellowish if too much sun although they like heat. It could be that

Oh yes, asseliformis is gorgeous! And I like that they all stay so small.

Is you Stenocactus rather yellow?

Not right now. But there was a time it was more yellowish. I know I underfertilize them and I start to think this could cause lack of flowers. Not many of my cacti bloomed this year in general and they grow rather slow (I lost a few of my favourite ones and got a bit demotivated). They got some boost some weeks ago and hopefully next spring it will be better.

 4 months ago  

I hope so. I never ferilise my cacti though and grow them quite hard

I barely do too, but not on purpose :p I do see they do grow better and look better with a little push though.

Wow you are blessed with so many blooms. I can't wait to see more. I think the Stenocactus crispatus is my favorite. Such a perfect bloom 😍

 4 months ago  

They are lovely. I never knew that cacti have such such beautiful flowers until I grew them outside. Most don't flower if they are kept indoors because they don't feel the change of the seasons and that what triggers blooming

Very interesting. That was my initial reaction, I didn't know cacti bloomed so much. I guess places I've lived cacti have always been indoor plants 🙁

That T pseudopectinatus is very similar to mammillaria pectinifera, if it were not for the position of the flower buds being very different I would swear that it is almost the same cactus. I definitely need to get more turbinicarpus.

The Stenocactus looks very nice and healthy, it is always a pleasure to see your cacti so well cared for, mine sometimes get sick with so much rain but I like that they take on a look like they are in habitat.

Nice collection.

 4 months ago  

Thank you! You inspired me to find Obregonia and now I have 2 small ones 😄

Trust me, you inspired me first

Manually curated by ewkaw from the @qurator Team. Keep up the good work!

 4 months ago  

Thanks @ewkaw and @qurator

These have such neat designs when they are shown so close up.

I would never remember all those names though. :)

They seem to be doing well under your care.

 4 months ago  

It's taken years and quite a few deaths to learn how 😁 Cacti and succulents are living sculpture

Oh my goodness, so many beautiful succulents and cacti. Is the peyote you mentioned, the peyote I am thinking of?

 4 months ago  

Indeed

Fortunately your beautiful cacti were able to survive the winter. A greenhouse, without a doubt, is a very useful space. Beautiful photos.

 4 months ago  

It's essential for the more delicate plants

Excelente post, soy muy fans de los cactus 🌵👏 y mas de los stenocactus y los Astrophytum en general son una belleza, Lugo publicaré algunos de los cactus que tengo florecidos ahora en el vivero y te etiquetare para q los veas 👏👏👏 felicidades bellas plantas y fotos

 4 months ago  

Yes please!

Loved seeing all the cactus flowers. Sorry you lost some though.