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These are the first plants I bought from a lithops nursery ca. 2 years ago. Haha, I think I got quite different cole numbers from what I ordered (should be C323 (l) and C161 (r), but I think they're C062 (l) and C171 (r)), but they are so pretty I couldn't possibly complain. They've gotten very big with time - my mom calls them 'the hooves' - but no sign of wanting to get two-headed yet, and I'm not sure I want them to. Lithops julii ssp. fulleri v. fulleri (1024x587)

Sometimes I wish they were stones :) Lesliei v. minor (C006) around 6 months old

This is the result of my first attempt to grow lithops from seed. They "hatched" in April 2008 and actually survived all the mistakes I made growing them. The pictures were taken in September 2009. Lithops lesliei ssp. lesliei v. lesliei 'Storm's Albinigold' (C036B) Lithops pseudotruncatella ssp. dendritica v. dendritica (C384) Lithops lesliei ssp. lesliei v. minor (C006) Lithops aucampiae ssp. aucampiae v. koulemanii (C256)

I've been looking through my lithops picture folders (you can tell I miss them) and came across these photos of the aucampiae (these two have been featured here before). They are home-improvement store kids, but looked relatively healthy, so I couldn't walk by (you normally see horrible things done to lithops in those stores and realise they won't survive long if you bought them... although cacti are even less fortunate, with eyes and flowers glued to them). Well, here are two pictures of the same two plants before and after the annual change. On the first picture they look like two different aucampiae to me: not only different pattern but also different color. The one on the right is probably older, the one on the left is probably overfed. Anyway, on the second picture they're like twins! How come? Several months later they've become quite beauties! I even keep the last photo as my netbook wallpaper :) (1024x587)

Hello! I hope you all had great holidays! :) It's been over 3 months since I'm in Japan, and it's funny how much I actually miss my plants (not only lithops, but any plants I could look after). They've been a huge part of my everyday life since I was a child. I now and then ask my parents about my lithops (they are currently keeping an eye on the plants for me), and everything seems to be just fine - the stones are alive and kicking, well, by showing their new lobes. The lithops-related plan for Japan was to visit the greenhouses/nurseries, but I unfortunately had to drop it for various reasons (mostly lacking time and money to travel). To cheer myself up I did the next best thing - bought the book I wanted to have since a couple of years already: THE GENUS LITHOPS by Yasuhiko Shimada . (it wasn't cheap either, I tell you) It is fantastic! Amazing habitat and collection pictures shot by Mr. Shimada, as well as articles about cultivation and taxa descriptions. In fa...