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These are some seedlings of the Japanese cultivar julii v. fulleri 'Kôsôgyoku' (紅窓玉). I've had this cultivar before but the plants didn't make it. The seedlings were sown exactly one year ago and some of them have their second real leaves. The coloring and patterns aren't clear yet but might develop into something interesting, I think.

Can you believe this? Last time I've posted photos of this plant ( July 3 ) it was just getting its 3rd pair of leaves. Now look at it! I understand this Mesemb is better to be grown outside but unfortunately there's no "outside" for plants where I live so a (probably bigger) pot must do. Anyway, at this rate I hope to see some flowers very soon. :) There are new branches coming out of every "old" leaf!

I didn't expect it to be so tricky to catch these flowers. Now I know more and can be prepared for the next time. :) The first time I posted a picture of Avonia's flower buds 4.7 and it took them whole three weeks to arrive at this point. It would have been quicker, I guess, if the weather had played along but it was dark, cold, and rainy up untill two days ago. That's when the plant obviously decided to take advantage of the good weather window. Yesterday morning I've discovered that something has changed - there was a little white blob between the petals, and it grew bigger every hour (click the pic for larger version) until around 17:00 the flowers finally opened! Three or four hours later they have closed to never open again. It is a short-lived beauty. :)

More photos and the whole story will follow tomorrow. :)

It didn't take long. Here is the bromfieldii 'Sulphurea' flower. :) I hope others will flower more timely. I can also see a flower bud on one of the Green Horns but knowing how both plants droped flowers last year I'm trying not too spook it.

I've put my Aloinopsis rubrolineata , the one with the thickened roots , back into the ground for now. While my other Aloinopsis plants only react to water but don't grow new leaves yet (summer rest?) this one is showing new growth. The newest leaves have grown larger and there's also something coming out of the side. What do you think - a new branch or a flower? :) PS: There's a new page in my blog with seeds for sale. Please check it out some time. :)

These were sown 24.06.2011 and still have their first real leaves on ( pictures back in April ). They all seem to have different and quite interesting patterns I'm looking forward to see when they're bigger. Some have open windows, some are dotty and some have nice dark window-lines. The burchellii feature of flowing lines around the edges can be visible on some specimens, too. Amazing how 48 plants out of 50 sown seeds have survived. I like lesliei for this strength :) You can see on these gloomy pictures how dark it is outside. It's rainy and cold, no sign of summer yet. 

These seedlings (sown 23.10.2010) are finally starting to look like adults, long fissure and everything. I don't see much of the mariae-like dotted feature yet and the color varies a lot but they should get there in time. As most of my other seedlings they seem to be sleeping through the summer. Some have regenerated a couple of months ago, some haven't. Also, I'm glad the one greenie is still alive. :) To see a documentory of their lives click on the seedlings 2010 tag.

Finally! Yesterday they've opened fully and I could take more or less proper pictures. The silky flowers are light-yellow with magenta-pink-ish tips. Tiny leaves, tiny flowers, very cute. :)

Thia is a ripening seed pod of a Haworthia limifolia featured here before . The 50 cm flower stalk and around 70 flowers weren't in vain after all! The other parent is probably Astroloba skinneri - since the plants are similar and have been flowering together since weeks - probably pollinated by some insect. I'm curious to see the seeds :)

It's like those night photos of rare and endangered big cats in the wild. Here are the elusive Neohenricia flowers in their "almost open" state (the nearest I could get so far) at midnight. I guess the strong sweet fragrance is there to lead insects to the flowers in the dark. Too bad there's no fragrance-sensitive camera that would automatically go off when the flowers open. :)

Another greenie - bromfieldii 'Sulphurea' this time - is going to bloom. Exciting as it is it's kinda untimely. Also, some of the other greenies have decided to just skip the flowering part and go over to regenerating. We'll see how this'll play out for them. Can't blame them though: judging by the weather I also could think it's October. 

Well, it's 11PM and here I am trying to catch the Neohenricia flowers. They just won't open fully BUT the scent is really strong (and nice!) even though there are only three tiny flowers (and more coming up). Any idea how to make them open all the way? The flowers look pinkish-yellow but are probably near white when opened. UPD: Patience is the key. It's 23:25 and the flowers are almost there.

I can't believe they've grown so much (sown 29.10.2010). Growing plants from seed is an amazing experience. Even if it takes a long time, like it does in case of Lithops. These bromfieldii v. glauidnae will be two years old in a couple of months and deserve a less crowded place to live. I was relieved to see they are all in a good shape. Still I can't dare hope for flowers sooner than next year. :)

The flower I bought my A. schooneesii with has opened yesterday. So pretty with the thin red lines on the petals. There's no evening sun on my window sill this time of the year and it's difficult to take sharp pictures without a flash. Still, these darker photos have something surreal to them I really like.

You can see big progress with the Avonia and Neohenricia flowers but they're still closed. They might need more evening sun or are just not ready yet. At least they have waited for me. Now they can take their time. :)

I swear these are the last plants I'll buy this year. :D It's really difficult to restrain yourself if you're visiting a cactus nursery, and I wanted to have these Aloinopsis plants anyway. I even went for the most compact ones. And what a surprise it was to find a large caudex on the Aloinopsis rubrolineata while transplanting today. I could't make myself put it under the ground again so here it is for all to see. :) Aloinopses schooneesii (with a flower coming up) has a thick root as well but I've hidden it for now. PS: Luckily neither Neohenricia nor Avonia have opened their flowers while I was away. Photos soon~

I was so looking forward to see these flowers but I'll have to wait a little bit longer because I'm going away for the weekend. I don't know when the buds are going to open and how long the flowers last but there are a couple more branches with possible flowers, so sooner or later... ;) Credits for growing such a beautiful plant go to Mr. Kleinmichel from Atomic Plant Nursery. 

I have to admit I've gravely underestimated these plants... I thought they'd grow slower and stay more or less small at least for a while. But they are obviousy not that kind of mesembs. It's been less than 3 weeks since they were just little bunnies . Don't know if it's visible on the pic - the leaves are sparkling in the sun as if they were made out of thousands of tiny diamonds.