Great looking flowers! I find the Conophytum hians especially interesting. Do they just blossom one night then die?

Thanks..no, they flower for a few nights. 4 so far. hians is also hairy, look closely, you can see the fine hairs.

Very nice! Are you attempting to pollinate those Conos? I mean, it looks like 1 plant but sometimes you can self stimulate. Monilaria pollen is supposed to work sometimes. As a last resort, I'll usually take pollen from whatever I have in bloom of the same color.

Those Trichodiadema blooms are beautiful. I have 3 species that flower white and 1 that hasn't ever bloomed that looks like yours, so maybe I'll see purple one day.

Trichodiadema mirabile last week
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I am trying to pollinate with 2 other pots that's also blooming - same specie. Sowed some hybrid aloes seeds today of albiflora x cooperi - wonder what it would look like.

Cool, cool. I didn't know if you had more than 1. I have a few hybridized seed pods of some Gasterias, Haworthias and a few Mesembs that I'm waiting on. It's fun to imagine what they'll be like. I also plan on singling out odd/unique candidates for selective breeding. That should be interesting.

Rian,

Nice flowers - I never, much to my chagrin and no doubt from a defect of some kind, got into Mesembs (Ryan is also puzzled by this, too), but your Trichos and the fragrant Cono are alluring to the extreme.

Those are beauties, Rian. All of them.

Ryan, Like the idea of selective breeding...Jeff, just a matter of time. LOL!

Thanks Rina.

Oh my gosh! They do have hairs. Had to look where the sun back lit one, and there they were. I would have missed that if you hadn't pointed it out. Now I have to wonder if the hairs serve as ladders so little insects can crawl up to pollinate the flowers, or if they act like a forest to keep the creepy crawlers out. The world is full of endless curiousities! Thanks, Rian, for sharing!

Penny

I love the flower color of your Schlumbergera, I've never seen that particular shade of pink before. And the purple flowers on your Trichodiadema... gorgeous! You have some happy plants.

Planto

Penny is this better?
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C. truncatum var truncatum fountain flower..
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Crassula pruinosa hairs
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and finally the cute and funny looking Gibbaeum geminum
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Thanks Planto!

Look out everybody! It's a school of tiny, green sharks!

Very nice. You keep introducing me to new very cool species. I have no more room for indoor winter plants. I can rip out some of my new pachies and echeverias to make room for them.

LOL! Ryan.
Mara, one great thing about these mesembs is they only live in small pots, I know of some lithops guys with great big collections in their windows! LOL!

Just the thought of ripping out plants seems sacrilegious! But I guess at times, some have to go.

Well, Rian, your photos continue to amaze me. One learns so much from the up close and personal viewpoint. Of course, after seeing the wrinkles on that plant, I probably shouldn't let a camera get to close to my face.

Hehe, How does the joke go, Hay grandma, do not know what you are wearing but it needs to be ironed!! LOL!

Glad you liked it...

Love the white flowering Tricho! So many mesembs have yellow flowers...makes the white ones POP!

I think Gibbeum geminum and Dactylopsis digitata are cousins! :D

Arid, do you have a Dactylopsis digitata? It's high up on my "wish to have but couldn't bear to kill" list, next to Miuria hortensae. It's deciduous which is hard to deal with for me. Mr. Brack says they turn to mush once a year and people freak out and throw them away, whoops!

Here is mine - last year
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Over the summer it goes into dormancy and it is where the issue is - to get them out or awake...it seems mine is waking up eventually...pic taken yesterday. You can just see the green part getting ready to come through...
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Muiria hortensae seedlings - all these are in full sun, but still needs to turn to their proper colour...I do have about 12, best pic I have is of the smallest 2..LOL!
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