Thanks Ben, looking forward to more pics...I don't know how recently you have moved - but did you notice a big difference and/or some difficulties in growing your plants? The zone difference is quite a lot, you would have to get some (if not most?) of your plants indoors for the winter? - or warm GH...Rina

Here's a pic of the C. tecta buds

Yes it was! From 10a to 7a is a pretty big jump. I moved about 3 weeks ago, and the results have been mixed. Some of my plants, like Pachypodium densiflorum var. brevicalyx, P. rosulatum gracilius, and Pelargonium bowkeri have come to a complete standstill in growth, while plants like my P. namaquanum, P. brevicaule, Pelargonium cortusifolium, Pel. appendiculatum, Boswellia nana, and Dioscorea elephantipes have all gone into very active growth. Other plants, such as my Dorstenia gigas, D. lavrani, and Monsonia herrei were unaffected.

And yeah, I now grow all my plants indoors, in south facing windows with supplemental T5HO grow lights. Here's 2 pictures of my setup:

The black rectangles are 2ft, 4-bulb grow lights.

Ben - be sure to keep us posted about those T5HO's. I've been debating between 4x or 6x T5HO 4' for the winter myself, zone 6a.

Normally I know you all like to see the whole plant - but tonight I wanted to capture the smallest details on the flowers (or flowers to be). Photography is a big hobby/side business for me, so I'm excited to share some creative images below.

First up is Neohenricia sibbettii - the bloom itself is just 0.5mm in diameter. It's so cute!

Second is Echeveria elegans - the inflorescence is still growing and it's the second time this plant has flowered this summer;

Happy to see that! I am very sure that in your care it will flower and multiply - soon you'll be dividing it :)

Great photos too. With close-ups, features we normally may not notice are visible.

Agree with Rina. great photos Mayo! Macro mode or Macro lens? I love 1:1 shots

EWww,

.5mm! Neohenricia sibbettii picture is quite a sight! Better than real life (as H would put it).

i have to admit a little bit of plant/flower envy with that Huernia. I don't have any of those types of succulents, and that one seems to be prolific for you. It's outside, right? Lol

RIna - I'll be sure to take more photos as it flowers. =)

Neil - Thanks! I used a 50mm lens with 12mm and 36mm extension tubes attached. All photos are uncropped. Taken at night with 4 flashes.

Laticauda - It's easier to see all the details in the photos, that's for sure. You should get a Huernia! This one is very prolific and continued to flower despite a significant repotting. It is kept outside in partial shade.

If I ever found any around here that were not very expensive, I'd definitely have some. I've never see them offered and always order way too many plants when I go on eBay (or other online plant sellers) looking>so I just stay away from stuff like that lol.

Ben

Thank you for posting and good luck in your new location. Different challenges - but I guess it is never without some. Hope you have lots of space to house your plants...Rina

My aloe "pink blush" flowered! It's difficult to get succulents to flower in my zone, so I'm really happy with this one. The flowers have a similar shape of all these plain-jane haworthias, but such a gorgeous coral color! There's a second bloom coming up from another as well.

And here's a surprise bonus bloom hidden in my H. zebrina:

What a lovely surprise! I guess the shape and everything of it does make it kind of look like a gaping wound on the side of a dinosaur or something.

Thanks Rina! I think the dust and the regulated humdity of my apartment are my biggest challenges right now. But, for the most part, my plants are still growing quite wonderfully! Here's another bloom that surprised me lol:

Anacampseros filamentosa spp. namaquensis

Back in Florida, a duck attacked this plant, so it looks a little ratty, but it's still thriving! They snapped part of its stem off, as well as damaging a few growth points, but I managed to root a larger fragment successfully!!

bernard

Your pachy has crested flowers :) and good show with your new plants - they must like what you give them to reward you.

Ben

-attacked by duck! that's really funny - glad that they didn't mangle whole plant, it has delicate looking bloom.

dannie - I dare to ask...why "these plain-jane haworthias"? Are you referring to blooms (they are kind of insignificant) or plants? - hope not the later, seeing photos of Howard's (bikerdoc) haworthias gets me j-e-a-l-o-u-s :)

Rina

Lol, Rina, Dannie was talking about her own "plain Jane" haws.

The aloe and her haworthias blooms are very similar.

i have some Pileas (sometimes mistaken for baby tears) that're blooming. But those flowers...I'll have to try to get a picture. I'll probably be able to actually see them if I take a picture lol.

Ben, it's as if that little flower is saying "thank you for not composting me".

Thanks Rina! I've never heard of crested flowers before! Always learning something new from you every day.

Do you know how to spot what type of Ech/Pachy flowers are the type that holds the stigma, and those that can form seeds. Gonna play with my little brush to see if seeds can be produced.

I guess everyone gets their Huernia and Stapelias online, huh?

too bad my local C&S club's last meeting cost 20 dollars just to get in! Is it a nightclub and the drugs are free or something?

laticauda - I got my huernia from my local farmer's market. I was lucky to pay 3 plants for the price of 1, I think it was offsetting like crazy and now I have extra spares (it's only a tiny cutting, don't expect much). If you like one I can give you one, but you just need to pay me postage and the shipping supplies. PM me your details if you want it.

Bernard - warning!!! I made it up since it looks like it, and didn't even check if it is legit suggestion...sorry, didn't mean to confuse anybody, that's why smile symbol. I wasn't trying to be 'funny or 'ssmart' it just what popped up in my head when I saw the flowers. Now I am on a mission if I can find any reference whatsoever to 'crested' flowers...Rina

lol Rina! I took your word for it!! Was so excited, I went to do a google search on it, and it turns out -- nada..

I personally think my plant doesn't have enough energy stored to send out a bloom stalk to support those flowers, so now it's just sitting there..

Or its genes got confused and just turned the stipe gene off to deal with the conflicting data.

unexpected things happen when you go mixing things up that normally probably wouldn't get mixed up....but if you'd ever think of parting with an offset of this (maybe next season) I'd like a clone :)

you can send that Huernia then too, lol. Give them both some time to grow grow grow! Do you think you can get seeds from that one plant?

Is this going to be a flower? I was expecting something a little....bigger....there are two other dark nubs like the one holding up this bud (?), but they are empty....so maybe they fell off already?

*sigh*

not enough people are going to see this picture.

Is yours a Hoya ?

I meant YOUR picture. The first one. It could be the solution to bring world peace.

Your second picture is how I feel...it's complicated.

mine is lipstick vine (black pagoda). That's not what a Hoya looks like when it puts out peduncles.

I guess it is supposed to have orange flowers? It's a hybrid between the small green flowered lipstick vine and another one to give it orange flowers.

can't spell the genus name off the top of my head quite yet.

nomen

Thank you for posting. I think first photo is great to show tiny bloom better, and the second one showing plant with the stalk and the bloom - not sure what is 'complicated' about it?

My Dorstenia horwoodii is putting out its first flower!! :-)

Ben, thank you...very nice, delicate-looking blooms. Looking at the unopened buds in this photo I thought about sugared grapes - very close to lychee, isn't it?

And the 'dimples' on dorstenia looks like suckers of octopus...

You have so many 'interesting' plants, thank you for sharing.

Rina

I've never actually had sugared grapes, but living in FL, lychee was pretty common. The best way I can describe the flavor (and therefore the scent of these flowers) is mild strawberry + floral undertones + rosewater. I imagine that's not to far away from sugared grapes!!

That's another interesting comparison! :-) now that I've seen it, I can't unsee it lol!!

And no problem!! I love succulents that look alien, which is probably why I love so many Dorstenias and Euphorbias!! Pelargoniums are really starting to grow on me, though!! So many strange shapes to admire :-P

Nomen- Ben- nice close-ups. Camera used? iso?

Rina Maybe why it's complicated ( pic 2). Free hand, hand held on knees telephoto lens ( no tripod) I suspect I may have forgotten to remove the +4 close up filter, I wear a bifocal lens which I sometimes forget to switch my direct line of sight to use the distance top part of them. In simple words I was simply being lazy and didn't go back out to get a top line bifocal shot Other info: It's an outside hand held while on my knees shot on a lower shelf. & Thank -You for your feed back

Neil: ( with editing) I use a DSLR Nikon D-7000 ISO:Single flower close up shot 400 ASA F 6.3 S. Speed 1/60 th sec. and all the other info with in my understanding of ' complicated '

Laticauda: Imagine all the people living for today 'John Lennon '

nomen

Thank you for explaining, yeah, it would help if one had extra pair of hands sometimes :)

The 'complicated' statement I was questioning was made by laticauda: " I meant YOUR picture. The first one. It could be the solution to bring world peace. Your second picture is how I feel...it's complicated." - that I am still not sure what was meant by it???

Rina

The second picture is how I feel.

How I feel is complicated, as in: wouldn't be easily explainable here.

laticauda

ok...I thought we are talking about plants...

I don't know how I could have made myself more clear.

My apologies for lending time by misunderstanding and sub leading the subject to go a bit off topic .

Is it not supposed to be viewed as art?

We see things the way we want to see them and then we decide what we see. If it's art you see then you see it at your will.

On a side note: My first intentions where to let Bernard know that his Adromichus flower spike may take longer than he anticipates. Just after posting the pics I had changed my will ( changed my mind ) and wanted him to have and enjoy his own experience with his Adromichus

My Huernia Zebrina popped open last night! I came up was doing my rounds and inspecting my plants, and boom! This guy decided to pop open.

I think this is one of the most biggest bloom I ever had grown from a succulent (given that I grow mostly echeverias and crassulas)

The crown of the flower is so hypnotic to look at.

Bernard! It just barely made it into the August blooms thread, why couldn't it have waited a few hours? Did it pop open right in front of you, like...you actually saw it? If that's the case, that answers my question why it couldn't wait. It wanted to show you what it made for you.

I still think it's a september bloom too lol.

it's really beautiful, how's the smell on that one?

can these self pollinate or do you need another plant/flower?

I couldn't wait!~ Was just so excited to share!

I didn't actually see it flutter open, but when I was inspecting my plants in general I noticed something moved within my jungle of pots, I assumed it was a fly or something, until I surprised with a flower that bloomed.

No smell yet, probably too soon to tell.

Not sure about self-pollination, need advice from everyone here.

Usually the flowers take a couple days to weeks to open/develop. They look really neat just before blooming! Will see if I can dig up a photo of mine later.

I don't think these tend to smell? Mine never did at least!

Not sure if you can self-pollinate, but the flowers are designed quite cleverly. The coronal structure makes pollination quite difficult unless you are a fly. I remember some papers talking about how to do it, but it's nothing like using a toothpick or cotton swab.

Look carefully at the flower structure and you'll understand. =)

Mayo, I think I posted a pic of the flower budding a few weeks ago.. You can scroll up to find it. I think you're probably right, mine didn't have any smell either, it just looks so striking,.

Thanks for sharing the link! Do you think they will have an article on echeveria flowers?

Currently reading the pollination article.

Very nice B!

There is a picture of the bud from the 20th of August, Bernard & mayo.

I didn't realize this was the same thread as the one I replied to earlier in the day.

anyway, my flower will be flowers, God willing I don't mess something up like water it too much....or not water it enough. Not too excited to see green flowers though :/ but hey, at least SOMETHING of mine has flowered, oh, and the boring Pilea.