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Wow! Thanks for sharing.

Oh. Em. Gee. I want to put it all in a bathtub and bathe in the gloriousness that is your pictures. I would walk away without a nickel to my name if I ever went to something like that.

Gotta agree,,so many splendid things! Gotta say that I find no.40 a fantastic photo in general, hope you don't mind I saved it. Thanks for letting us see them!

Some really great plants, I can only imagine the damage you did !

Well ... I think I know where I'm headed this weekend! I see a few haworthia there that NEED TO BE MINE. ;)

I wonder if you know what the plants are in pic 17 & 18? They're beautiful.

Thanks guys! It's summer at its best, isn't it?

I like #40 too, #28 is one of my fav too. It's like a heart shaped cactus beside the old man cactus.

I'm really surprised at my restraint, I only got 6 plants.

I believe this guy with a purple-ish colored caudex is called a Ledebouria Socialis / Scilla Violacea also many called it "Silver Squill", "Violet Squill" or "Leopard Lilly"

Gasteria Nigricans Monstrose

Adromischus Maculatus - Calico Hearts

Crested Gasteria? (I doubt it's a echeveria, because of its thick tap roots)

Echeveria Subsessilis

I think this is a Stapelia Zebrina (Have to wait for flowers)

# 17 Ledebouria of some type maybe luteola.

Nomen, any advise for the culture of Ledebouria/Luteola?

I'm being extra cautious with my watering hand now, and yesterday the caudex looks a little deflated and wrinkly. Are those signs of thirst? Are these plants more forgiving to overwatering?

Thanks, Bernard

17/18 looks like Drimia hockii more than it does Scilla. Also looks like a more ovate/shorter/wider/whatever leaf form of Ledebouria pauciflora. All these bulbs are pretty much taxonomic nightmares so you might never know for sure... beautiful pictures though!! looks like they have a lot of lovely plants :-)

Ugh such an awesome selection!

Whatever it is, I want one! I love the caudex. That last one looks like a Huernia Zebrina ... my little one was the same size as yours when I got it last year, and it doubled in size and put out flowers this year! Give it lots of sun in the spring.

Trick question Bernard watering depends on when do you want it to grow ! If now then water it if you want to grow it during the winter then back pull it until early October and keep it under lights or them big bright sunny windows that's winter home for all your jades during the winter long.

Every S.A. bulb I have gets a pretty heavy drink as frequently as needed during it's' growing time' if soft. Not, not as frequently but still somewhat heavy they also enjoy a drink or two when they're not in there growing times .

A google image search shows it could be a Drimia. Either of the two can be 'forced' to grow in what ever season you want them to grow but it could take a two year time frame to shift it's growing season.

Your Adromishus maculatis ' calico hearts' comes with a small caution/warning : On the down side over potting tends to hold moisture longer than a smaller pot. On the bright side if you want to keep it in that pot that's still manageable it'll have a home for at least 15 years. Personal note : I'm not the biggest fan of white top dressing reasoning is sun rays and it's heat reflect directly upward as well.

Beautiful pics and plants! I am happy and sad at the same time that there is no such eye-candy plant market anywhere nearby me. I would end up spending all my money on plants I have no room for :D

Bernard- Great Photos. I appreciate your posting them! My favorites are the squill and the adro maco as I call it : )

I just thought of something...I don't know if you're into collecting old books but, if you are..the "Strand" (if it's still there) is just a couple of blocks from union, to the right of the bank on the corner, pass the movie theatre and "Forbidden Planet."

It may be a great resource for books on cacti and succulents. There are not an abundant variety of these types of books. I would buy every one they had if I could and the older the better. They're much coveted by collectors.

Dannie- update us if you happen to get the plant.

Does huerina prefer waterings on the drier side? I'm cautious to not over water. Yours seem to color to a light purple with more sun. I'm giving mine some time to establish themselves before I put them for more light.

Nomen - thanks for all the great tips! The reason why I asked is because among all the plants I reported, my S.A is the only one that doesn't seem too happy with its new home. Some of it's leaves are yellowing, so I just decided to water it a little more frequent to prevent shredding. As well I don't want to go overboard drowning the poor plant. (This is my first bulb-typed succulent)

Will take note on the Adromishus maculatis ' calico hearts', it seems to be settling in strong with the blooms developing. I will be cautious with watering it. Wow- 15 years without repotting! Now we are talking! Won't the plant be root bound? Or it prefers to be.

Thanks msgreenfingers- I'm there are some best kept secret garden somewhere near you. I always envied the varitey of rarer plants in Europe whenever I buy them off ebay.

Thanks Neil, I know strand! They almost closed once due to insane rent. I think the community rallied against the landlord, and they sign on for a few more years. That's a great idea! I'll stop by when I have time to check out the books. Any collectors typed books you are looking in specific? Btw- are you going to the intercity state show? I'm itching for updates!! Lol

Bernard- No books or plants or shows for me. I am an adult and I have to learn the word "NO." Not counting my trip to Cedros Gardens in Solana beach yesterday and the one tiny little plant I bought, my self-training is going fairly well. I may visit the Huntington next week as an exercise that I can say "no" to myself. Wish me luck!

Neil, not trying to tempt you, but the inter-city show is the biggest C&S show in the country with all the C&S clubs & societies combined into one. I really want to go to that show, I heard its one of the best in the country with the most impressive specimens to ever showcase..

Anyways, it's alittle too late now since it's Sunday.

Good for you Neil! You have my full support on your self-restraint exercise. I need to pull myself away from ebay now.. It's really addictive..

Nope there aren't to many adros that can get root bound in a pot that size in 15 years

Every adro seems to be in that five mile race against the snail all uphill with molasses flowing downhill race. If I where a betting man I'd put money on the snail.

Pic shows season four housing one same size/type pot of an Adro cooperi

Squill :

Yellowing leafs could be an indication of it's to warm when to bright for to long AKA it's transitioning was to fast. You know the story: It starts when the new plant comes home in your hands and ends with how plants don't like sudden changes during active growing times. Even from garden centers to your house makes a difference that can set a plant back a few weeks or next season after your description.

One of my S.A. bulbs (squill) that didn't get out side sun exposure until the end of July.

I can still see the drought stress from Mid June and all of July on one of it's foliage ends, it was inside after transitioning it for summer growing back in late April- May very quickly after May it was day to day high temps and drought I pull things inward when they start to stress not after many of my succulents where stored in warm brightness.

With temps at 103 F at 7 AM during the summer starting drought there where a few worthy " full sun bullets" here, squill isn't one of them.

Nomen - Thanks for all your insights! I knew you will be the guy to ask for advice on these amazingly peculiar plants.

My Squill continues to show more signs of yellowing leaves. Currently it's sitting in the shaded windows in the living room with an oscillating fan, at most it gets 1 hour for filtered evening sun. Temp have been quite pleasant hovering around mid 70s to low 80s. Is it showing signs it needs more light, or you think it's just adapting to a change of environment. I plan to give it more time to settle in, so as the rest of the other newer plants before I introduce it more sun.

Do you think it needs more shade? I refuse to link the fallen foliage for lack of water, because the last time, I ended up overwatering and killing some transitioning plants, thinking more water would help, and they end up rotting the stressed roots.

1)Is it showing signs it needs more light, or you think it's just adapting to a change of environment 2) or you think it's just adapting to a change of environment.

1. Kind of difficult to tell ( your zone and climate cultivating court is very close to the same as mine ). Keep an eye on it it's a touch friendly plant, feel it for softness and water it when noticed.

2) Sure it is adapting but which environment is the question. Considering you may have re-potted it as soon as you could the new soil and new pot are also a new environment.

The lighting you provide sounds realistic and ideal for this time of the year but it's rear sided lighting

In reference to my rear sided sunlight AKA brightness AKA back lighting. Well for starters not all will fair well here either this back area can and will easily cook any winter grower or a cono. in a single day.

From May when the warming 100% sun light touches a corner until tell end of the season I let a timer turn on a fan a few minutes prior to the brightest and warmest times and turns off a few dark minutes after total darkness. Said timer is winding down the minutes toward lesser time use each day now, such a pity, we're both running out of sunlight.

That silly pot it's in ( see pic) gets about the same AM brightness ( a wee bit longer in time and a bit brighter) for sun exposure as your evening sun exposure it's upfront of house not rear Upfront is about 1/2 world away but is only a short 285 feet from the rear area.

Thanks again Nomen! I'll keep up with the touch test to water routine.

So I'm going to assume that Squils are active winter growers, just like my fleshy Haws.

It's insightful to know about morning lighting and evening lighting, but for now, this is the best shaded spot I can provide for the plant. Until it establishes itself so I can move it to more sun, it will have to stay here till improvement sets in.. or signs that it needs more light.

Beautiful pictures, but I would also like to suggest the Flower District here in Manhattan. It's located on 28th street between 7th and 8th avenues.

The stores there are full of every kind of plant you can imagine, including cacti and succulents. I bought a beautiful Gollem Jade for $8.00

$8! wow that's pricey.

I find it to be a good price. Maybe I'm used to super high prices in NYC

I agree. You've been spending too much time in Hell's Kitchen.

Wow they have a great selection. I miss that farmers market. I used to go to school above the mcdonalds and starbucks on 17st at the Carsten Aveda school. I live in Sacramento, ca now and spend more of my time in SF rather than NYC but I miss it so much!

I also love the picture of that Jug Plant. one that size by me is 55 dollars!

I've been over to the flower district, and you can definitely find yourself some decently-priced succulents in that area! I think our west coast counterparts don't understand the lack of product in the Northeast. We can get beaten-up, soggy, gnat-infested, generic garbage at the big box stores, or we can go to specialty florists for the big bucks, or we can head to the farmers markets and the flower district for plants that are properly cared for. I'm not sure how much a larger, established plants go for elsewhere, but $8 for a good-sized, healthy succulent is a very good price, and not just for NYC. Smaller plants (2" pots) are $3 or 2 for $5. I have a large desert rose ($8) and an adenium ($10), both from the flower district. Even if we found plants/cuttings for cheaper online, we'd have to pay additional shipping, which is typically at LEAST $6. The plants would probably be juveniles, and arrive bare root or in need of rooting, and once potted/rooted, we'd then need to acclimate our plants to our environment, as they most likely arrived from somewhere super arid or super humid. Convenience and instant gratification come at a price, and for $8, I'll take it.

Well put Dannie! I bought a few more plants on ebay, and they are all infested with mealys.. Really a shame. I'm totally in agreement to your point on the lack of supply here in the Northeast. Then again, this is what makes these plants that much more special to us..

@bernardyjh would you mind sharing a list of ebay sellers you've had problems with, and ones you could recommend. There are so many out there, and its impossible to tell whats lurking beneath the soil :/

MintyLemonade, if you can turn on your pm, I'll give you a couple of names, but I don't think it will be fair to them to black list some sellers username on the forum.

Most of the time, I get a refund or a new plant from these sellers when I write to them with the pictures, and they are usually very prompt and gracious about it. Of course in exchange, I give them a good rating to return the favor.

Sometimes it's a hit and miss situation. On occasions, I can even get mealy bugs from very reputable sellers that had sent me multiple healthy and pest free plants previously before.

I tend to leave the plant unboxed for a few days, let the plant breathe a little before I give a thorough inspection before potting. I make sure to take alot of pictures to document the health of the plant, especially roots after cleaning them.

Here's a Portulaca Molokiniensis that I recently received. The seller has already processed me a refund, but I'm not sure if this plant is even rescue-able given the spread of infestation..

Also, when using ebay, never use their customer complaint service!! It starts this long, drawn-out mediation process that is only necessary in the worst of scenarios. Plus, most sellers perma-ban anyone who uses this service because it lowers their reputation. As Bernard says, it's best to contact them directly with a LOT of photo evidence. IME, anyone on that site with more than 300 rep and above a 96% approval rating will happily refund you or send you a replacement to keep their good rep.

I accidentally used their resolution service when I first started using ebay, and I'm still perma-banned from one of the most popular C&S ebayers and it's been half a year lol

Bernard, thanks again for starting this thread with all these beautiful pictures. It was not my intention to invade your thread and cause any controversy.

Neil, I do, indeed, spend lots of time in Hell's Kitchen. I live here, only a few blocks away from the flower district.

Daniel317, well said. Thank you for explaining it so well.

Bernard, perhaps I missed it, but where is this Farmer's Market? Is it in Brooklyn?

Haha Ben, I never really relied on the customer resolution center. I tried calling once, it's basically an outsourced center in Asia, and half their advice given to me, all could be done directly to the seller through ebay messages. But you got a point though regarding reviews, some sellers really do value their profile reviews, the higher the rating # the more reliable the chances you get a refund or replacement. Then again, there is not harm taking more pictures.

Hellkitchenguy - The farmer's market is at Union Square. Every Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat during the summer, and I think Wed - Sat during the winter. Try exploring out of the flower district, sometimes they can get quite pricey. When you get a chance, you should check out westelm, they have very nice succulents all imported from San Fran, and there is even a nice florist selling succulents by the trays right across the street from the West Elm at 18th st. My last bet would be Lowe's in Brooklyn, if you are there at the right time when they just restocked, you might find a bucket load of goodies and VERY affordable prices. Check out my linkhere

Hellkitchenguy- That's great. Are you near the cheesy Tiki bar on 8th in the middle of the block? On the corner is a hot dog joint and on the next is a tiny candy/donut shop. That's a great area, my kind of people, lol.

Bernard- By car: you may want to consider other areas at this point. Westchester county maybe? I think there's a nursery in Tarrytown..heading into Sleepy Hollow area. There is Rosedale Nurseries in Hawthorne, NY--51 Saw Mill River Road
(Route 9A)
Hawthorne, NY 10532-1598
Tel: (914) 769-1300(914) 769-1300

They sometimes have succulents. if not call and see what they could recommend.

There was a place in Sayville, Long Island but I can't remember the name*sorry.

Here's a # for the Long Island Cactus and Succulent Society

Uniondale, NY 516-735-4479

you mean the lowe's by smith-9th street? I don't like the way they keep their plants. The whole area is pretty crummy too. They are open all night though, lol

Haha Neil, I'm in the same predicament as you now, absolutely forbidden to buy any more plants. So let alone being allow to drive out of state to look at succulents. But will definitely check these places out when I get the chance.

Yep, that's the only lowes in brooklyn. I think they now extended their yard, that's my fav place when they stick up, because they carry a lot of plants from altman's.

Yikes that plant is in such poor condition, why would a seller bother even sending it, they know a problem will come up :/. Btw Bernard, I totally understand not posting seller names publicly, please pm me, thanks!

Bernard, with this crappy weather we've been having in NYC, I keep coming back to this thread. All these pictures make me happy !!

hkguy - I just got home from my vaca yesterday. I heard the weather in the past weeks had been rough. I'm quite glad temp is warming up for the weeks ahead. Just hang in there, before you know it, it's already Spring!