# Blooming succulents.



## Sirius (May 31, 2011)

I have four succulents that are, or soon will be, blooming. First up, a group shot...











Avonia quinaria ssp. quinaria. Doesn't look like it, but they are spiking!





Senecio sp. 'Mini Blue' with buds.





Anacampseros subnuda var. lubbersii in bloom. Sadly, these flowers will be closed within an hour or two. They only last one afternoon.





I cross pollinated a couple to see if I could get seeds.





In high light, the plant takes on a metallic purple coloring. When I mist in the morning, the water droplets look like purple gemstones. I also love that the plant is hairy.


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## Heather (May 31, 2011)

It's a good thing you were around today for that last one! See? There's always a silver lining, just have to hunt hard for it sometimes. :wink:


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## Lanmark (May 31, 2011)

Super nice! I'm anxious to see the flowers on that Senecio 'Mini Blue' and I'm curious: Does your Avonia give off scent of any kind from its flowers?


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## Sirius (May 31, 2011)

Lanmark said:


> Super nice! I'm anxious to see the flowers on that Senecio 'Mini Blue' and I'm curious: Does your Avonia give off scent of any kind from its flowers?



I wonder about the Senecio flowers as well. They are described as "white puff balls." Should be interesting.

I don't know about the Avonia. This will be my first time blooming them. I am pretty sure they are spiking, because they have several stems that are longer and twice as thick as the others. It's my understanding that the blooms develop at the tip of these longer, thicker stems.


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## W. Beetus (May 31, 2011)

Stunning blooms!


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## etex (May 31, 2011)

Excellent succulent collection!!


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## Hera (May 31, 2011)

Nice collection. I bet they don't take as long to water as the orchids.


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## Sirius (May 31, 2011)

Hera said:


> Nice collection. I bet they don't take as long to water as the orchids.



Ha, actually they take longer! I let them dry in between watering, but that just makes it harder to get them to re-absorb water. I have to fill up the top of the pot, and wait for it to soak in, then fill it up some more, and wait some more. A few of them also get misted when I mist the epicactus.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (May 31, 2011)

I have most of those...already posted my Avonia pix. The blooms are larger than the plant! Waiting for my Anacampseros to grow more....great blooms. My youngest son is the succulent fanatic...he has me going on ebay constantly...he's got a whole bunch more coming in the mail.


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## Sirius (May 31, 2011)

Eric Muehlbauer said:


> I have most of those...already posted my Avonia pix. The blooms are larger than the plant! Waiting for my Anacampseros to grow more....great blooms. My youngest son is the succulent fanatic...he has me going on ebay constantly...he's got a whole bunch more coming in the mail.



There are so many available species and hybrids, I feel for you. Do you ever have to reign in his buying, or does he pace himself? 

I saw your Avonia pics. I love it, I just hope I can keep it alive. Mine is the pink flowered form, but I have the white flowered form on my wish list. 

Succulents are the only plant family that I have the ability to acquire slowly. I only buy species, and only if they truly win me over. My wish list is so small, Avonia alstonii and Kalanchoe marmorata.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Jun 1, 2011)

I haven't tried to rein him in, because I want to encourage his enthusiasm. I also know that he's happy when he gets into these plants and asks me about getting him others. Plus, they are a hell of a lot cheaper than orchids! A whole order of succulents is still no more than the cost of an individual orchid, much of the time. I did splurge on a Welwitchia for him...I feel that I owe it to him. I had gotten a bunch of seeds from Aaron Hicks a while back...successfully germinated them, but couldn't keep them alive. This way we may have a better chance at success.


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## Sirius (Jun 1, 2011)

Is he reliably taking care of them, or do you have to remind him? oke: It's good that he is taking an interest in plants. I bet most of us here had some sort of early introduction to plants, and it followed us into adult hood. 

Can you throw out some names of some of the neat miniature and compact growers that you have Eric? I like to grow under supplemental T5 lighting, and the taller ones all seem to start growing away from the light after a certain height.


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## Marc (Jun 1, 2011)

Sirius said:


> Is he reliably taking care of them, or do you have to remind him? oke: It's good that he is taking an interest in plants. I bet most of us here had some sort of early introduction to plants, and it followed us into adult hood.



/me signs up for the "I got indoctrinated with Orchidfever by my parents" club


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Jun 1, 2011)

While I'm doing the work, he's monitoring the plants and telling me what to do. Since I'm dealing with plants all the time, its no big deal for me. As for these mini succulents, he just showed me his Pseudolithos cubiformus, a tiny (1") cube, a stapeliad with at least 2 clusters of flower buds. Of course I'll post photos when they open. Next to it is P. miguritinus, which is round rather than cuboidal...looks just like a puffball. He's got a whole range of small Euphorbia's and Crassula's. On a larger scale, he's really into Alluaudia's (Madagascar is a big fixation for him, topic of one of his major college papers this term) and he discovered a miniature one on ebay...the infinite source of his succulents.


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## biothanasis (Jun 2, 2011)

Very cute all!!


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