Winter buds n blooms

A few winter shots from around the patio. I realize that some people are digging themselves out of snow and whatnot... maybe some plants from here in the mild subtropics can bring color into your day,.

First up some blue Echeverias. First plant is an Echeveria puldonis hybrid (yellow flowers). Second plant is E. puldonis, which flowers and offsets in the winter. Third plant is another Echeveria which may be the other parent (flowering time overlaps).

This message was edited Jan 3, 2014 12:21 PM

E. agavoides makes dinky little flowers (red or yellow depending on the plant). Last pic shows a volunteer that showed up near the flowering Echeverias,,, obviously one of the parents is agavoides, but the other parent is unknown. Could be any of these plants which flower in the winter.

More Echeverias in bud.

Most of the Dudleyas are also budding, some branching. First plant shows some residual deformity from a mealy bug attack last spring.

Dudleya brittonii. First two growing in day long sun, last in mostly shade.

A couple of Gasterias. Second one snaking out the front gate.

Bromeliads (not succulent, but I treat them the same). Deuterocohnia and Dyckia in bloom (hummingbird magnet). Last two pictures just a couple of plants with colors I liked.

A few Euphorbias. First 3 from seed I collected, flowering for the first time (yay). First plant is male. It's hard to tell because we've been having some heavy winds, but there's a couple of balls of yellow pollen in the middle of the shot. Second plant is both sexes. Last bearing fruit with hybrid seed, that I intend to collect before the capsules explode (any day now).

A few flowers from late fall. Aloe, Cotyledon, Ferocactus.

More aloes. Second technically a Gasteraloe. Very hard to get a decent sunny picture of the bicolor flowers in the last picture with my camera.

A few Aeoniums doing their thing.

Fire and ice. Aloes and agave growing in the sun across the street.

It sure helps boredom easier and thank you for posting!!!

Belle

Very nice.... Euphorbias are sublime.

They look good this time of year, maybe it's the lower light (most are pretty exposed). Here's a sister of the male plant above, also flowering for the first time. The girl parts don't come off so easily in the wind.

Second shot is Aloe cameronii just starting to flower, with a nice two-tone effect.

I love the Euphorbias as well. All of the photos are wonderful, Baja!!

Thank you. The Euphorbias are fun to grow from seed. They all start out on a SW facing windowsill a few feet away from my desk.

Some of these plants really surprise me, because we haven't had any proper rain for many months. Here are a couple more Dudleyas, first one already a hummingbird magnet. When plants get this exuberant, they also tend to attract bugs.

Two types of Dudleya flowers illustrated here: closed (tubular) and open (flat). The flower type is useful for identification.

Shades of yellow. Ferocactus, Echeveria, Aloe (left side faces south), Euphorbia (same).

Better than my usual cup this morning. Muchas gracias.

Really wonderful plants and flowers. You get such fabulous results with your cultivation. It just isn't so exciting here with my care and climate. The photos are great, keep them coming.
Helen

I agree wholeheartedly!

If you insist. :) Winter is a great time for flowers here.

These two are indoor plants: Aloe, Sansevieria. First time the Sans has flowered. Little beads of nectar in there, at least where I haven't stuck my finger in for a taste.

Euphorbias are preggers again. Second plant is the mother of the boy and girl pictured above. Paternity unknown.

Aloe, Haworthia, Mammillaria.

Aeoniums are very colorful right now. The bees are all over them.

Jade and Gollum also attract a lot of bees.

Aloe vera and marlothii. In the first picture the brown plant in the background is also Aloe vera.

This message was edited Jan 21, 2014 6:48 PM

Wow! So very nice!

Great photos hoping to add more this year...I need horrible cold tolerant ones...lol...as we are so very cold this Winter...Hello Carol

Hi Tam! Yes, I'll see how my Euphorbias and other things come through this cold. Not as cold here as there but still some temps in the single-digits with windchills lower than that.

Yes I will be waiting to see what made it...I don't have a lot, just a few ... I had some from you Carol..

I do have a beautiful aloe of some sort in the house..Ive just added 2 new starts see what that gets me.

Oh to live in California and really to be able to grow really cool Succulants

I know. I lived there for almost 40 years. Makes me wonder why we ever left. So now I hang out in this forum and drool over all the succulents. I do have some here but they are all tucked away down in the garage right now.

AZ isn't a bad place for them either. My collection keeps growing; I guess you could say I've been sucked into the world of succulents.

Yes, AZ is nice too. A very beautiful state!

Funny, I haven´t yet had to break out pants in 2014... shorts are about right all day. We haven't had as much fog as we usually do (winds from other direction). Our nighttime temps never get below about 42°F in the dead of winter.

I admire people who grow these plants in less forgiving circumstances. I remember passing through Phoenix in the summer and just going from the car to the gas station cashier nearly killed me. I'm sure a lot of the plants I grow would wilt instantly in a place like that.

Most of mine are on the front porch and get full sun this time of year and filtered sun in summer, so they do just fine, but I do have a few that are exposed to full sun year-round, mostly cacti and agaves.

Hahaha shorts...its -25 with wind chill today...Oy VAY...LOL

I loved Oregon and Northern California this past summer ,I saw native succulents that were just beautiful...

Oregon is beautiful. They get 20 times our annual rainfall in some places near the coast. Imagine that.

Speaking of which, the last time we got more than a quarter inch of rain was last March. The rodents have been wreaking serious havoc with the succulents planted in the park. Their preferred snacks are agaves (moles) and Aeoniums (squirrels). The Aeoniums will probably recover, but the agaves are completely gone.

Well, I hate to hear that.