two Lobivias and one Gymno

The first two photos are Lobivia prestoana and 3 and 4 are Lobivia draxleriana and the final is a Gymnocalycium eurypleurum which bit the dust. xuling

Todays photo of Lobivia draxleriana plus a Lobivia schreiteri. xuling

New flowers: Notocactus ottonis v. aigua; Gymnocalycium friedrichii; Parodia rubellihamato; Corypanthus pycnacanthus

Nice flowers xuling. My favorite Mammillaria is blooming now M. sphaerica and an Opuntia trying to open.

Hola smashed. now I have to find an M sphaerica. The yellow is astounding in addition to being my favorite color. And the touch of orange in the center really sets the yellow. xuling

This message was edited Jul 13, 2014 4:17 PM

Hi! xuling. I like the orange in your Parodia rubellihamato. It's now on my want list. Thanks for sharing.
Gary
here are some repeat blooms I have today. The first one is Gymnocalycium eurypleurum . Sorry you lost yours.

smashed, are all your plants in pots? Most of mine are in the ground and subject to the vagaries of hot sun and rain. The few in pots are awaiting transplant day. PS the P rubel. has been a prolific bloomer. Many flowers going on for a long time. xuling

This message was edited Jul 14, 2014 12:35 PM

xuling, most of mine are in pots. The ones in my garden will have to be dug up for winter.
And I did notice all the spent blooms on your P. rubel. My flowers are really slowing down, but the Gymnos are still blooming a lot.

My Mammillaria sphaerica is blooming too since we got a nice rain from the monsoon the other day.

Wow Nancy. You have lots of blooms on yours.

Yes, I do have a lot of blooms, thanks to the rain. It does wonders. It is my favorite Mamm also. Here it is the next day as the color changed.

A couple of Parodias here, both reblooming. (As always) I am loving all the different colors of cactus flower. Thanks for sharing, guys.

Baja, I have a lot of these Parodias, and some how it is curious to me that they all bloomed on the exact same day(s). Isn't nature miraculous. xuling

If that were happening here you can be sure I would be standing by to see if there was any pollination. :) I love the idea of two plants getting together that way. I assume it's possible.

Here are some babies from a Ferocactus that mysteriously made fruit earlier this year, either self-pollinated or mixed up with one of the native Ferocacti. Obviously they've got quite a while until they can be identified as anything other than adorable little spiny blobs.

Those are so cute Baja! Was the pot covered until they sprouted? I'm trying to sprout Matucana madisoniorum from seed but it hasn't worked and it's been 3 weeks!

They are still covered, I just removed the plastic to take a picture. I have been bottom watering and it seems to work well enough. The daily condensation inside the plastic keeps the top part nice and moist. I intend to keep them covered until they start poking through the top. With the really small seeds it's a bad idea to take the lid off too soon.

Germination is a real hit or miss thing for me. Sometimes you can tell seed is defective in some way (different color, or smaller, or dented) but other times the failure is due to something else. The same seed will sometimes germinate when I try again, for no apparent reason. It seems to work best with good light and mild temps (above 70°F during the day and below 70° at night). I don't cover the really fine seeds much if any when I sow them.

This message was edited Jul 26, 2014 3:32 PM

Baja, I've had a Parodia for around 20 years and it is getting it's first bloom. I'll post a picture when it does.

And here it is. and my Stapelia is blooming, too.

smashed, that is a lovely Parodia bloom and a great Stapelia bloom, too. How big is the Stapelia bloom?

Congratulations on seeing your cactus bloom after 20 years! That's a long time to wait.

Thanks, momlady, Baja. The bloom is dried up now, but it was over a foot in length. Hopefully I'll have more later. The Parodia was still blooming today, but not all the way open. Aloe harlana blooming.

Here's my Stapelia kwebensis in bloom for the first time. It is about 1 1/2 inches across. And congrats on the Parodia blooming after 20 years. I have lots of Parodias and they bloom often each year! Maybe they like the desert!

Echeveria on the patio, Yucca across the street. Wow, this thread has wandered. I'm hoping that's okay with xuling. :) I guess we're still on the theme of summer flowers.

Beautiful Baja! I can't grow Echeverias here in the hot summer nights, but I've found that Yuccas do great and the flowers are spectacular!

Beautiful flowers everyone. I wonder if my plant is the same as your Parodia Gary? Are the spines soft?

Yes, Helen. They are soft. Aloe Christmas Carol blooming. One in the ground and one in a pot.