The Succulent and Cactus Lady : Succulent auction

About me

🌿 I've been gardening ever since a child, when I spent time with my father in his vegetable garden. But my fascination with Echeverias started in the 1980's, when my father gave me a pot with five Echeverias, which turned out to be E. imbricata. At first I wasn't much interested in them and planted them in some obscure corner of the garden and completely forgot about them. How great was my surprise when, a couple of months later, I noticed that they had spread and made a beautiful display - I was hooked!

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Succulent auction

At the end of last month (January 2015), I participated in an on-line succulent auction on a FaceBook group called MinWateR and my bid was the most successful! I patiently waited for over a week for my plants to arrive by courier. What excitement when I unpacked them! Beautifully and safely boxed in little brown paper packets, all with specie names on, they were all none the worse for the wear.

(Plants from Hendri Pretorius).

Then came the big job of preparing soil and pots and planting my 25 little darlings. I'm building up quite a collection and soon I will have to build them their own display house!

Here are some of the first pics I took :

Euphorbia horidda - rooted cutting

Pleiospilos nelli - 3yr Old Seedling

Aloe comosa - 3yr Old Seedling

Aloinopsis rosulata - 3yr Old Seedling (Rubrolineota)

Faucaria - 2yr Old Seedling

Orbea lutea - Rooted Cutting

Pleiospilos compactus - 3yr Old Seedling

Titanopsis hugo-schlecterii - 3yr Old Seedling

Featured Succulent

Echinopsis grows pretty much anywhere. Here in South Africa they can tolerate summer temperatures of 30°C or greater, which is hot enough to spur growth of both Echinopsis pups and their amazing flowers. They also tolerate cold temperatures well during winter months. However, I bring my potted ones inside during hard freezes or their water-filled bodies will freeze as well. Compared to most cacti, Echinopsis bloom fast and furious. They typically begin blooming in spring. Most blooms only last one or two days and they frequently open at night. But it’s common to have several buds on one plant developing at different rates; so a single plant can be in bloom for several weeks. As a general rule, the smaller the diameter of the blooms a Echinopsis species produces, the more blooms the plant produces. Species that produce monster blooms (some over 6” in diameter) tend to have fewer blooms as so much plant energy goes into producing each one. Echinopsis generally begin to produce flowers when they are two or three years old. Echinopsis is a large genus of cacti native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. One small species, E. chamaecereus, is known as the peanut cactus. The 128 species range from large and treelike types to small globose cacti.

A garden requires patient labour and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfil good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them. Gardeners are well primed to provide food for birds and animals, but the key to encouraging the widest possible range of wildlife is to think of creating a habitat for creatures to live in. The most important aspect of this is the provision of shelter from the weather and from predators, as well as a place to lay eggs, rear young or hibernate.

About me

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Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Succulent auction