New blooms and old

Today I have brand new blooms as well as old blooms that just keep chugging along.

New is this Pachyveria hybrid named Claire.  It has such pretty clear yellow flowers.



Pachyveria is an intergeneric hybrid of Pachyphytum and Echeveria, both rosette-forming low succulents.  Because they are closely related they interbreed easily, and there are tons of cultivars.  Of which I have... umm... a few.  According to Emma they all look the same, but truly, they're all different!  Leaf shape, leaf color, flower color... yeah.

But look how pretty!



The old blooms for today are on a Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, blooming in this mixed succulent dish garden.  Emma talked me into buying this in August even though this is one of the mass-produced arrangements that I think is mostly for temporary use, and has the horrible glued-together decorative gravel on the top of the soil.  That makes it easier for shipping across the country, sure, but it's terrible for the plants.

However, this container has done surprisingly well. I had it outside until it got too cold, then brought it inside to the lights for the winter.  Except for one plant in the front, everything is thriving.  The Kalanchoe has been in flower like this for six straight months!  Each individual flower only lasts a week or so, but they just keep coming.



I think I'll be taking this arrangement apart and replanting it in the spring, to get rid of the glued gravel and give it better soil. I must say, though, I really like it, considering it was a reluctantly-purchased impulse buy.  It's on a shelf where I can see it every time I walk in the back door, and it always gives me a little lift.