Always something in bloom

The fun thing about having so many plants is that I always have flowers.  This is a little succulent called Echeveria minima. It's related to the common hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum) that are found in many outdoor gardens, but Echevaria will not tolerate extended freezing temperatures. I have this inside under lights for the winter with the rest of the cactus and succulents.



I got this from Home Depot (or Lowes, can't remember which, but a big box store in any case) about three months ago, just because it was so cute. Some types of Echeveria get huge, but this one stays small.

It came in a 2.5" pot, and looked fairly miserable in its little ball of dried out and compacted peat soil.  I repotted it into a coarse, well-draining medium and a 3.5" pot.  It quickly perked up, started growing, and is now blooming on two spikes!



The flowers are pretty, understated and subtle.  However, I most particularly like how the flower in this photograph, from this angle, looks like a sideways penguin-squid.

TWO Masdevallias!

Remember how excited I was about my very first Masdevallia flower?  Well, now BOTH of my Masdevallia strobelii plants are blooming! 



Both of these are from Ecuagenera, picked up at the Portland orchid show last April.  The one on the left is the small form, and the the one on the right is the big form.

The big form has five flowers!



And the small form has seven!





These are growing right next to each other on the same windowsill, so they get the same light and temperature.  The only cultural difference is the pot size, but I've noticed that they dry out at about the same rate because the big one has more root mass. I'm glad they're both blooming at the same time so I can show a good comparison.

The small form, unsurprisingly, has a smaller overall plant form in both leaf size and height. However, on this blooming anyway, the small form has slightly larger flowers that are much more yellow.  They are both scented quite strongly, especially in the sun, and I can't tell any difference in scent.



They are both beautiful.

Red

The second amaryllis of the 2016/2017 season is open!

(I'm counting the surprise summer scape on Red Lion 2008 as the first.  If you click on the link to open the post on the surprise scape, you can see what a difference temperature makes in the flower color.  Cooler temperature equals redder blooms.)



This is the 2014 Red Lion, and is its third blooming for me.  This is the one that had two scapes last year, but only one is showing so far this year.  Time will tell if there's another in the works.

Also opening today is this Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), a variety named Claudia. 



Very pretty, and I didn't have a red/white variety, so yay!

I got this as a freebie plant when I ordered a couple other plants from Whitton's Greenhouses earlier this fall.  I'm telling you, I should just disconnect my internet.  It makes it way too easy to buy plants.

Pink cacti

I have these two pretties blooming right now.  This first one is exciting because I got this cactus last summer and this is its first blooming for me.

This is Mammillaria huitzilopochtli, a species native to southern Mexico.



There is a complete ring of buds around the plant, but only about a third of them are open at the moment.



I love the little flat starburst spines. I'm quite pleased that this plant is happy.  It's so pretty!



I also have my first Thanksgiving cactus flowers of the year opening.



This is a plant that I started from a piece off the floor at a store (can't remember which, maybe Walmart or Home Depot).  It rooted and grew well, but then languished for several years, ignored in old soil and a too-small pot.  I repotted it this summer and it took off with new growth, and now several stems have two or three flowers each.

Dumbledore got it right.

"I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort’s return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort’s gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.

It is my belief - and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.

Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.”

-Albus Dumbledore  (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling, 2000)



Emma and I were listening to this book on CD this afternoon, and this passage jumped out at me like it never has before.  It takes place at the end of the fourth Harry Potter book, when Voldemort is newly returned to power and Cedric Diggory has just been murdered.  Harry is traumatized and the school is in shock.

Cedric was killed, not because he was a threat or powerful or anything other than ordinary, but because he was just in the way.  Voldemort saw no value in him, marginalized him, and decided that he wasn't worth having around.  Voldemort didn't even kill Cedric himself, he ordered one of his followers, Wormtail, to do the actual deed.

When a leader draws violence, hatred, disrespect, and discord from his followers - condones it, orders it, encourages it, and demonstrates it in his personal conduct - then that person is no fit leader at all.

On the flip side, people can't follow blindly or justify their behavior by pointing to the words, or even actions, of a person in power.  As a society, we have the power to shape what happens over the next few years.  Because yes, Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great.  But it can only spread if we let it.

No, really, I'd like to wake up now please.

Dear Rest of the World,

I know, I can't believe it either.  I'm so, so sorry.

Sincerely,
A Rational American

Could be worse...

Some people have destructive addictions.  Me?  I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't gamble, and I don't have any debts except my mortgage.

Hi, my name is Sue and I collect plants.



This is my new batch of amaryllis bulbs, the first two (of four) orders from this fall.  At least this addiction is relatively harmless, and I get pretty flowers.

I have no idea where I'm going to put them.