For one who cultivates plants, there is no greater reward than healthy growth and pretty flowers. This time, it's the old Copiapoa hypogaea var. barquitensis that I've bought three weeks ago at the Cactus & Succulent show in Kudelstaart and a Mammillaria bombycina from the local plant shop.
Copiapoa hypogaea var. barquitensis
Copiapoa hypogaea var. barquitensis flowering
Copiapoa hypogaea var. barquitensis flowering
Copiapoa hypogaea var. barquitensis flowering
Mammillaria bombycina
Mammillaria bombycina
I've bought this Mammillaria bombycina back in 2013 at a local plant shop, not the best place to buy succulents (they usually stand somewhere in the dark and get way too much water), but sometimes you can be lucky. Putting it in a decent soil mix and giving it some good care has finally paid off. This is the first time that this Mammillaria is flowering.
Photos
The photos above are taken by my lovely wife, Stephanie. She's much more talented than I am, so why not use my own personal photographer? Of course I have to pick my shots and only ask her once in a while for the more difficult pictures, otherwise, I'll drive her mad with my ever growing collection. Anyhow, she has done a hell of a job!
Euphorbia platyclada
One-year-old Euphorbia platyclada seedling, flowering
When you don't know this species, you might think it's died, but no. This is as pretty as it gets. Hell yeah! Talking about awkward plants, right? It's even flowering. I've been wanting this species for many years. I even tried to sow it back in 2013 and failed terribly.
This week I've read an article about this species on the Dutch 'Succulenta' website. It's kind of hard - if not, impossible - to find this plant for sale, so I've sent an email to the author and asked him if he knew where to buy one. In his kind reply, he told me that he would be glad to send me a one-year-old seedling and he even added some more information about and photos of this species. Added to the small package was a cutting of another bizarre looking plant:
Ceropegia adrianae
Ceropegia adrianae cutting
All that I know about C. adrianae is that it's from Madagascar and that it looks "funny" (quoting my son here). I think it's awesome! Some plants are just so ugly that they become beautiful, if you get what I mean.
The end
That's about it for this post. I'm also seeing some buds on my Gymnocalycium stenopleurum (I guess I'm doing things right :-) ). I'll keep you up-to-date. Later!
Góðan dag! Today's post is all about new additions to my cactus & other succulent collection and about the day trip to the Ubink Cactus & Succulent nursery with my two-year-old son.
Lophophora williamsii
Each year, there's an event called 'Cactus & Vetplantendag' at Ubink's, which means: 'Cactus and Succulent day'. This was my second time and my son's first (!). I already knew that I wouldn't be able to take a lot of pics this time, other than the ones of Arthur running around in this gigantic greenhouse and a video where he disappears in a group of 4 meter high cereuses.
I haven't taken any pics, so I'm going to describe the place with words and then show you some photos of my purchases.
What can I say about the nursery? It's a really big greenhouse that covers over 60.000 square meters and it's filled with succulent plants. Once a year it's open for hobbyists, who are then able to buy plants for a very decent price. You probably can imagine that I felt like a kid in a candy store! One part of the greenhouse was reserved for hobby breeders to sell their plants. The perfect place to find pretty and rare species. Man, I loved it over there, but Arthur loved it even more. Totally worth it!
It took us 3 hours to get in Kudelstaart, but even the trip alone was more than worth it: my son swore that he saw a squirrel in the trees from the train and a little later he even saw a hippopotamus! The Dutch fauna keeps amazing me...
Around 12 am we arrived at the nursery. Arthur was really impressed: "Oh! Cactusbeurs! Yes! Look at all those Cactuses!". The entrance was recognizable by a beautiful cactus garden. Inside we were welcomed with some refreshments (coffee and lemonade) before we both went berserk.
Of course, I can try to describe each path and all the species inside the nursery, but instead of wasting our time, I'm going to show you the same video as I did in 2014:
I'm very aware that it's a bad quality video and I only post it to give you a small impression, so please don't give it anymore thumbs-down on YouTube! I got one thumb down and it has made me sad for at least half a second. ;-) By the way: my son loves this video and always asks me to show it (must be Nino Rota's funny music combined with the turbo mode).
It was a little bit harder to check out all the plants this time, so we had to walk by at least 20 times before being able to choose what to buy, but I don't mind. We had a great time! After 3 hours of fun, laughter, a lot of running and buying, we went home with the following purchases:
Euphorbia pugniformis
Euphorbia pugniformis
This is the second Medusoid species of the Euphorbia family that I've added to my collection. In 2014 I've purchased an E. gorgonis from the same nice man at that year's 'Cactus & Succulent day'. E. pugniformis (the new one) is actually close related to E. gorgonis:
A flowering Euphorbia gorgonis, purchased back in 2014
Lophophora williamsii
What-up?! This is now by far (in my opinion) the most beautiful Peyote I own! Flat and almost disappearing in the ground. It looks like this plant has been taken from its natural habitat, but it's not! I've bought it from the nursery itself for a very decent price. I can't wait till I spot its first flower!
Lophophora williamsii
Tephrocactus articulatus
Tephrocactus articulatus
I've sown this species back in 2012, but none of the planted seeds germinated. This awkward looking plant was also bought directly from Ubink.
Tephrocactus articulatus var. papyracanthus
Tephrocactus articulatus var. papyracanthus
The same species as the one named above, but a different variety. T. articulatus var. papyracanthus has, as the name already suggests, paper like spines.
I'm going to study this family a bit more and see how to make Tephrocactus seeds germinate. I've already read multiple advises from putting them in the fridge for a while to scarification of the seeds. Any advice is more than welcome, so please don't hesitate to contact me if you have the golden advice for me.
Tephrocactus aoracanthus
Tephrocactus aoracanthus
And another Tephrocactus. This one is huge comparing to the others. It's actually the tallest cactus in my collection now. Compare this photo to the others and pay attention to the wood in the background to see its actual size.
Copiapoa hypogaea var. barquitensis
Copiapoa hypogaea var. barquitensis
Another variety of this species is already on my wishlist for a couple of years (var. 'lizard skin'), but I couldn't resist buying this plant. The hobbyist, from whom I've bought this beauty, told me that he wouldn't be surprised if this plant is around 30 years old. So today I've also obtained the oldest plant of my collection.
Lots of flowers guaranteed!
Copiapoa hypogaea var. barquitensis
Opuntia ursina
Opuntia ursina
Another winter hardy Opuntia. This tiny plant will grow quite big, the seller told me. And I'll be able to grow this plant outside, even here in the Netherlands.
The end
That's about it. This trip the Ubink will be an every year returning event for both of us, because spending quality time with your kid is one of the greatest things there is.
I hope that I'll be able to share some photos of flowering plants during the upcoming months.
