Winter Flowering Mammillaria

 

Mammillaria  melanocentra subsp. rubrograndis

 

I keep many of my cacti and other succulents outside all winter in  three wooden boxes, covered with clear heavy plastic and each containing an electric heater.  In essence, these are small, inexpensive greenhouses, and the plants do very well in them.  However, there are drawbacks, and one of the biggest is that during periods of cold weather, when the boxes can't be opened, I don't have access to the plants, even those that are showing off their flowers.

 

Mammillarias are relatively small cacti from Mexico or the Southwest U.S.  Most are globular in shape, easy to grow and flower in mid spring through early summer.  However, there are a few that flower much earlier in the year, during the winter.  M. melanocentra subsp. rubrograndis is one of the winter flowering types.  Fortunately, when it was in flower a few weeks ago, the weather was mild enough to open the plastic covers and take a photo of the wonderful flowering display.    

 

 

 

Mammillaria melanocentra subsp. rubrograndis is native to northeastern Mexico and requires a full sun location for this type of flower display.  The plant shown is approximately 17cm in diameter, and yes, those spines are sharp and they hurt.  I need to repot into a larger pot later this year but I really don't look forward to the repotting experience.  Ouch.   

   

Titanopsis Christmas Display

 

The Titanopsis are Flowering

 

My collection of Titanopsis calcarea plants are all in flower, just in time for a Christmas/Winter Solstice display.  Often I don't have an opportunity to enjoy their winter solstice flowers, because they are safely inside their over-wintering frames and covered with several layers of clear plastic.  This year however, the weather has been warm enough to allow removing the plastic and take a few photos. 



 

I was particularly excited to see three of my seedlings in flower.  These three plants have very nicely textured leaves and they grew rapidly this past summer.  However, I did not expect flowers until sometime next year, but they decided to join the other Titanopsis in flowering during the past two weeks.  Yes, I did get my brush a do a little pollinating. :)

 

 

Flowering along with these seedlings was my oldest and largest Titanopsis calcarea plant.   The seed that produced this plant was planted in October 1995.  The pot is a 15cm ceramic pot.   

 

 

Obviously, Titanopsis calcarea are enjoying the increased light and lower winter night temperatures that the outdoor over-wintering frames provide.  I'm just happy their flowering coincided with a bit of warm weather. 

 

I wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season and a Wonderful New Year.   It has been a great pleasure discussing our favorite plants over the  past year and I look forward to it continuing in 2014. 

 

Bob

Poinsettia Flowers

 

Poinsettia -  Euphorbia pulcherrima

 

Since the holiday are approaching, I thought I might show my Euphorbia pulcherrima flowering.   While not really a succulent, it is a pretty plant, but it really isn't the flowers that produce the color, instead, the plant produces large, colorful 'bracts,' which are modified leaves.  The true flowers are small, and are borne right at the top of the plant above the colorful bracts.

 

 

Below is a close up of the true poinsettia flowers.  They're not unattractive, but they are minor when compared with the flamboyant bracts.  What looks like individual flowers in euphorbias are actually a collection of flowers called a cyathium.  Each cyanthium contains a single female flower in the center, surrounded by many males flowers. 



 

 

The poinsettia is native to Mexico and was brought to the U.S. and popularized by Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.

Haworthias

 

Haworthia mirabilis var. badia

 Along with lithops, haworthias are one of my favorite succulent plants.  They are relatively small, easy to grow, and come in a variety of forms, textures, and colors.  Haworthias don't require the high light intensity many succulents need, however, I like the stronger colors that develop under lots of sun.  Such is the case with Haworthia mirabilis var. badia. 

 

 

This particular plant was a gift from a friend that specializes in haworthias.  The variety name "badia" means reddish-brown.

 



Cacti and Succulents in the Winter Window

Astrophytum Hybrid Collection

For the past four years I have been growing seedlings from astrophytum hybrid seed.  I have selected some of the more attractive types, with the hope of cross pollinating them to produce even nicer plants.  I didn't want to trust them spending the winter outside in the heated frames,  http://stewart723.blogspot.com/2013/11/succulent-winter-quarters.html  where I over-winter most of my plants.  Instead, I am over-wintering them inside the house on a shelf near a south facing window.  Many of these should flower next year and I will cross pollinate them and sow the resulting seed. 



 

 

Haworthia truncata Collection

I grow quite a few haworthias, but my favorites are H. truncata.  I have recently been growing them from seed I obtain from my older plants.   I didn't want to risk these in the outdoor heated frames, so they are also in the house on the shelf in the south facing window.  Although they don't get as much light as they would outside, at least they are available for me to work with over the winter.  The haworthias will often produce flowers in late winter and I'll cross pollinate some of the plants and hopefully get fruit and seeds.   





Winter Flowers A-Coming

Aloinopsis  malherbei

 

My Aloinopsis malherbei, is now comfortably in one of my over-wintering, outdoor cold frames where it enjoys plenty of sun and cool, crisp night temperatures.  As you can see, it has shown its satisfaction by budding up.  While I primarily grow A. malherbei for its wonderful leaf form, which includes the leaf shape and the small white tubercles that adorn the back and tip margins, the flowers are always welcome.   If I remember correctly, this plant was grown from seed planted in the winter of 2002, making it almost 14 years old.  It's never given me any problems and is now an old friend. 

**Obviously my math isn't very good -  above line should read, "making it almost 12 years old".     

 



 



Succulent Winter Quarters

Over-wintering My Cacti and Other Succulents

I over winter the bulk of my cacti and other succulent collection in two 5 x 8 ft. (1.5 x 2.5 meter) wooden boxes (shown below) that are covered with 6 mil plastic  and heated with a 1200 watt electric heater.  This over wintering method provides two desireable features. First, much like a greenhouse, it provides excellent winter light for the plants.  Second, it allows a relatively low night temperature, usually around 42 degrees F. (5.5 degrees C).  I've found that many succulents flower better when given a cool night temperature over the winter.  Basically, this is a low cost alternative to a greenhouse.  

The frames are covered initially with a single layer of 6 mil clear plastic.  When night temperatures begin to drop below 20 degrees F. (-6.5 degrees C), a second layer of plastic is added.  The plastic is draped completely over the frames and held in place with six cinder blocks per frame.   

The frames have proven successful in tempertures as low as 5 degrees below zero F. (-21 degrees C), and in snowfall depths of 25 inches (63 cm).  There are two major problems with this system of over-wintering.  First, a loss of electricity can drop the temperature in the frames to a plant damaging level within 4 hours.  To handle such an emergency I have two backup generators that can be used to keep the frames heated until the power is restored.  The second major problems is very limited access to the plants over the winter.  I do not remove the plastic unless the outside temperature is above 45 degrees F. (7.2 degrees C).  Occasionally two weeks can pass without being able to open the frames.      

I have been using these over-wintering frames for the past 12 years and they have performed well.  They cost less than $300 dollars to build (the biggest expense is thermostats for the heaters) and the monthly electricity cost average about $40 for both frames.