Thursday, October 18, 2012

schwantesii flower

I really like how the photos turn out in the natural evening light. A bit dark but so dreamy. Like the flowers are glowing from inside. I think the camera also recognizes the petals as a light source. :)
The flower on the schwantesii v. marthae C249 opened today. Such a beauty. The other head also has a bud inside so maybe this is not the last we see from this plant.

Aaaand in case you haven't noticed, the dorothea flower ist really huuuge this year!

Next would be the hallii, and then a karasmontana probably. White wave. :)

14 comments:

  1. Very impressive looking flowers Rika! Wonderful photos too.

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    1. Thank you :)
      It might take them a while but when they finally flower you know it was worth the wait.

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  2. These are wonderful photos! You should print them up very large, and hang them in your living room!

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    1. So much shiny-silky-ness! :) Thanks, I might do that XD

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  3. So beautiful. Are there lithops with blue flowers?

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    1. No, there are no blue flowers among lithops, other succulents or cacti. They can't produce those. Lithops can have yellow, white, yellow with white center, white with pink-ish tips, pink-ish or pale-yellow/beige flowers. That's the range ;)

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  4. So, YOU have flowers, huh? I see, it´s because your Lithops have a comfortable, warm home! ;-)

    Oh, indeed, the Dorotheae flower is huge and it appears to be noticeably elevated from the plant.

    To my very surprise I recognised an open Lithops flower today, too! It´s on a newly acquired L. naureeniae. The strange thing is, the flower is pure white!!! O.o *wtf* Does it mean it´s not a Naureeniae then? *grrr!* Or is it a new cultivar?! LOL
    Best regards, Andy

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    1. Hi Andy!
      I guess so. ;D Wouldn't you want to bloom when it's so cozy?
      There aren't sooo many though. A couple more flowers and that's it. :)

      The dorotheae flower could cover all three heads of the plant from above like an umbrella. Since I don't have flowering partners for the plants I've just pollinated them with each other and a faucaria on top of that, haha. Hope for some selfing. It's not for seeds but to give this huge effort a meaning..

      Congrats on the flower nevertheless! (pictures please~)
      Yea, this might be something else than naureeniae but as long as it's healthy and pretty ;)

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    2. Hoi Rika,

      further examinations resulted in the plant in question is indeed NOT a L. naureeniae. It looks significantly different to the other Naureeniae I grow. Should have noticed that earlier, shouldn´t I? *blush* Pictures are impossible as I don´t have a digital camera. :( I wonder what it is as according to lithops.info database all other Lithops that resemble my white flowering plant have yellow flowers! 8-/ Perhaps the new couple of lobes will tell us the truth...tsk, tsk...
      Regards, Andy

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    3. Hi Andy,
      too bad there are no photos. I'm pretty sure it's a marmorata ;) Even if the coloration and pattern don't fit, it's the only one with wide cleft and white flowers.
      Also, if someone is trying to sell a white flowering helmutii to you, those are marmorata as well :D

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    4. Aaaaahhhhh! *light bulb* I haven´t thought on Marmorata at all! You´re right! That´s a very possible solution. Hard to tell as the face has already got wrinkled and the colouration has faded muchly. Another possibility would be a L. salicola. The new lobes will finally tell I guess.
      Haha...too bad I don´t know of all Lithops by heart which flower colour belongs to them. But for the future I´ll for sure know there is no white flowering Helmutii... X-D
      Uuuhhh...very cold this night. It freezes outside and I have brought all my Lithops indoors in the evening!

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  5. Lovely. I agree with the dreamy look, and I like it too. Right now its a case of survival for my plants - we have had at least 1.5 inches of rain up to Friday and it has not stopped yet. Lots of flooding and power cuts. At least these give me hope again!

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    1. Glad you do! Thanks :)
      Your plants stand on shelves outside, right? I can imagine your worries. You probably have two layers of plastic wrap tacked around the shelves right now. Sommer will come soon enough and you will wish for some rain :)

      Here it's some kind of a mid-season heatwave at the moment :)

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    2. Summer is nice and mild here. Problem is we had 104mm in half an hour on Thursday, many shops under 1.5m of water, and another 75mm just today alone - just the opposite of 2 years ago when where on the back-end of a 3-year drought...Nature seems to be on extremes on both sides of the scale!

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