Friday, November 22, 2013

Pretty Prickles




All cacti are succulents but only a few succulents are cacti. Succulents are so called because they have thick, fleshy water-storing leaves, stems or both. Ok, definitions aside, I'm loving these succulents which now grace our back deck. You may remember my interest in succulents beginning three months ago with my handsome Black Prince which is thriving as you can see above, behind the new-comers.

The assortment in the large bowl-shaped container are succulent trimmings which my mother brought from her extensive collection when she visited for my birthday earlier this month. I had fun potting them up and love the variety of shapes, colours and textures.




The most colourful one at the moment is Miss V's cactus which she bought at the markets three weeks ago. My previous post featured its flower without the spines visible and Silvina correctly noted it was a cactus, just like one she has at her home far across the ocean.




Miss V's cactus was a promise of flowers late Tuesday afternoon (above) and they all opened Wednesday morning! Each evening they close up again only to reopen the following day, continuing to delight us for several days.






Back in August I plucked off and planted some of my Black Prince's lower leaves (after leaving to dry out for a few days). I'm excited to report that some baby princes are growing! I'm looking forward to repotting these when I buy some free draining succulent potting mix.




Low maintenance, hardy and pretty as well. They seem just right for our outside table and gladden my heart each time I see at them. I'm guessing my collection will continue to grow.....


25 comments:

geanina said...

beautiful photos! :)

Joop Zand said...

Nice colors has these flowers..... good photo's Karen.

Greetings and a nice weekend.

Joop

Jeanne said...

These are lovely, and succulents are pretty popular in Texas. I love chicken and hens. Have a wonderful day!

The Artful Diva said...

pretty prickles indeed. I really like the metal containers!

Elise Lea said...

What lovely plants! I still think your black prince is just stunning and that cactus is incredible. Thanks for sharing these!

Unknown said...
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Giga said...

Przy nich można czasami zapomnieć o podlewaniu i tak rosną. Kaktusy dodatkowo pieknie kwitną. Pozdrawiam.
With them you can sometimes forget about watering and so grow. Cacti also beautifully bloom. Yours.

Barb said...

Succulents are wonderful - their shape, texture and colors are all so individual. Looks like you will have several little princes to repot soon!

Cristina Ferreira said...

São muito bonitas estas plantas.

Dirk Rosin said...

beautiful photos! :)

flowersandhome said...

You have a beuatiful collection of succulents Karen. I had some years ago but somehow haven't had any for quite a while now. They somehow disappeared and were given away and I never replaced them. I should! Really love you Black Prince!
Marian

Michelle said...

I love your succulents and hope to plant more myself, come spring.

Angie said...

I love cactus. We have tons of it here in SoCal. As usual, your photographs make me smile.

Joy said...

I wish I have place for them inside my house, but good to see that you have and their are beautiful.

mariondejong said...

Lovely blog, I also love succulents, but in fact we do not own that many. Nice idea!
Best regards, Marion

EricaSta said...

Like succulents .... And my sister collected them for a Long Time, at least she had over 200 different cacteen and succulents!
Fantastic picts of yours. Wish you a very good weekend.

Greetings by Heidrun from Bavaria

Julie said...

I have a lot of succulents growing in my garden - so easy to look after too. I remember the time my daughter stroked a fluffy looking cactus at the garden centre - too forever to get all the fine gold prickles out of her hand.

Jana said...

very charming...we have some at home too:-)

Steph @ this brown wren said...

Oh how I adore succulents! And your collection is particularly beautiful! I think you've inspired me to take the babies for a little trip to the nursery this week for a few new ones. Hope your week is lovely :) xx

Dzjiedzjee said...

Beautiful Karen! These are probably the only kind of plants that don't die under my hands, due to water shortage! :-)

Warm greetings from the Netherlands,
dzjiedzjee.blogspot.com

Spare Parts and Pics said...

I really like your macro shot of the cactus flower... well done!!

diane b said...

It is a great way to garden, start with succulents. After a while you will have to cut back and separate as they will grow so big. Love the cactus flower.

tinajo said...

These photos are lovely! :-)

http://tinajoathome.com/

Seeing Each Day said...

I didn't even know cacti flowered, and I really like those little tin pots. Good to get your opinion of vistaprint as I'm looking at doing something with them as well. Really sorry that the health issue at home remains so prominent - what a stress on everything.

Unknown said...

They look beautiful. I tried to grow succulents in Las Vegas for a while. My thoughts is that they were cactus. They should grow pretty easy here in the desert. But I managed to kill them. I am thinking it was too hot for them..

Hugs~

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