Indoor Gardens

[cohan]

I know some gardeners look forward to a break from garden work in the off season, but many of us like to keep the plant life going indoors! For me, for many years, indoors was my only gardening, when I lived in cities, mostly without so much as a balcony. Even now, with a lot of outdoor space, there is no way I could be satisfied with the few short months that plants are actively growing outdoors here, much less abandon my long developed and developing interests in particular groups of sub/tropical plants...
My oldest and still main interest is in cacti and succulents, so I'll start with a plant that flowered last night - this is Discocactus zentneri a cactus from areas of rocky outcrops/quartz deposits in a semi-arid/seasonally dry part of Brasil. Plants in this genus form a cephalium- a sort of dense wooly growth  on top of the main vegetative body- once they reach maturity, and after that the main body does not get much if at all larger, just produces offsets and flowers. Because of the cephalium, early bud development is hidden, and the bids suddenly appear in the daytime, reaching maturity and flowering overnight, for just one night! My plant does not seem to be notably scented, though some are, and flowers open at /after dusk (depending on season here) and close before dawn, so I can only take flash pictures or in ambient light (no photo light set-up currently) meaning they are usually kind of crappy shots...lol It flowers for me usually a couple or several times a year from spring through fall, and gets no water over winter..
Unfortunately my plant is a little homely since I bought it with the dumb straw flower glued on, and not knowing anything about cephalia at the time, didn't realise that any spines lost in removing the straw flower would not be moved lower down the body out of sight as they do when other cacti grow- so it has that bald area on the upper sides permanently! Lower down is a dense skirt of offsets...

A page for the genus:
http://www.discocactus.nl/Engels/speciesE/speciesE.htm

[Hoy]

That really is a nice one, Cohan! I've always believed that cacti with cephalia had rather small flowers like this one from Los Roques.

With that white colour you should expect it to scent?

[cohan]

Thanks, Trond- that looks like a nice Melocactus- there are a lot of species, and I think they all have small pink/purple flowers. Discocactus on the other hand all have large white flowers. Some friends who have the same species as me have scented flowers, but I have never smelled any on mine. Its not impossible that the scent develops nearer to dawn, but I think I have checked it at different times and never found any...

[RickR]

I went to bed last night, thinking about Disco-cactus.

Maybe it's because Donald Duck and I have the same birthday, but you wouldn't believe the dream I had ...
 
 --- Or maybe you would! 

[Hoy]

Rick, you haven't tasted any of your plants, have you

[cohan]

Lol-- I guess I'm just so used to the genus that I don't think of 'Discos' that way, in spite of having been, at times, very fond of both discos, and cacti! Not sure they mix well, apart from this genus...

[cohan]

Another cactus,  Thelocactus hexaedrophorus, this one from Mexico. I've had mine for 6 years or so, and its still happy in a 4" /10cm pot; This could be its mature size or it could get nearly twice as wide over time. I have another form with different spination, but it hasn't flowered for a few years...
This one usually flowers in early spring for me (can't remember right now whether it did this year) but gave me this flower in the last week of August...

   

Here's a site for the genus:
http://www.thelocactus.cactus-mall.com/Species_Files/hexaedrophorus.html

For contrast, here is the flower when it first opened... many cactus flowers change a lot in shape, size, even colour over a couple of days, or even hours like this one, from just opened to wide open in the hottest (on the windowsill) time of day..

[cohan]

A different kind of succulent, this little plant came as an extra cutting with an order of Haworthias from Belgium in 2005; it's still in a 4"/10cm pot, though I bet it could be bigger by now if it had had enough ferts all along! Not the most exciting shape for an asclep ( I prefer those with small ovoid stems!) might need a hanging pot over time, or would probably make a nice mat in a warm climate or greenhouse! Stems will be all green in lower light, but get nicely marked with red if its sunny enough. It's a nice easygoing plant- drought tolerant of course, though it may lose stems if really dry, it will grow new ones from below the soil line, where most of the stems come from anyway (some branching, but not tons for me). Lots of small, but dark and pretty, shortlived flowers; it has flowered spring and late summer/fall for me. may be more water dependent than really seasonal... Sits on a south facing windowsill all year, mostly dry over winter..

[cohan]

What the heck- a couple more cacti

Turbinicarpus klinkerianus, a miniature (in fact most in the genus are said to be neotenous, staying small and flowering very young) plant from Mexico; this is in a 2.5" pot since 2007, and nowhere near filling it on top, though the fat roots are trying to make the square pot round...
flowers several times from spring through fall, though this is the most flowers it's had at once this year.. pics show day two then day three for these flowers..

[cohan]

And another- Eriosyce (napina? have to find my original records.. this species is very similar to occulta, so I'm not sure)
This time a Chilean plant, also small, in a 3 inch pot, these are mostly buried in nature, but tend to slowly get a bit cylindrical in cultivation;
It flowered a couple of weeks ago with 2 flowers, but don't think I got those photos posted...

[cohan]

A fairly common Haworthia type- but I don't usually bother trying to name these exactly if they come with no provenance: there are many many(many many many) similar forms, and species are far from agreed on, plus, mainstream plants can be hybrids as well, so I enjoy them namelessly!
This particular plant is looking (in my eye) very elegant in its closed, mid-winter rest form.. (only the tip opens while in growth,  lower leaves might just loosen a bit) .. colour also varies through the year depending on water and light...

[Hoy]

Cohan, is this its natural habit or is it caused by low levels of light?

[cohan]

Completely natural. These types often grow partly/shaded by shrubs etc so they do not need/want really full sun, though I keep them just back from south windows so they get some good sun, especially spring and fall. You can tell by the partly reddish colouring that it gets some sun.
These taller species will grow upright for a while and eventually lean or fall over (unless they are propped up by shrubs) but this stem is probably near maximum height, and most growth now will go into offsets, which you can see starting..
This particular form is also more gracile than some other forms, one of the numerous points of variation among these forms and similar species.

[Hoy]

Interesting! The only Haworthias I have grown had no stem at all or very short ones.

[RickR]

Now that could make a very interesting (or at least, different) hanging basket in its old age.

How old is it?  With my inconsistent care, if I grew that plant I don't think it would be clothed to the base anymore.

So you've inspired me to take a few pics of some of my more usual houseplants.  You especially, Cohan, will recognize the hard life they endure.

This one you probably know of the top of your head.  It's fairly common but I don't remember the name.
              

Drimiopsis maculata petioles
              

Haworthia turgida
              

Haworthia sp. Aloe haworthioides
                

Sinningia leucotricha survives, dwarfed in a 2.5 inch pot.  But it still blooms two or three times a year.
              

Mamallaria elongata - I think