A Cramped Collection in Connecticut

[benp]

Hi all,

My name is Ben and I used to live in Florida with a big, spacious yard. The climate was like Thailand, and my Pseudolithos and Dorstenia were all happy clams and did their thing without almost any help from me. Then I moved to a cramped, no-balcony apartment in Connecticut.

lol

That was almost 2 years ago, and I have learned a lot since then regarding indoor succulent culture at the cost of many cute and small lives (my P. mccoyi RIP...). However, my collection and I truly passed through the eye of the neglect needle this past winter when I qualified for my PhD thesis. I lost some good and expensive lives but it was worth passing lol!!! But, I was afraid nothing would grow this spring or if it did, it would all be gross and stunted. I was wrong, thankfully.

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Most of my Malagasy Euphorbias which are thirsty and resent lots of direct sun under my conditions. My giant unruly Stapelianthus decaryi is also back here, mostly because i need to repot it because it's exploding!!!

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One of my direct sun areas, the sun is actually too strong for a lot of things I used to keep in the middle area so I put a big Pelargonium crithmifolium and Aloe bowiea in there to break up some of the light. In the second picture, you can see my undeserved pride and joy, some 9 month old Digitostigma/Astrophytum caput-medusae and what is either a Tylecodon leucothrix or ellephiae.

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My other full sun area, dominated by a teenage Pelargonium cortusifolium and an heirloom Pachyveria glauca "Little Jewel" that I can now keep nice and powdery like my Dudleya gnoma "White Sprite," which got a little minty during my winter of pure neglect but is now reverting to purest white

I was especially concerned about my dormant bulbs, they could have easily died in the winter and would have never known but I guess they liked the neglect because they pupped like crazy.

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Ledebouria galipinii, was 3 bulbs 2 years ago, now it's 9 I fertilized them once a year maybe?

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Drimia kirkiae, when I got this plant the previous seller (an expert of experts)said it has only pupped that one time in like 11 years. For me, it has pupped 4 times in the past year I fertilized it once in Oct 2016 lol

I'm just glad so see some green after Connecticut's dead, sad winter!!! I miss the palm trees when I was visiting my parents on Christmas in Florida, it was 85F/29.5C and breezy, while it was hailing in Connecticut the things I do for education!!!

[Vipassana]

That's a pretty nice collection. Thank you for sharing. What did you get your PhD in?

[benp]

That's a pretty nice collection. Thank you for sharing. What did you get your PhD in?

Thanks! I'm somehow expanding this year again, we'll see where I find room lol

I'm in the process of getting my PhD in Genetics, 3ish+ more years to go!! My program makes you qualify in the second year.

[graffiti]

Where you at in CT? Have you been to Logees in Killingly yet?

[benp]

Where you at in CT? Have you been to Logees in Killingly yet?

Yep! I think I went with the CT Cactus & Succulent Society when I still had time to make the meetings

They have a lot of interesting stuff! I did not leave empty-handed hahaha

[benp]

The past few days were warm and breezy, so I opened all the windows and watered/fertilized most things. Today is not as good lol, but spring has definitely sprung here! Many of my plants began producing new leaves right when the Ginkgo trees outside did

Dorstenia sp. nova Montagne de Francais, a perennial favorite

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Euphorbia sp. nova Ramenae, slow but steady

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Tephrocactus pentlandii making too many new stems!

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Adenium socotranum x dhofarense leafing out

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Frailea pygmaea with new yellow spination

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Dorstenia gigas (left) and D. horwoodii (right), fattening up nicely!

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[mdpillet]

Love the Dorstenia!

[ElieEstephane]

This is a little treasure!

[7george]

I liked the Tephrocactus and Frailea most. But these Euphorbia are also quite interesting!

[benp]

This is a little treasure!

I liked the Tephrocactus and Frailea most. But these Euphorbia are also quite interesting!

Love the Dorstenia!

Hi all, thanks for the love!

A lot has happened to me and my collection in the past 10ish months. For me, it was a 9-month long tribulation at work, trying to optimize an experimental protocol that just wouldn't work no matter what!

For my plants, this was also a pretty bad year, mostly because I was incredibly busy and incredibly neglectful

But, I finally got my experiments to work in lab, which meant I could finally focus on worrying about my hobby in my free time Some stuff died, most stuff lived, which is really all I could ask for with how many times my poor plants went 2-3 weeks without a drop of water

Here's what was looking good today:

Albuca/Ornithogalum unifolia flowering this year. Of course, the leaf fell off after I took the photo... Clumsy!! But, it's supposed to flower with a dry leaf anyways, and the bulb is incredibly FAT. It should be fine...

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Close-up of the incoming inflorescence

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Othonna cremnophila, wrongly spread around as O. cyclophylla, is still very green and very much growing for me! I have two smaller seedlings that are also chugging along.

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My clump of Drimia kirkiae, which desperately needs a repot this growing season, is flowering from 5/6 bulbs with gusto.

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Euphorbia maromokotrensis is bloom! Very pretty species overall, like ankarensis but with hanging stems and better flowers.

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Ledebouria galipinii pan and my Ornithogalum sardienii clumps are growing well too. I really am starting to love bulbs...

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Ornithogalum juncifolia x brittenae is also in bloom, I'm going to try corssing it with my O. unifolia. Hoping for a few very thick and succulent leaves on the F2s!!

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Look and the loosely spiraled foliage of O. juncifolia x brittenae, with O. sardienii flowers arching up from the bottom.

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[ElieEstephane]

Quite the peculiar collection. We don't see these a lot.
Thanks for sharing!