I've been away from home for about 2 months, so no blogging since late November. Now that I'm back at home, there is a lot to catch up with. I'll start with my Mammillaria dioica.
If it seems that I am obsessed with this plant, you're right. I am. The thing that amazes me about this particular one in my yard is how often it has been flowering. In my post of November 16, 2019, I commented on this. Here's the chronology thus far:
- Flowers observed on Sept. 22
- Watered by me in late September
- Flowering observed on Oct. 16
- Fruit observed on Nov. 8
- Rain Nov. 20 and 27
- Jan. 18 abundant flowers and numerous fruits observed (photos below)
- This makes 3 flowering events in 5 months
I find this rather amazing. Admittedly, I "forced"one of those blooms by watering it, but it could have easily rained at that time to produce the same result.
Since I was away for 2 months, I did not observe the onset of the latest bloom or the progression of fruiting. I plan to watch the plant daily for the next several months to see how long these flowers last and how many fruit are produced.
The second plant I am excited about is a Dudleya candida. I bought a couple of these several years ago from Grigsby's nursery in Vista, and they are doing great in my garden (see Sept. 29, 2019). They are native to the Coronados Islands off the coast of Tijuana, so the marine influence in Encinitas is just right for them. Both of these plants have produced pups or seedlings (I'm not sure which) that I have discussed in earlier posts. One of those pups is now putting up an inflorescence.
This is a great indication of how well the plants are doing, and I'm looking forward to more pups in the years ahead.
