Mid-October succulent flowers

In spite of daytime highs in the high 80s and low 90s, fall is definitely here. Summer-growing succulents have slowed way down in preparation for winter, and compared to spring and summer, there’s very little in bloom in the succulent realm. But there’s always something, as you’ll see below.

Coryphantha retusa

Coryphantha retusa is a small cactus from Mexico with dense golden spines. I got two of them in last year’s fall plant sale at the Huntington, and this one flowered in early October:

Coryphantha retusa

Ferocactus herrerae

Ferocactus herrerae is closely related to Ferocactus wislizeni, the common Arizona fishhook barrel, but as the body of the cactus ages, it takes on a pronounced twist. Mine flowers quite profusely from summer into fall. The flower you see below is last one of the year, and quite possibly the most perfect:

Ferocactus herrerae flower; the yellow “pineapples” above it are immature fruits from earlier flowers

Ferocactus herrerae

Ariocarpus fissuratus var. hintonii

Ariocarpus are among the most collected cacti. I’ve long resisted the temptation, considering how slow-growing (and expensive) ariocarpus are. Last year, I had the opportunity to buy an Ariocarpus fissuratus var. hintonii at a price that was simply too good to pass up. Not everybody likes the warty look, but I’ve warmed up to it. To my delight, my specimen produced a flower recently. Even more surprisingly: the flower lasted almost a week! That’s a lot longer than the cactus flowers I’m used to – echinopsis flowers, for example, last a day, maybe two at the most.

Ariocarpus fissuratus var. hintonii flower, day 1

Day 4

Day 6 (last day the flower opened)

Conophytum bilobum

Conophytums are small to tiny succulents from South Africa and Namibia that are much beloved – possibly because you can have a large collection in a small space. As with ariocarpus above, I long resisted the temptation to own conophytums, but I was recently given a small Conophytum bilobum as a gift and it promptly flowered:

Lithops lesliei

Few succulents are as frustrating as lithops. I’ve certainly had my fair share of experiences with them – each time ending in failure. A few months ago, lithops expert Peter Beiersdorfer gave presentation to the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society. Newly emboldened, I decided to dip a toe into the water one more time and bought a couple of lithops from Peter. I was promptly rewarded with two flowers:

I’ll have a separate post about lithops once I feel I have a better grasp of what they want and need.

Faucaria tigrina

Faucaria tigrina, or tiger jaws, is a member of the ice plant family (Aizoaceae) and, unlike lithops, very easy to grow. As long as you protect it from temperatures in the low 20°F, it’s almost bulletproof. I didn’t own any tiger jaws for the longest time – maybe because they’re so readily available. However, when I was in San Diego County this past February, I bought one for $0.75 at OASIS Water-Efficient Gardens, Altman Plants’ retail outlet. Without any doing on my part, it has thrived and is flowering now:

Many of the flowers you see in this post aren’t necessarily spectacular, but at this time of year. I’ll gladly take even “simple” flowers.

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