Malacothamnus fasciculatus is not in bloom yet.

Adenium obesum

That’s a nice flower color.

We also have pink ones, and pure white ones too! We’re your one-stop shop for adenium colors.

Echinocereus adustus is a small but prolific cactus. We have them with different colored flowers, leading me to wonder if these have been hybridized without my knowledge.

Not the dog, the plant. Check back tomorrow for a very special Friday Whippet Blog picture of Benjamin.

Aeonium “Whippet”, our own cultivar and a Berkeley favorite, only available through us, is finally available again. Yay!

Two spectacular yellow blooms from this particular Parodia ottonis.

Whitesloanea crassa

A rare Asclepiad (Asclepiadaceae) also known as a Stapeliad, or a Carrion Flower, or as I indicated yesterday – a stinky-poopy flower.

This one is quite stunning.

Stapelia scitula is a small stapeliad and while it is a carrion flower that smells terrible, it is small and so less offensive than some of the larger ones. But it is still a stinky-poopy flower, no getting around it.

We have this in two different colors – this burgundy flower, and a cream too. I don’t know if anyone has named these as different cultivars or not. I prefer to think of them as natural variants.

This hedgehog cactus has yellow flowers, hence the name or so I assume. I wasn’t the one to name it so I hesitate to read someone else’s mind.

Echinocereus “Yellow Torch”

Jatropha berlandieri is in bloom, as they tend to be all summer long. This is one of those plants that we do not water at all over the winter. It dies back to the caudex. They will get about a foot across, and if you dig it up, the underground part of the caudex is usually not so round, not so perfect. They’re found along the Mexico/Texas border.

That’s a terrible common name. We should never speak of it again.

Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi

Oreocereus trollii

The irony is that this Old Man cactus has the girliest-pink-colored flower I’ve ever seen. That is one Disney shade of pink.

It’s a good thing it was warm and sunny yesterday as it gave me the chance to get a few more cactus flower pictures before the cold winter rains start up again next week. Cloudy and cold today too.

Echinopsis marsoneri

Normally these are a red flower, with hints of magenta. This is the orangest one I’ve seen. Maybe we should cultivate it. Then I could give it a delicious name, like “Ribbon Candy” or “Orange Smoothy”. Maybe “Salt Water Taffy”.

But no.

A little heat finally and the cactus blooms are wide open.

Kalanchoe grandiflora

I suppose those are bigger than the standard florist kalanchoe flowers, but still they are not really all that “grand”. But it is a beautiful blue green plant with stunning contrasting flowers. No wonder the florists like the kalanchoes.

Mammillaria melanocentra

This photo is deceptive. While they are big flowers for a mammillaria, really this photo is showing an undersized plant more than over-sized flowers. But they are that brightly colored, and way spiny too.

Today it’s going to rain again, just to rub salt in the wound, to throw good money after bad, add moss to the rolling stone, make a mountain out of a molehill.

It’s warming up so the cactus are starting to bloom again yay!

Echinopsis marsoneri

Salvia microphylla “Hot Lips”

A Mexican variety with these amazing white and red-lipped flowers. If you’re not amazed, then go ahead and enlarge the image.

I’ll wait.

Are you amazed yet?

And a great green-leafed shrub that will get burgundy colored in the hot summer sun. Deer-resistant, hardy to 10 °F, and eventually getting upwards of 4ft. tall. Wow!

So many Delosperma flowers.

Now it’s just getting out of hand. These Echinocereus grandifloras in bloom! I can’t even count the number of giant flowers on that cactus. I give up!

We call this color Lemonade. Echinocereus grandiflora “Lemonade”.

Ian took the picture yesterday between the storms.

Another day, another cactus flower opens. This time it’s white. And not just white, but the most fabulous white flower you’ve ever seen. It’s enormous too. Add white to the bright pink and peach colors so far.

Echinocereus grandiflora hybrid.

And then they were all open.

And it’s peach.

Echinocereus grandiflora hybrid, with 4 flowers open all at once. As it’s early, and still pretty cool out, they could last 4 days!

We just got in this new geranium, Pelargonium hortorum “Vancouver Centennial” and I couldn’t be happier. We may have to start growing it. In general, aside from the citrusy scented geraniums, they’re ehhh. But this is spectacular.

The first salvia bloom of the year award goes to Salvia micrphylla “Hot Lips”. Congratulations to all who helped contribute to the success of this hot sage.

Too bad the cell phone doesn’t take better pictures. Oh well, live and learn.

Opuntia violacea buds. They’re ready to open any day now, into beautiful yellow flowers, if the sun comes out. These tend to bloom for months, even in pots!

Echeveria derenbergii blooms are staying open in the rain and storm and wind. Cool!

OK, since we’ve had a relapse in winter, and the storm is ferocious, this just means the cactus blooms will last a  few weeks longer! Yay!

Echinocereus grandiflora hybrid bloom as it will look in a couple weeks when the buds open.

Here’s what the buds looked like last week. They won’t be opening today, that’s for sure. If the sun finally comes out, and it warms up, they might start opening this weekend, but probably the following week.