My Giant Stapelia has been blooming for a couple of weeks here in Tennessee (zone 7a). It has been fairly warm, but I've had to cover it several nights when temps dipped into the 30s and there were light frosts. I haven't brought it inside yet. Next week is supposed to be cold -- 40s during the day and 30s at night and might bring our first hard frost -- so this will be it for this year. It will go into the garage for the winter very soon.






Kindly ignore the watermark ... I forgot to change my settings after adding some photos to the database. This is my plant!

Thanks for sharing the pic. It really is GIANT! Does it have a scent like the kind that people say it has? and how long will the bloom last?

Nice huge Stapelia!

This particular plant does not have the strong carrion smell as it is sometimes described. Being outside, it isn't noticable at all but does attract flies to pollinate itself (which is what it is supposed to do). If it were contained in a greenhouse while in bloom, the smell might be more pronounced. I might not want to attract flies in there either.

The flowers last around three days when fully opened, but the buds take a couple of weeks to develop and bloom. They are very interesting to watch. They start out so small and end up so big. The two buds in the photo started to open yesterday and should be all done by the time cold weather arrives this weekend.

This particular pot is only in its second year ... from 3 or 4 small cuttings. Fast grower. And it thrives on neglect. I love these things!

Here it is about this same time last year.

Is it sustaining on dosages of candy corn (in pot)?

That came from a painted rock swap I participated in a few years ago. The gal who had my name painted the candy corn and also the rock "faux" mini-pumpkins in my avatar, along with a sweet little scarecrow head (below).

They are a fun plant. People are fascinated by the bizarre blooms and well as the odor.

I have found mine to be more fragrant when the temperature is high.
Also in the summer heat, the blooms only last one day but in the cooler days of fall they will hang on for a few days.

The Stapelia gigantea is one of the easiest to root and grow. My favorite part of this plant is that is resembles a cactus without the nasty spines. I love touching the velvety stems.

Very pretty plant Tee, thanks for sharing the photos. Thanks too, for reminding me to move mine indoors soon.

I love that velvety texture as well.

Are you also expecting some colder weather soon, Kristi?

We are due for the high thirties by the weekend... probably coming your way?
That really isn't cold enough for the Stapelias to need protection but this time of year I am busy at work and get home after dark and with the time change coming, my memory gets compromised. lol

I have moved most plants into the greenhouse already but these are a bit stinky so are still sitting out.

Beautiful plant.

Yes, they said 40s daytime next week and 30s at night with frost ... but since then they have revised it to 50s and 40s ... so I guess I'll wait and see what happens as the time gets nearer.

After all, It is late October in Tennessee, but you would never know that from this week's temps, 80 today! It's Spring-like weather but all around the trees are red and gold and yellow.

Ahhh... I'll bet your fall colors are beautiful. As much as I like our moderate winters, I miss the gorgeous colors of the fall leaves in the cooler climates.

Thanks for the comment on the gigantea photo (my photos are never very good ~ yours are very clear) but that is two plants. One came from the gal that works next door to me. She had it inside forever and it never bloomed. She got tired of it and gave it to me to overwinter in the GH. When it began to bloom, it was loaded and I gave it back to her. It bloomed its' little heart out that summer and the next and then she tired of it and told me just to keep it. Lucky me!

Anyway, now I need to go looking for candy corn shaped rocks. That is cute! I have a bunch of Brazil nuts that are painted like watermelon slices but they wouldn't be good to display in a plant.

Just stick around and I will have some unclear photos to share. I'm hit and miss with the photography.

Yes, it is beautiful here right now. The Fall is my favorite time of year. But Spring is a close second.

With your weather, you can grow a lot of succulents and cacti. Do you have a greenhouse?

Yes, I grow a few different succulents, including an assortment of the Asclepiads ~ Stapelia, Huernia, Orbea, Caralluma & Hoya.

I like anything that does not have thorns or stickers. The closest I've gotten to stickers is Bromeliads and I am wary of getting too carried away with them.

And yes, a few years ago my sweetie built me a greenhouse. It wasn't quite what I had in mind but how could I criticize his generous thought and it does work well. I have a wood heater, a church pew, chairs, a potting table... on those dreary winter days I love to go sit out there and dream of spring.

Interesting. I have not grown Caralluma. Are they difficult to grow? I spent many years in CA and that is where I grew most of my succulents. I said I wasn't going to grow many here due to the space constraints ... but. Well, you know how that goes. I did get rid of some but I think I just turned around and acquired a few more.

I like Rhipsalis, Epis, and the "rattail" cacti ... as well as Echeverias, Aloes, and Schlumbergera. Another fave is Euphorbia milii.

My Rhipsalis elliptica is blooming now since I brought it into the garage.

I love that photo of your Rhipsalis in bloom but will admit... I try to stay away from the larger succulents. I had a huge Epiphyllum that got frozen as I could no longer move it. Now I keep two small pots and although they are young, they have bloomed for me. I'll never let that one get large again.

I've got an assortment of the drimia, drimiopsis, ledebouria & scilla bulbs. Also love the aloes & haworthias. I picked up a couple of the smaller agaves but out came the nail clippers for the sharp tips. Kalanchoes are another favorite but they grow too large, too quickly. I also have an assortment of Cissus plants, Sansevierias which I love but had trouble with them in the GH the first winter so they stay on an enclosed porch. Somehow, I am sure there are some I forgot.

I do have an experimental outdoor succulent bed. Under the GH eaves so not much moisture. I have planted it with hardy or duplicated succulents. Last winter was mild so we will see how it does this year.

I'd been given a few different succulents and don't really care for their size but won't get rid of them as they were gifts. One is a selection of the E. millii ~ they grow too large and I don't care for the stickers/thorns. The other was an odd Euphorbia... like a pencil type. It is ugly and a monster. It was the only plant I left in the greenhouse this summer and neglected it. With minimal water and incredible temps it hung in there. It is located in the center, bottom of these two shelves.
This is my weakness... cuttings, broken pieces, leaves that drop off, divisions... all need potting and rooting.

Can't let anything die ~ pets, plants, whatever. lol

Some of the larger succulents...

No wonder it's "giant"!
Very nice specimens. Had one, thought it was hardier than it really was, or the room it overwintered in, not as "cool".
Lost a lot of succulents last winter

Nice set up, Kristi, and very nice succulents! I also have Ledebouria and at least one Scilla.

I know what you mean about not letting anything die. I'm the same way. I try to keep some of them on the smaller side. I love Euphorbias! Not always easy ones to keep small.

I have a few succulents in the "gifts" category that I simply can't eliminate either.

My succulents range from smaller to larger:

Manfreda


The little Fenestraria started blooming yesterday.

Thanks, fixpix. Do you have any photos?

Tee ~ I love your Manfreda... do you know which one you have? I found a wild one here, Manfreda virginica. It was ID'd when it bloomed. The blooms are the smallest and ugliest but ever so fragrant. It is planted in the raised succulent bed. I harvested seed from the last blooms but haven't attempted germinating them.

BTW, the Caralluma I mentioned earlier is now renamed one of the Orbeopsis or Orbeas if I recall correctly. It is similar to the Stapelias but for me a bit of a struggle. There is a fine balance of winter temps and moisture and I have lost more than one sadly.

It looks like FixPix has a huge selection of plant photos posted on the link. I started looking this a.m. but had to leave for work. I need to go back and look again.