Echeverias are incredibly diverse, and are found in a wide variety of leaf shapes, colors and textures. They can be particularly eyecatching when in full bloom, and their beautiful rosette shapes make a lovely addition to any garden. I'm sure we all have at least one in our collections (or five... or ten...)

And... they make wonderful photo subjects! So let's see those Echies!

E. setosa:


E. nodulosa:


One of my mystery Echies:


Couple of Echie babies growing outside:

I have some that walmart was throwing out - they have recovered, but unfortunately not sure how they will fare the winter here. I have a porch that has sun all day in the winter so hopefully they will survive.
@macrocentra - do you have grow lights for your plants indoors during the winter months?




(the middle one)

Just had three sets of lights arrive actually. The intention is to run them in my office for the plants in there, and then have them ready for winter.
:thumbsup:

I have some trouble with Echeverias in winter because the sky is literally solid grey all winter, and I have long winters. But hopefully the lights will improve the situation. I only have two windows that my Echies do decent in. I put shelves in the one so more plants could share it.

Nice plants, guys. Here are some flowers from the patio (this is E. craigiana):



You will note some affinity to the thus-named E. affinis:



And some flowers on the way... these are gonna be good. Red like one parent (Black Prince) and its parent (affinis).

Baja: Lovely photos! Definitely post up that Black Prince × Affinis when you get flowers. I'd love to see them.

Here's another mystery Echie. Recently obtained. It wasn't the fullest plant, but a single stripe on one of the leaves caught my interest. Curious to see what it looks like over time. Hoping I might get some nice variegation.

Interesting texture/pattern on the top of the leaves. I sometimes see things like that in photos when I wouldn't necessarily see them in real life (my vision not being what it used to be).

This is a good example from the database of detail I see in pictures that I wouldn't see with the naked eye (cellular detail on the underside of leaves):



(Look past the dirt, please.)

Some pictures of my Black Prince x runyonii from the past:

As a seedling (the original seedling pot)



Having grown up and acquired some character in direct sun



Very good color combo in the flowers



Note they are red (affinis), but glaucous (runyonii).

I could take endless pictures of this plant



And I have



But somehow the novelty of it never wears off.

Parents pause for a bow, and a species grandparent for direct comparison:



Look at the last two plants and tell me what strikes you as the biggest difference between affinis (there is a cultivar called "Black Knight" just like this) and the hybrid "Black Prince". One thing strikes me as very different.

One of the interesting things about this hybrid is that it is sometimes monocarpic.



If you look at the main stem of this individual, you will see it has elongated much more recently than it was growing previously, and that's not due to low light. This plant is in full sun. The goose neck is because the main stem of the plant has converted into an inflorescence (and branched abundantly at the base, leaving many heads to survive afterwards). That inflorescence has branched at the tip (a couple branches visible in the photo).

This behavior is very wrong for an Echeveria. The first time I saw it, I didn't believe it was real. But now the second or third time, I have been documenting the whole process from start to finish. Some small fraction of the time (around 10-20% in my experience) this hybrid does not flower from the leaf axils, but the growth center.

I am not concerned about the aftermath of this flowering event because stumps left after amputation tend to branch in great abundance (top of main stem still visible in photo):

I hadn't noticed the speckles on mine either till I took the photo. I have the same problem. I'm still pretty blind, even with my glasses. I miss a lot of things.

That hybrid kind of resembles a Sempervivum prior to flowering, the way the growth center extends rather than throwing out a flower stalk. What a neat plant! Definitely unique. That runyonii is gorgeous too.

Huge difference in the leaves on the flower stalk between the Black Prince and affinis. The affinis almost looked like it had little slugs climbing a bare stalk in the small image.

The "Eliza" as it is labeled finally flowered but the buds don't seemed to open very much (is this normal)

@Macrocentra
Good idea for a thread. Echies deserve their own appreciation space
I only have three echies. This is more to do with my environment than by choice . I cannot for the most part give them enough light even in my best windows. I do OK in the summer , but its the spring /fall seasons where the plant still want to grow and light levels here are frequently not enough. I could have tried artificial light , but my interest in aloes was accelerating anyway ( they seem to do OK) so i have filled my windows mostly with these... But If I ever get that greenhouse...
Anyway here are my three that are left. I think the affins might struggle this year (its a new plant)
Echeveria 'Hercules'



If i had the space and light I would have 'compton carousel' and 'cante' in an instant
Steve

Graptoveria 'A Grim One'

@ketsui73

Thanks!

I'd have a lot more if I had more high light spots available for them for the cooler months. I'm hoping the new lights that arrived will allow a few more. There's some really nice Echies out there that I'd love to have.

I tried to get a 'Compton Carousel' recently in a plant drop. Someone else managed to snag it first though. Darn!

TK, what is a plant drop?

Yes, and how do I arrange for a Compton Carousel to drop on me?

Macrocentra said:@ketsui73

Thanks!

I'd have a lot more if I had more high light spots available for them for the cooler months. I'm hoping the new lights that arrived will allow a few more. There's some really nice Echies out there that I'd love to have.

I tried to get a 'Compton Carousel' recently in a plant drop. Someone else managed to snag it first though. Darn!

@Macrocentra
Let us know how the light experiments go. I tried reading around the subject a couple of times and just got lost.
Keep trying on the comptom as well. i am sure you will fine one at the right price eventually I kinda think Compton Carousel will become common in the end because echies are so vigorous . I also have no idea what a plant drop is?
Steve

ketsui73 said:

@Macrocentra
Let us know how the light experiments go. I tried reading around the subject a couple of times and just got lost.
Keep trying on the comptom as well. i am sure you will fine one at the right price eventually I kinda think Compton Carousel will become common in the end because echies are so vigorous . I also have no idea what a plant drop is?
Steve

I don't entirely know which of the lights is best. I find reading about lighting kind of confusing too. I have a few different ones, so I'll have to play with them and see how it goes!

It was an event a local small nursery does periodically. They'll shut down their website for a day, post up a bunch of rarer plants, and then unlock it at a certain time. There'll only be maybe one or two of each as well. So you've got to get in there quick and snag them. I tried one out recently and got a couple nice plants. Literally within a couple minutes of unlocking the site, almost all the plants were sold. They went so fast. I think they dropped well over 100 types at the time.

I found another local place that advertises "plant drops" too. Might have to check that out too.

Here are mine. I was hoping they would flower with all the sun they've been getting for several months now, but they haven't yet.

Not sure what this one is called.



Perle von Nurnberg.



There are these raised lumps on the newer leaves, does anyone know what is happening here?



Cubic Frost.



Mystery baby Echeveria.



Mystery baby Echeverias (they're not the same Echeveria as the last one).

These 2 will be divided in the fall and winter respectively.



Another example of what overpotting an Echeveria can do for you. "Lipstick" aka "Red Edge", 10 inch pot.



This one will be divided and restarted because I don't want it to get huge.



A couple more big uns.



Multiheaded plants (right plant loaded with bulbils ready to harvest in the fall)



A couple in 6 inch pots.



A leaf propagation starting with a bract, which has decided it needs to flower.



And this crest is starting to develop a pretty deep groove.

Baja, what's that one in the third photo down? I love the soft pastel colors!

Those are all beautiful though.

Graptoveria (XGraptoveria 'Debbi')

A very well behaved plant. Flowering at the moment: